Tian Xu was a name that was referenced multiple times during the historical and fictional records of the late Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

 and Three Kingdoms

Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms period was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the...

 period of Chinese history

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

.

One Tian Xu was the son of Tian Chou's nephew.

Another Tian Xu was a prime factor throughout the Zhong Hui

Zhong Hui

Zhong Hui was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He was the son of Zhong Yao, a calligrapher and politician of Wei....

 and Deng Ai

Deng Ai

Deng Ai was a military general of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. It was said that whenever he saw a hill or wide valley, he would immediately size up the best places to store grain and position troops. His talent was recognized by Sima Yi, who recommended him to take up...

's final campaign to conquer Shu

Shu Han

Shu Han was one of the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period, after the fall of the Han Dynasty. The state was based on areas around Sichuan, which was then known as Shu...

. He was the one who personally seized Deng Ai (after Deng Ai conquered Shu) while he was sleeping through the orders of Zhong Hui. This was because Zhong Hui was planning on taking over Wei as well in the end. After a long feud broke out through the extremely excessive conduct that was ordered by Zhong Hui, he was slain along with many others (including Jiang Wei

Jiang Wei

Jiang Wei was a military general and regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He originally served Shu's rival state, Cao Wei, as a middle-level military officer, but defected to the Shu strategist Zhuge Liang, leaving his mother in Wei. After that, Jiang...

). Tian Xu took advantage of this suddent turn of events by killing Deng Ai in transit through the fact that he feared Deng Ai would later kill him for being seized. It is not clear whether the nephew of Tian Chou and the Tian Xu who killed Deng were the same person, as no historical record makes that connection clear. The age gap between Tian Chou's death and Tian Xu's killing of Deng appears to make the connection doubtful.