Meng Da | |
|---|---|
| 孟達 | |
 AQing dynasty illustration of Meng Da's death | |
| Administrator of Xincheng (新城太守) | |
| In office ? – 228 (228) | |
| Monarch | Cao Pi /Cao Rui |
| General Who Builds Martial Might (建武將軍) | |
| In office 220 (220) – ? | |
| Monarch | Cao Pi |
| Regular Mounted Attendant (散騎常侍) | |
| In office 220 (220) – ? | |
| Monarch | Cao Pi |
| Administrator of Yidu (宜都太守) (underLiu Bei) | |
| In office 214 (214) – 219 (219) | |
| Monarch | Emperor Xian of Han |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | 228 |
| Occupation | General |
| Courtesy name | Zijing (子敬) / Zidu (子度) |
| Peerage | Marquis of Pingyang Village (平陽亭侯) |
Meng Da (pronunciationⓘ; diedc. March 228[1]),courtesy nameZidu, was a military general of the state ofCao Wei during the earlyThree Kingdoms period of China. He previously served the warlordsLiu Zhang andLiu Bei during the lateEastern Han dynasty before defecting to Wei. In Wei, he served under the first two rulers,Cao Pi andCao Rui. Around late 227, he started arebellion in Wei and aimed to rejoin theShu-Han but the revolt was swiftly suppressed by the Wei generalSima Yi. Meng Da was captured and executed for treason.
Meng Da was a son of Meng Ta (孟他;fl.150-170), who was Inspector of Liang province during the reign ofEmperor Ling of Han.[2]
Meng Da originally servedLiu Zhang, the governor ofYi Province (covering present-daySichuan andChongqing). He defected to another warlord,Liu Bei, when the latterinvaded Yi Province in the early 210s and seized control of the province from Liu Zhang. Liu Bei sent Meng Da to guard Jiangling (江陵), and promoted him to Administrator (太守) of Yidu (宜都) later after settling Yi Province. Meng Da's original courtesy name was "Zijing", but he changed it to "Zidu" to avoidnaming taboo because "Zijing" was also the courtesy name of Liu Bei's uncle.
In 219, Meng Da was ordered to lead a force from Zigui (秭歸) to attack Fangling (房陵). After conquering Fangling, Meng Da advanced further north and captured another city, Shangyong (上庸), where he rendezvoused withLiu Feng, Liu Bei's adoptive son. Later that year, when Liu Bei's generalGuan Yu wastrapped by enemy forces inJing Province, Guan requested reinforcements from Liu Feng and Meng Da, but they refused. Guan Yu was eventually captured by forces of the eastern warlordSun Quan and was executed.
Meng Da was afraid that he would be punished for refusing to helpGuan Yu. At the time, his relationship with Liu Feng was also strained. Hence, inc.late August 220,[3] he brought 4,000 soldiers with him and defected toLiu Bei's rivalCao Pi, who gave him a warm welcome. Meng Da then wrote a letter to Liu Feng, informing the latter that he was in grave danger, because someone close to Liu Bei had spoken ill of him,[4] and he urged Liu Feng to surrender to Wei as well. However, Liu Feng ignored Meng Da's advice and returned to Chengdu, where he was executed by his adoptive father for failing to reinforce Guan Yu and failing to stop Meng Da from defecting.
Cao Pi later ended the Eastern Han dynasty by forcingEmperor Xian to abdicate the throne to him, after which he assumed the title of emperor and established the state ofCao Wei, marking the start of theThree Kingdoms period. In Wei, Meng Da received various important appointments and the title of a marquis. Cao Pi merged the threecommanderies of Fangling, Shangyong and Xicheng (西城) to form a larger commandery, Xincheng (新城), and he appointed Meng Da as the Administrator (太守) of Xincheng and tasked him with defending Wei's southwestern border. Liu Ye advised Cao Pi, "Meng Da is always looking out for rewards which are not rightfully his, and he is prone to schemes due to his talent. Thus, he will not be grateful to Your Excellency. Xincheng borders Sun Quan's and Liu Bei's territories. If the regional situation changes, it will create troubles for the realm."; Cao Pi ignored Liu.[5] Meng Da became close friends with the Wei officialsHuan Jie andXiahou Shang.
In 225, Li Hong (李鴻), a former Wei subject who surrendered toShu Han (a state founded by Liu Bei), came to meet Shu's chancellorZhuge Liang and the Shu officialsJiang Wan andFei Shi. Li Hong told them about Meng Da's meeting with a person called Wang Chong (王沖), who told him that Zhuge Liang urged Liu Bei to execute Meng Da's family after Meng defected to Wei, but Liu Bei refused. Meng Da also did not believe Wang Chong.[6]
Zhuge Liang attempted to contact Meng Da and induce him to defect back to Shu, despite objection fromFei Shi, who remarked that Meng Da was an untrustworthy traitor. By then, the Wei emperorCao Pi had died and was succeeded byCao Rui, who treated Meng Da less favourably. Meng Da's close friendsHuan Jie andXiahou Shang had also died, so Meng Da felt isolated and became increasingly disgruntled with the Wei imperial court. After some exchanging of letters between Zhuge Liang and Meng Da, the latter gradually developed animosity towards Wei and harboured the intention of starting a rebellion.
In 228, Zhuge Liang launched the first of a series ofNorthern Expeditions against Wei, and he succeeded in persuading Meng Da to assist theShu army by rebelling against Wei. However, Meng Da's rebellion plot was leaked out by Shen Yi (申儀), the Administrator of Weixing (魏興), whom Meng Da had a feud with. The Wei generalSima Yi wrote letters to Meng Da to put the latter in a dilemma on whether to rebel or not, and secretly led an army from Wan (in present-dayNanyang,Henan) to attack Meng Da's base in Xincheng. Sima Yi's forces arrived at Xincheng in just eight days and caught Meng Da completely off guard. Meng Da was betrayed by his nephew Deng Xian (鄧賢) and subordinate Li Fu (李輔) and his rebellion was swiftly suppressed. He was captured and executed by Sima Yi.
Meng Da appeared as a character in the 14th-century historical novelRomance of the Three Kingdoms. Hiscourtesy name in the novel is "Ziqing" (子庆;子慶;Zǐqìng). His role in the novel is mainly centred on the events in the Xincheng Rebellion.
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