An Qingxu
An Lushan rebelled against Emperor Xuanzong's rule in late 755 and, on his campaign south to attack the Tang eastern capital Luoyang, had Tian, along with An Zhongzhi and Zhang Xiaozhong, serve as his forward commanders. An's forces quickly captured Luoyang, and he declared himself the emperor of a new state of Yan there. In 757, after An Lushan had been assassinated and succeeded by his son An Qingxu, Tian continued to serve under An Qingxu and commanded a campaign to capture the key Tang city of Nanyang (南陽, in modern Nanyang, Henan) and then to attack south further, but while he trapped the Tang commander Lu Jiong () in Nanyang, he was not able to capture the city quickly, and after Lu eventually fought his way out of the siege and fled to Xiangyang, Tian abandoned the campaign as well and returned to Luoyang.