Lü Meng

Lü Meng
Illustration of Lü Meng (1888)
General of Sun Quan
Born	178[1]
Died	220 (aged 41)[1]
Names
Traditional Chinese	呂蒙
Simplified Chinese	吕蒙
Pinyin	Lǚ Méng
Wade–Giles	Lü Meng
Courtesy name	Ziming (Chinese: 子明; pinyin: Zǐmíng; Wade–Giles: Tzu-ming)

Lü Meng (178–220),^[1][2] courtesy name Ziming, was a military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Early in his career, he fought in several battles under the banner of Sun Ce – Sun Quan's elder brother and predecessor – and later under Sun Quan. Although he had been noted for his bravery, he was still deemed as nothing more than a "mere warrior" for his lack of literacy skills. Later, with encouragement from Sun Quan, Lü Meng took up scholarly pursuits to improve himself, gradually becoming a learned and competent military leader. In 217, he succeeded Lu Su as the frontline commander of Sun Quan's forces in Jing Province. Two years later, in a carefully calculated military operation, Lü Meng led an invasion of Liu Bei's territories in Jing Province, swiftly and stealthily capturing all the lands from Liu's general Guan Yu, who was captured and executed after his defeat. Lü Meng enjoyed his finest hour after the victory but died a few months later because he was already seriously ill before the campaign.

Early life

Lü Meng was from Fupo County (富陂縣), Runan Commandery (汝南郡), which is located southeast of present-day Funan County, Fuyang, Anhui. His family migrated to the south of the Yangtze River when Lü Meng was young. Lü Meng lived with his brother-in-law, Deng Dang (鄧當), who served as a military officer under Sun Ce. When he was 14 or 15, he secretly followed Deng Dang in the battles against the Shanyue tribes. Deng Dang was shocked to see his teenage brother-in-law in his unit, so he scolded Lü Meng and warned him to stop. Lü Meng refused to listen so Deng Dang told Lü's mother about this. When she wanted to punish Lü Meng, her son said, "It is difficult to survive in poverty. If we can prove ourselves through hard work, then wealth would come eventually. How can we catch the tiger cub if we don't enter the tiger's den?" Lü Meng's mother sighed and let him have his way.^{[Sanguozhi 1]}

At the time, an official despised Lü Meng for his age, and often insulted him with words such as, "What can he do? His behaviour would only result in him feeding himself to the tigers." Lü Meng frequently encountered the official and killed him one day when he lost control of his anger. He took shelter under Zheng Chang (鄭長) initially, but later turned himself in to Yuan Xiong (袁雄), a Colonel (校尉) under Sun Ce. Yuan Xiong pleaded with his lord to spare Lü Meng's life. Sun Ce interviewed Lü Meng and was so impressed with him that he pardoned Lü and recruited him as a close aide.^{[Sanguozhi 2]}

A few years later, after Deng Dang died, Zhang Zhao recommended Lü Meng to take Deng's place, so Lü was appointed as a "Major of Separate Command" (別部司馬). In 200 CE, after Sun Ce was assassinated, he was succeeded by his younger brother, Sun Quan, who planned to merge small numbers of troops into larger garrisons. When Lü Meng heard of it, he collected funds to decorate his troops with brilliant armour. When Sun Quan came to inspect Lü Meng's men, he was so impressed that he placed more soldiers under Lü's command, thus saving Lü's troops from being merged into another unit.^{[Sanguozhi 3]}

Lü Meng participated in Sun Quan's conquest of Danyang (丹楊) and made many contributions in battle. He was promoted to "Commandant Who Pacifies the North" (平北都尉) and appointed as the Chief (長) of Guangde County (廣德縣).^{[Sanguozhi 4]}

Battle of Jiangxia

In the spring of 208, Lü Meng was assigned as the navy commandant when Sun Quan launched a campaign against Huang Zu, the Administrator (太守) of Jiangxia Commandery (江夏郡; commandery capital in present-day Yunmeng County, Xiaogan, Hubei). During the war, Ling Tong and Dong Xi brought down Huang Zu's two large mengchongs while Lü Meng's unit crushed Huang's navy and Lü personally slew Huang's subordinate Chen Jiu (陳就). Huang Zu attempted to flee after hearing of Chen Jiu's death, but was captured by Sun Quan's soldiers. After the battle, Sun Quan deemed Lü Meng's contributions as the most significant because Chen Jiu's death secured their victory. Lü Meng was promoted to "General of the Household Who Sweeps Across the Wilderness" (橫野中郎將) and awarded 10 million coins.^{[Sanguozhi 5]}

Red Cliffs campaign

Later in 208, Lü Meng participated in the Battle of Red Cliffs, in which the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei defeated a much larger army led by the northern warlord Cao Cao at Wulin (烏林; in present-day Honghu, Hubei). Cao Cao perfunctorily retreated to northern China, leaving behind his general Cao Ren to defend Nan Commandery (南郡; commandery capital in present-day Jiangling County, Jingzhou, Hubei). Sun Quan's forces, led by Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu, pressed on their attack and besieged Cao Ren in Nan Commandery.^{[Sanguozhi 6]}

Around the time, Xi Su (襲肅), a military officer from Yi Province (益州; covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing), brought along his men to defect to Sun Quan's side. Zhou Yu proposed to Sun Quan to let Lü Meng take charge of Xi Su's troops. However, Lü Meng praised Xi Su as a courageous person and declined to take command of Xi's men, claiming that it was unethical to do so because Xi had come a long way to join them. Sun Quan agreed with Lü Meng and returned Xi Su's troops to him.^{[Sanguozhi 7]}

During the siege of Nan Commandery, Zhou Yu ordered Gan Ning to lead a detachment to take control of Yiling (夷陵; present-day Yichang, Hubei), but Gan came under attack by a separate enemy force led by Cao Ren's subordinates. When Gan Ning sent a messenger to Zhou Yu's camp to request for relief forces, most of Sun Quan's generals thought that they did not have enough men to spare to save Gan Ning, but Lü Meng insisted on saving Gan. He told Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu, "I suggest we leave Ling Tong behind while I follow you to help Gan Ning. It's imperative that we lift the siege (on Gan Ning) because he may not be able to hold on for long. I assure you that Ling Tong can defend our current position for at least ten days."

Lü Meng also convinced Zhou Yu to send 300 men to block the enemy's retreat route with giant logs. When the reinforcements arrived at Yiling, they killed over half of the total number of enemy troops and forced the surviving ones to retreat at night. However, the enemy encountered the giant logs and were unable to cross over on horseback, so they had to dismount and proceed on foot. Sun Quan's pursuing forces arrived at the blockade and seized about 300 horses left behind by the enemy, which they transported back to their camp on boats. The morale of Zhou Yu's army improved greatly, so they crossed the Yangtze River, set up a garrison near the enemy base, and then engaged Cao Ren's forces in battle. Cao Ren was defeated and was eventually ordered to abandon his position and retreat. Sun Quan's forces captured Nan Commandery and gained control over much of Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan). Upon his return, Lü Meng was promoted to "Lieutenant-General" (偏將軍) and appointed as the Prefect (令) of Xunyang County (尋陽縣).^{[Sanguozhi 8]}

Scholarly pursuits

The Jiang Biao Zhuan (江表傳) mentioned that Sun Quan once told Lü Meng and Jiang Qin, "Both of you are commanders now so you should enrich yourself with knowledge." Lü Meng replied, "I've many things to attend to in the army, so I'm afraid I won't have time to read." Sun Quan then said, "I'm not saying that I want you to take up Confucian studies and become a scholar-official. What I hope you can do is to spend a bit of time reading and understanding history. Do you have as many affairs to handle as compared to me? When I was young, I read the Classic of Poetry, Book of Documents, Book of Rites, Zuo Zhuan and Guoyu, but not the I Ching. Since succeeding my brother, I've been reading the Three Histories – Records of the Grand Historian, Book of Han and Dong Guan Han Ji – and many military books, and I feel they have enriched me. The two of you are open-minded and fast-learning, so you can definitely pick up reading. Do you really desire not to? You should start with Sun Tzu's The Art of War, the Six Secret Teachings, Zuo Zhuan, Guoyu and the Three Histories. Confucius once said: 'You will gain nothing even if you give up on meals and sleep and keep thinking about something, so why don't you learn?' When Emperor Guangwu was busy with military affairs, he still found time to read. Mengde agrees that he is already old but he never gives up on learning. Why don't you give some encouragement to yourselves?" Lü Meng was inspired by Sun Quan's words so he began to study diligently and acquire more knowledge. He gradually surpassed some Confucian scholars in terms of what he had read.^{[Sanguozhi zhu 1]}

Meeting with Lu Su

In 210, after Lu Su had succeeded Zhou Yu (who died of illness earlier that year) as the frontline commander of Sun Quan's forces, he passed by Lü Meng's garrison on his way to Lukou (陸口; in present-day Jiayu County, Xianning, Hubei). Lu Su had all along regarded Lü Meng with contempt, but someone told him, "General Lü's fame and glory are increasing day by day. He shouldn't be viewed in the same light now as he was in the past. You should visit him soon." Lu Su then headed towards Lü Meng's camp. After having some drinks, Lü Meng asked Lu Su, "You've received an important appointment and you're going to be stationed near Guan Yu. Have you made any contingency plans to deal with unforeseen circumstances?" Lu Su lackadaisically replied, "I'll adapt to the situation when the time comes." Lü Meng then said, "The east and the west may be one family now, but Guan Yu is nonetheless a person with the might of bears and tigers. How can you not make preparations beforehand?" Lü Meng then proposed five strategies to Lu Su on how to deal with Guan Yu. Lu Su left his seat, came up close to Lü Meng, placed his hand on Lü's back and said, "Lü Ziming, I never knew you had such insights until I came here." He also visited Lü Meng's mother and left after befriending Lü Meng.^{[Sanguozhi 9]}

Jiang Biao Zhuan account

The Jiang Biao Zhuan gave a slightly different account of the meeting between Lu Su and Lü Meng. Lu Su placed his hand on Lü Meng's back and said, "I heard that you were previously a mere warrior. But now, you've taken up scholarly pursuits and you're no longer that Meng under Wu." Lü Meng replied, "When scholars part ways for three days, they will view each other in a different light when they meet again later. Now, as you've succeeded Gongjin, your task will be difficult and you're also going to be neighbours with Guan Yu. Guan Yu is an avid learner and he is very familiar with the Zuo Zhuan. He has a loud and confident voice, and a heroic aura around him. However, he is conceited and thinks highly of himself. Now that you're going to be his opponent, you should have some measures to deal with him." Having said that, he presented three strategies to Lu Su on how to counter Guan Yu. Lu Su respected Lü Meng so he kept the strategies to himself and did not reveal them.^{[Sanguozhi zhu 2]}

The Chinese idioms "Ah Meng under Wu" (吳下阿蒙; 吴下阿蒙; wú xià ā méng) and "rub one's eyes and look" (刮目相看; guā mù xiāng kàn) originated from this conversation. The former is used to describe an unlearned person^[3] while the latter means to look at a person in a different light, especially after the person has made remarkable improvement.^[4]

Battles of Huan and Ruxu

Cao Cao appointed Xie Qi (謝奇) as the Agricultural Officer (典農) of Qichun (蘄春) and ordered him to station at Huan (皖; or Huancheng, in present-day Huaining County, Anhui) to harass Sun Quan's boundaries. Lü Meng tried to induce Xie Qi into surrendering and attacked later when the latter refused. Xie Qi was defeated and retreated, but his subordinates Sun Zicai (孫子才) and Song Hao (宋豪) brought along several civilians and came to submit to Lü Meng.^{[Sanguozhi 10]}

In 213, Lü Meng followed Sun Quan to Ruxu (濡須; north of present-day Wuwei County, Wuhu, Anhui) to defend against Cao Cao's advances. Sun Quan wanted to construct a dock at Ruxu, but his subordinates said, "We should land on the other side of the river and attack the enemy, then return to our ships. Why build a dock?" However, Lü Meng supported the idea of building a dock, as he said, "Battles are unpredictable and we may not always win. If we lose and the enemy closes in, and we don't have time to retreat to the riverbank, how can we even board our ships?" Sun Quan agreed with Lü Meng and had the dock constructed to make boardings and landings more convenient. With this, Sun Quan's army defended their positions against Cao Cao's approaching forces, who retreated after several failed attempts to overcome the enemy.^{[Sanguozhi 11][Sanguozhi zhu 3]}

Battle of Lujiang

Around 214, Cao Cao retreated from Ruxu, he appointed Zhu Guang (朱光) as the Administrator (太守) of Lujiang Commandery (廬江郡; commandery capital in present-day Lujiang County, Hefei, Anhui) and ordered the latter to station at Huan (皖; or Huancheng, in present-day Huaining County, Anhui). Zhu Guang developed the area for agricultural use, while bribing bandits from Poyang (鄱陽) to serve as spies in Sun Quan's territory. Lü Meng warned Sun Quan, "The lands in Huan are very fertile so the enemy's numbers will rise after they gain a bountiful harvest. Within a few years time, Cao Cao's military prowess would have increased significantly, so we should eliminate them soon." Sun Quan heeded Lü Meng's advice and personally led a campaign to attack Lujiang. Before the battle, Sun Quan summoned all his generals and asked them for their opinions.^{[Sanguozhi 12]}

The generals suggested to pile up earth to form small hills and replenish their equipment. However, Lü Meng disagreed, "It will take several days to build the hills and replenish our equipment. By then, the enemy would have reinforced their defences and their relief forces would have arrived, and we cannot defeat them. The rainwater has flowed in, and the water level will subside if we linger on for days. By then, it will be very difficult for our ships to retreat and we may be in danger. As of now, I observe that the fortress's defences are weak, so we can achieve victory if we attack it from all directions when our army's morale is still high. We can retreat via the water route after that. This is the way to secure total victory." Sun Quan followed Lü Meng's suggestion.^{[Sanguozhi zhu 4]}

Lü Meng recommended Gan Ning to lead the assault on Huan while he followed behind with the elite troops. They attacked at dawn, with Lü Meng personally beating a war drum, and the soldiers' morale increased tremendously. By noon, they had taken the fortress. Around that time, Cao Cao's general Zhang Liao was leading reinforcements from Hefei to help Zhu Guang, and when he reached Jiashi (夾石), he heard that Huan had been captured by the enemy, so he withdrew his troops. Sun Quan praised Lü Meng for his bravery and appointed him as the Administrator of Lujiang. Lü Meng was awarded 600 taxable households from Xunyang (尋陽) and given 30 more subordinates under his command.^{[Sanguozhi 13]}

When Lü Meng returned to Xunyang, he heard that some bandits were causing trouble in Luling (廬陵), and many of Sun Quan's officers had been unsuccessful in capturing the bandits. Sun Quan remarked, "A hundred birds of prey are not comparable to even one osprey." He then ordered Lü Meng to attack the bandits. Lü Meng achieved success and killed the bandit chiefs but released the others and allowed them to return to normal civilian life.^{[Sanguozhi 14]}

Sun-Liu territorial dispute

Around 212, Sun Quan's ally Liu Bei embarked on a western campaign to seize control of Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing) from its governor Liu Zhang. He left Guan Yu behind to defend Jing Province in his absence. By 215, Liu Bei had completely taken over Yi Province. In diplomatic terms, Sun Quan felt that he was "leasing" Jing Province to Liu Bei per an earlier agreement they had in 209, so he wanted the province back because Liu Bei already had a new base of operations (Yi Province). Sun Quan thus ordered Lü Meng to take three commanderies in southern Jing Province – Changsha (長沙), Lingling (零陵) and Guiyang (桂陽). Lü Meng wrote to the Administrators of the three commanderies, asking them to submit to Sun Quan, and they all agreed, with the exception of Lingling Commandery's Hao Pu (郝普). Liu Bei returned to Jing Province when he heard of Lü Meng's advances and he stationed at Gong'an (公安; present-day Gong'an County, Jingzhou, Hubei) while ordering Guan Yu to lead an army to take back the three commanderies. At the time, Sun Quan was at Lukou (陸口; in present-day Jiayu County, Xianning, Hubei) and he sent Lu Su to lead 10,000 troops to Yiyang to block Guan Yu. Sun Quan also sent an urgent order to Lü Meng, ordering the latter to give up on Lingling and head towards Yiyang to help Lu Su.^{[Sanguozhi 15]}

When Lü Meng pacified Changsha, he passed by Ling (酃) and met a man called Deng Xuanzhi (鄧玄之), who was an old friend of Hao Pu. He planned to use Deng Xuanzhi to trick Hao Pu into surrendering. That night, Lü Meng summoned all his officers and gave them instructions on how to attack Lingling the following morning, without telling them that Sun Quan had given orders for them to give up on Lingling and move to Yiyang. He lied to Deng Xuanzhi that Liu Bei was being besieged in Hanzhong by Cao Cao's general Xiahou Yuan and that Guan Yu was occupied in a battle at Nan Commandery. He then asked Deng Xuanzhi to help him persuade Hao Pu to give up on Lingling. Deng Xuanzhi went to see Hao Pu later and conveyed Lü Meng's message. Hao Pu became afraid when he heard that he had been isolated, so he agreed to surrender and asked Deng Xuanzhi to lead him to Lü Meng. When Lü Meng met Hao Pu, he revealed the truth to Hao, clapped his hands and laughed. Hao Pu became wrecked with guilt when he learnt that both Liu Bei and Guan Yu were actually free to reinforce Lingling but it was too late. Lü Meng left Sun He (孫河) behind to guard the three commanderies while he headed towards Yiyang per Sun Quan's order.^{[Sanguozhi 16]}

The territorial dispute between Sun Quan and Liu Bei was eventually resolved when both sides agreed to divide Jing Province between their respective domains along the Xiang River. Sun Quan released Hao Pu and returned Lingling to Liu Bei. Lü Meng was granted the counties of Xunyang (尋陽) and Yangxin (陽新) as his personal estate.^{[Sanguozhi 17]}

Battles of Xiaoyao Ford and Ruxu

In 214, after returning from Jing Province, Lü Meng joined Sun Quan in a campaign to conquer the city of Hefei, which was defended by Cao Cao's general Zhang Liao. By 215, Sun Quan's forces had failed to breach Hefei's walls and had also sustained heavy casualties in the earlier engagements with the enemy. When a plague broke out in his army, Sun Quan decided to withdraw. While retreating, Sun Quan was caught up in a fierce counterattack by Zhang Liao, but managed to break out of the encirclement and reach safety when his generals, including Lü Meng, fought with their lives to protect their lord at all costs.^{[Sanguozhi 18]}

Later, in 217, Cao Cao personally led a large army to invade Sun Quan's garrison at Ruxu (濡須; north of present-day Wuwei County, Wuhu, Anhui). Sun Quan led his forces to resist the enemy and placed Lü Meng in charge of overseeing the army. Lü Meng arrived at the dock, which he suggested to Sun Quan to construct earlier in 213, and stationed thousands of archers there to rain arrows on the enemy when they approached. He also attacked the camp of Cao Cao's vanguard force before the enemy established a foothold and succeeding in destroying the camp. Cao Cao saw that he could not overcome Sun Quan and eventually retreated. Lü Meng was promoted to "General of Tiger's Might" (虎威將軍) and appointed as "Left Protector of the Army" (左護軍).^{[Sanguozhi 19]}

Succeeding Lu Su

In 217, when Lu Su died, Lü Meng took over command of the former's troops, numbering over 10,000, and moved west to the garrison at Lukou (陸口; in present-day Jiayu County, Xianning, Hubei). Lü Meng was also appointed as the Administrator (太守) of Hanchang commandery (漢昌郡) and was given the counties of Xiajun (下雋), Liuyang (劉陽), Hanchang and Zhouling (州陵) as his personal estate. He was stationed near the Sun-Liu border, which was guarded by Liu Bei's general Guan Yu on the other side. Lü Meng was aware of Guan Yu's military prowess and intentions of seizing Sun Quan's territories in Jing Province, and that Guan was in a strategic position on the upstream of the Yangtze River. He knew that the temporary stability and truce between Sun Quan and Liu Bei would not last long.^{[Sanguozhi 20]}

Previously, Lu Su had advocated the maintenance of friendly relations between Sun Quan and Liu Bei to sustain their alliance against Cao Cao. Lü Meng wrote a secret letter to Sun Quan, "You can order Sun Jiao to guard Nan commandery (南郡; commandery capital in present-day Jiangling County, Jingzhou, Hubei), Pan Zhang to station at Baidicheng, and Jiang Qin to lead 10,000 marines to sail along the river and attack any enemy position. I'll personally head towards the frontline at Xiangyang. In this way, we won't need to worry about Cao Cao nor rely on Guan Yu. Besides, Guan Yu and his lord are untrustworthy so you shouldn't be too faithful towards them. Currently, the reason why Guan Yu doesn't advance east, based on your keen sense of judgement, is because of my existence. Now, we should attack him when our forces are still very powerful, because it'll be more difficult to do so later." Sun Quan agreed with Lü Meng and wanted to accept his suggestion, but he then enquired again about attacking Cao Cao in Xu Province, to which Lü Meng replied, "Cao Cao is currently far away in Hebei. He has defeated the Yuans not too long ago and is still busy pacifying You and Ji provinces in northern China, so he won't focus on the east. The troops defending Xu Province are not a cause for concern because they can be easily overcome. However, the terrain there is very accessible by land and is suitable for the deployment of cavalry forces. Even if you manage to conquer Xu Province now, Cao Cao will definitely come to claim it back later. By then, even if we have 70,000–80,000 men to defend the province, we'll still need to be worried. Why don't we attack Guan Yu instead? If we succeed, we'll have the Yangtze River to our advantage and our prowess will increase significantly." Sun Quan felt that Lü Meng's advice was appropriate and heeded it.^{[Sanguozhi 21]}

When Lü Meng was at Lukou, he treated his neighbours generously and maintained friendly diplomatic ties with Guan Yu.^{[Sanguozhi 22]}

Invasion of Jing Province

In 219, Guan Yu led an army to attack Cao Cao's fortress at Fan (樊; or Fancheng, present-day Fancheng District, Xiangyang, Hubei), which was defended by Cao Ren. He left behind his subordinates Shi Ren and Mi Fang to defend Gong'an (公安; present-day Gong'an County, Jingzhou, Hubei) and Nan Commandery (南郡; commandery capital in present-day Jiangling County, Jingzhou, Hubei) respectively. When Lü Meng heard about that, he wrote to Sun Quan, "When Guan Yu went to attack Fan, he left behind many backup forces because he was afraid that I would seize the territories in his absence. I'm often ill. Now, I request to return to Jianye (建業; in present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu) under the guise of seeking medical treatment. When Guan Yu learns that I've left Jing Province, he'll definitely withdraw the backup forces and move all out towards Xiangyang. When that happens, our troops will sail along the river, travelling day and night, and swiftly attack the weakly defended territories. We can thus conquer Nan commandery and capture Guan Yu." Sun Quan agreed to Lü Meng's plan and he played along by ordering Lü to return to Jianye for medical treatment.^{[Sanguozhi 23]}

Guan Yu fell for the ruse and withdrew the backup forces and advanced towards Fan. When Cao Cao heard of the attack at Fan, he sent Yu Jin to lead an army to relief Cao Ren, but Yu lost the battle and was captured alive by Guan Yu. Guan Yu's troops increased in numbers after his victory so he lacked food supplies. He sent his men to seize grain from one of Sun Quan's depots along the Xiang River. When Sun Quan heard about that, he sent Lü Meng ahead to invade Jing Province while he followed up behind. Lü Meng arrived at Xunyang (尋陽), where he ordered his elite soldiers to disguise themselves as merchants and sail towards Nan Commandery. On the journey, they captured the watchtowers set up by Guan Yu along the river, preventing the defenders from learning of their approach. Guan Yu was totally unaware of this.^{[Sanguozhi 24]} Shi Ren, who was defending Gong'an, surrendered to Lü Meng after being persuaded by Yu Fan, an official under Sun Quan. Earlier on, Mi Fang was punished by Guan Yu for neglecting his duty, which resulted in some weapons being destroyed in a fire, and Mi was still afraid of Guan. Lü Meng showed understanding towards Mi Fang and successfully induced the latter to surrender as well.^{[Sanguozhi zhu 5][Sanguozhi zhu 6]}

After entering Nan Commandery, Lü Meng treated the civilian population well, among whom included family members of Guan Yu's troops. He also gave strict orders to his men, forbidding them from disturbing the people. In one incident, Lü Meng executed one of his soldiers for stealing from a civilian household, despite that man being an old acquaintance of his, and he shed tears after that. This incident shocked Lü Meng's army and his men did not dare to defy his orders. Lü Meng won the hearts of the people through showing kindness towards them – he provided necessities such as food and clothing to the elderly and the poor, and distributed medicine to the sick. He also ordered the treasury in the commandery office to be sealed up while they awaited Sun Quan's arrival.^{[Sanguozhi 25]}

Guan Yu was returning to Nan Commandery when he heard that Jing Province had fallen under Lü Meng's control. He sent messengers to meet Lü Meng, who brought them on a tour of the city. When the messengers returned to Guan Yu, they spread the word that their families were well. Guan Yu's troops lost their fighting spirit upon receiving news that their families were being treated better as compared to in the past. Guan Yu knew that he had lost and was isolated, so he withdrew to Maicheng (麥城; around present-day Maicheng Village, Lianghe Town, Dangyang, Hubei). When they reached Zhang District (漳鄉) in the west, Guan Yu's men all deserted and surrendered to Sun Quan's forces. Sun Quan sent Zhu Ran and Pan Zhang to block Guan Yu's retreat route. Guan Yu and his son Guan Ping were captured by Sun Quan's forces in an ambush and executed. Liu Bei's territories in Jing Province had completely fallen under Sun Quan's control.^{[Sanguozhi 26]}

Death

For his achievements in the conquest of Jing Province, Lü Meng was appointed as the Administrator (太守) of Nan Commandery. He was also granted the title "Marquis of Chanling" (孱陵侯) and awarded 100 million coins and 500 jin of gold.^{[Sanguozhi 27]} Earlier on, Sun Quan threw a banquet at Gong'an to celebrate the victory, but Lü Meng did not want to attend because he was ill. Sun Quan laughed and said, "Ziming, you deserve the honour of capturing Guan Yu. Victory has been achieved but you've yet to receive any reward, so how can you leave now?" He ordered the soldiers to play music, while he selected subordinates for Lü Meng and the ceremonial equipment required for Lü's new appointments. After the ceremony, all the soldiers lined up along the path while Lü Meng took his leave, with music playing in the background. That was Lü Meng's finest hour.^{[Sanguozhi zhu 7]}

Lü Meng rejected the coins and gold, but Sun Quan insisted that he accept. He became ill again before he was enfeoffed as a marquis. Sun Quan was at Gong'an then, and he had Lü Meng brought into his living quarters. He also offered 1,000 jin of gold as a reward to any person who could cure Lü Meng. Sun Quan became more worried as Lü Meng's condition deteriorated over time. He wanted to see Lü Meng but felt that it was too troublesome to keep moving around, so he had a hole drilled into the wall to observe Lü Meng's room. He was happy when he saw Lü Meng having his meals, but could not sleep at night when he saw that Lü could not eat. When Lü Meng's condition improved slightly, he was so overjoyed that he ordered his subjects to visit Lü and wish him well. He even invited Taoist priests to perform rituals to increase Lü Meng's lifespan. Despite Sun Quan's efforts, Lü Meng eventually died in Gong'an at the age of 42 (by East Asian age reckoning). Sun Quan was extremely grieved by Lü Meng's death. Before Lü Meng died, he had instructed his family to store all their priced possessions – including gifts from Sun Quan – in a vault and return them to his lord after his death. He had also asked for a simple funeral. Sun Quan was even more saddened when learnt that Lü Meng had made such arrangements before his death.^{[Sanguozhi 28]}

Family

Lü Meng's marquis title was inherited by his son, Lü Ba (呂霸). Lü Ba was awarded 50 qing of land – one qing was approximately equivalent to 6.67 hectares – and 300 households to help him keep watch over his father's tomb. Lü Ba was succeeded by his elder brother, Lü Cong (呂琮), after his death. Lü Cong passed on the marquis title to his younger brother, Lü Mu (呂睦) when he died.^{[Sanguozhi 29]}

Anecdotes

Incident with Cai Yi

In his younger days, Lü Meng was not competent in reading and writing. Whenever he issued orders, he had to verbally instruct his subordinates or ask someone to help him write. He was thus derided by Cai Yi (蔡遺), the Administrator of Jiangxia (江夏). However, Lü Meng never hated Cai Yi for that. When Gu Shao (顧邵), the Administrator of Yuzhang (豫章), died, Lü Meng recommended Cai Yi to Sun Quan to replace Gu Shao. Sun Quan laughed and said to Lü Meng, "Are you trying to be like Qi Xi?"^{[lower-alpha 1]} He then followed Lü Meng's suggestion.^{[Sanguozhi 30]}

Dispute with Gan Ning

Gan Ning, a general under Sun Quan, was notorious for his violent and murderous ways, and Lü Meng was unhappy with him. There was one incident where Lü Meng was so furious with Gan Ning that he wanted to kill him. Gan Ning also often defied Sun Quan's orders and Sun was very angry with him. When Lü Meng heard about it, he told Sun Quan, "The Empire has yet to be pacified. Fierce generals like Gan Ning are hard to come by. You should tolerate him." Sun Quan heeded Lü Meng's advice and treated Gan Ning generously. In return, Gan Ning served Sun Quan faithfully until his death.^{[Sanguozhi 31]}

Appraisal

Sun Quan once said, "A person improves as he grows older. Lü Meng and Jiang Qin are two excellent examples. They have obtained wealth and glory, but yet they are willing to pick up reading and scholarly pursuits. They view material wealth lightly and value righteousness."^{[Sanguozhi zhu 8]} On another occasion, he said, "When Ziming was young, I said he was someone who did not give in to adversity, he was indeed courageous but only so. When he grew older, he became more knowledgeable and resourceful, and was second to Gongjin, but he was less capable in speech as compared to Gongjin. When he defeated and captured Guan Yu, he did better than Lu Zijing."^{[Sanguozhi 32]}

Chen Shou, who wrote Lü Meng's biography in the Sanguozhi, commented on him as follows, "Lü Meng was courageous and witty, decisive and well versed in military strategy. Deceiving Hao Pu and capturing Guan Yu – those were his finest moments. Initially, he was rash and reckless, but eventually he managed to exercise self-restraint. He possessed the magnanimity of a great statesman and was not a mere military officer! Sun Quan's comments on Lü Meng, both positive and negative, were befitting, hence I included them in this record."^{[Sanguozhi 33]}

In fiction

Lü Meng appeared as a character in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, which romanticises the historical events before and during the Three Kingdoms period. His death was dramatised in chapter 77 of the novel.

Sun Quan and his subjects were celebrating their conquest of Jing Province, with Lü Meng receiving the highest honour. During the banquet, Lü Meng was suddenly possessed by Guan Yu's spirit and he grabbed Sun Quan and shouted, "Green-eyed brat! Purple-bearded coward, do you still recognise me?" Sun Quan's subordinates were shocked and immediately rushed forth to save their lord. The possessed Lü Meng shoved Sun Quan away and sat on Sun's seat, with an expression of fury on his face, and he boomed, "Since defeating the Yellow Turban rebels, I've fought in wars for over 30 years. But I lost my life because you used an evil scheme against me. I cannot feast on your flesh while I was still alive, but I can still seize Lü Meng's soul after my death! I'm Guan Yunchang, the Marquis of Hanshou." Sun Quan and the others were so terrified that they sank to their knees. Lü Meng collapsed and died, bleeding from seven body orifices. Everyone was traumatised by the scene they witnessed.^[5]

Modern references

Lü Meng is featured as a playable character in Koei's Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi video game series. In the games, his name is spelled as "Lu Meng" without the diaeresis in the "U" in "Lu". He also appears in all instalments of Koei's strategy game series Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The fictional character Ryomou Shimei of the anime and manga series Ikki Tousen is based on Lü Meng.

See also

• List of people of the Three Kingdoms

Notes

References

Citations from the Sanguozhi

• Chen, Shou. Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).

Citations from annotations in the Sanguozhi

• Pei, Songzhi. Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu).

Other sources

• Luo, Guanzhong. Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi).
• Sima, Guang. Zizhi Tongjian.