Tian Heng (250BC–202BC) was a member of the former royal house of Qi during the late Qin dynasty. After Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rose in revolt against the Qin, heroes from all quarters responded in succession. The Tian Heng family was also among the anti-Qin forces, and later Tian Heng declared himself King of Qi.
After Emperor Gaozu of Han defeated the various forces and unified the empire, Tian Heng fled with five hundred of his followers to an isolated island. Hearing that Tian Heng enjoyed great popular support and fearing future trouble, Emperor Gaozu issued an imperial edict stating that if Tian Heng surrendered, he would be enfeoffed as a king or marquis; if he refused, troops would be sent to kill everyone on the island.
In order to preserve the lives of the five hundred men on the island, Tian Heng took two of his subordinates and left the island, heading for the Han capital. But when he reached a place fifteen kilometres from the capital, Tian Heng took his own life, instructing his two companions to take his head to the Han Emperor Gaozu, so as to save the five hundred lives on the island and to demonstrate that he would not submit to the humiliation of surrender. Emperor Gaozu buried Tian Heng with the rites due a king and appointed the two subordinates as commandants, but after burying Tian Heng, the two men also took their own lives in Tian Heng’s grave. The emperor sent envoys to summon the five hundred men on the island to surrender, but when they heard that Tian Heng had killed himself, they all threw themselves into the sea and died.
The historian Sima Qian remarked: ‘Tian Heng’s noble integrity led his retainers, who admired his sense of righteousness, to follow him in death—was he not a man of the highest moral character and exceptional virtue!’
Origin: “The Records of the Grand Historian: The Biography of Tian Dan”
#40 田横五百士
田横（前250年－前202年）是秦末齐国旧王族。陈胜、吴广起义抗秦后，四方豪杰纷纷响应，田横一家也是抗秦的部队之一，后来自立为齐王。
汉高祖消灭群雄，统一天下后，田横同他的手下五百人逃到一个孤岛上。汉高祖听说田横很得人心，担心日后为患，便下诏令说：如果田横来投降，便可封王或侯；如果不来，便派兵去把岛上的人通通消灭掉。
田横为了保存岛上五百人的生命，便带了两个部下，离开海岛，向汉高祖的京城进发。但到了离京城三十里的地方，田横便自刎而死，嘱咐同行的两个部下拿他的头去见汉高祖，以保存岛上五百人的生命，也表示自己不受投降的屈辱。汉高祖用王礼埋葬了田横，并封那两个部下做都尉，但那两个部下在埋葬田横后，也在田横的墓穴中自杀。汉高祖派人去招降岛上的五百人，但他们听到田横自刎，便都蹈海而死。
司马迁感慨地写道：“田横之高节，宾客幕义而从横死，岂非至贤！” （田横的高尚节操，使他的门客们仰慕道义而追随他一同赴死，这难道不是道德极其崇高、非常贤能的人吗！）
出自 《史记 田儋列传》