View source for Meng Da

{{Short description|General who served under Liu Zhang, Liu Bei and Cao Wei (died 228)}}
{{Distinguish|Ng Man-tat|text=[[Ng Man-tat]] (吳孟達), an actor with similar given name in Chinese}}
{{Family name hatnote|[[Meng (surname)|Meng]]|lang=Chinese}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Meng Da
| native_name = 孟達
| image = Defeat of Meng Da.jpg
| image_size = 180px
| caption = A [[Qing dynasty]] illustration of Meng Da's death
| alt = 
| office = Administrator of Xincheng (新城太守)
| term_start = ?
| term_end = {{End date|228}}
| monarch = [[Cao Pi]] / [[Cao Rui]]
| office1 = General Who Builds Martial Might<br>(建武將軍)
| term_start1 = {{Start date|220}}
| term_end1 = ?
| monarch1 = [[Cao Pi]]
| office2 = Regular Mounted Attendant<br>(散騎常侍)
| term_start2 = {{Start date|220}}
| term_end2 = ?
| monarch2 = [[Cao Pi]]
| office3 = Administrator of Yidu (宜都太守)<br><small>(under [[Liu Bei]])</small>
| monarch3 = [[Emperor Xian of Han]]
| term_start3 = {{Start date|214}}
| term_end3 = {{End date|219}}
| birth_date = Unknown
| birth_place = [[Xingping]], [[Shaanxi]]
| death_date = 228
| death_place = [[Fang County]], [[Hubei]]
| occupation = General
| blank1 = [[Courtesy name]]
| data1 = Zijing (子敬) / Zidu (子度)
| blank2 = Peerage
| data2 = Marquis of Pingyang Village<br>(平陽亭侯)
}}

'''Meng Da''' ({{audio|Meng Da.ogg|pronunciation}}; died {{circa}} March 228<ref>1st month of the 2nd year of the ''Tai'he'' era, per vol. 71 of ''Zizhi Tongjian''. The month corresponds to 23 Feb to 23 Mar 228 in the Julian calendar.</ref>), [[courtesy name]] '''Zidu''', was a military general of the state of [[Cao Wei]] during the early [[Three Kingdoms]] period of China. He previously served the warlords [[Liu Zhang (warlord)|Liu Zhang]] and [[Liu Bei]] during the late [[Eastern Han dynasty]] before defecting to Wei. In Wei, he served under the first two rulers, [[Cao Pi]] and [[Cao Rui]]. Around late 227, he started a [[Xincheng Rebellion|rebellion]] in Wei and aimed to rejoin the [[Shu-Han]] but the revolt was swiftly suppressed by the Wei general [[Sima Yi]]. Meng Da was captured and executed for treason.

==Background==
Meng Da was a son of Meng Ta ({{lang|zh|孟他; {{floruit}}160-170}}), who was Inspector of Liang province during the reign of [[Emperor Ling of Han]].<ref>Pei Songzhi included a short biography of Meng Ta in his annotation of [[Cao Rui]]'s biography in ''Sanguozhi'' (伯郎姓孟，名他，扶风人。灵帝时。中常侍张让专朝政，让监奴典护家事。他仕不遂，乃尽以家财赂监奴，与共结亲，积年家业为之破尽。众奴皆惭，问他所欲，他曰：“欲得卿曹拜耳。”奴被恩久，皆许诺。时宾客求见让者，门下车常数百乘，或累日不得通。他最后到，众奴伺其至，皆迎车而拜，径将他车独入。众人悉惊，谓他与让善，争以珍物遗他。他得之，尽以赂让，让大喜。他又以蒲桃酒一斛遗让，即拜凉州刺史。他生达，少入蜀。其处蜀事迹在刘封传。) In ''Book of the Later Han'' and ''Zizhi Tongjian'', Meng's name was recorded as "Tuo" (佗); Zhang Rang's biography in ''Book'' recorded how Meng bribed Zhang in order to obtain the post of Inspector of Liang province; this record is similar to Pei's annotation in ''Sanguozhi''. Vol.78 of ''Book'' and vol.56 of ''Tongjian'' recorded that as Inspector, Meng sent 500 soldiers from Dunhuang as part of an expedition against [[Shule Kingdom|Shule]] in 170. ([灵帝建宁]三年，凉州刺史孟佗遣从事任涉将敦煌兵五百人，与戊司马曹宽、西域长史张晏，将焉耆、龟兹、车师前后部，合三万馀人，讨疏勒，攻桢中城，四十馀日不能下，引去。) ''Houhanshu'', vol.78.</ref>

==Service under Liu Zhang and Liu Bei==
Meng Da originally served [[Liu Zhang (warlord)|Liu Zhang]], the governor of [[Yi Province]] (covering present-day [[Sichuan]] and [[Chongqing]]). He defected to another warlord, [[Liu Bei]], when the latter [[Liu Bei's takeover of Yi Province|invaded Yi Province]] in the early 210s and seized control of the province from Liu Zhang. Liu Bei sent Meng Da to guard Jiangling ({{lang|zh|江陵}}), and promoted him to Administrator ({{lang|zh|太守}}) of Yidu ({{lang|zh|宜都}}) later after settling Yi Province. Meng Da's original courtesy name was "Zijing", but he changed it to "Zidu" to avoid [[naming 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 ({{lang|zh|秭歸}}) to attack Fangling ({{lang|zh|房陵}}). After conquering Fangling, Meng Da advanced further north and captured another city, Shangyong ({{lang|zh|上庸}}), where he rendezvoused with [[Liu Feng]], Liu Bei's adoptive son. Later that year, when Liu Bei's general [[Guan Yu]] was [[Lü Meng's invasion of Jing Province|trapped by enemy forces]] in [[Jingzhou (ancient China)|Jing Province]], Guan requested reinforcements from Liu Feng and Meng Da, but they refused. Guan Yu was eventually captured by forces of the eastern warlord [[Sun Quan]] and was executed.

==Defection to Wei==
Meng Da was afraid that he would be punished for refusing to help [[Guan Yu]]. At the time, his relationship with Liu Feng was also strained. Hence, he brought 4,000 soldiers with him and defected to [[Liu Bei]]'s rival [[Cao 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,<ref>(私怨人情，不能不見，恐左右必有以間於漢中王矣。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 40.</ref> 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 forcing [[Emperor Xian of Han|Emperor Xian]] to abdicate the throne to him, after which he assumed the title of emperor and established the state of [[Cao Wei]], marking the start of the [[Three Kingdoms]] period. In Wei, Meng Da received various important appointments and the title of a marquis. Cao Pi merged the three [[Commandery (China)|commanderies]] of Fangling, Shangyong and Xicheng ({{lang|zh|西城}}) to form a larger commandery, Xincheng ({{lang|zh|新城}}), and he appointed Meng Da as the Administrator ({{lang|zh|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.<ref>(王甚器爱之，引与同辇，以达为散骑常侍、建武将军，封平阳亭侯。合房陵、上庸、西城三郡为新城，以达领新城太守，委以西南之任。行军长史刘晔曰：“达有苟得之心，而恃才好术，必不能感恩怀义。新城与孙、刘接连，若有变态，为国生患。”王不听。) ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol.69</ref> Meng Da became close friends with the Wei officials [[Huan Jie]] and [[Xiahou Shang]].

In 225, Li Hong ({{lang|zh|李鴻}}), a former Wei subject who surrendered to [[Shu Han]] (a state founded by Liu Bei), came to meet Shu's chancellor [[Zhuge Liang]] and the Shu officials [[Jiang Wan]] and [[Fei Shi]]. Li Hong told them about Meng Da's meeting with a person called Wang Chong ({{lang|zh|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.<ref>(建興三年，隨諸葛亮南行，歸至漢陽縣，降人李鴻來詣亮，亮見鴻，時蔣琬與詩在坐。鴻曰：「閒過孟達許，適見王沖從南來，言往者達之去就，明公切齒，欲誅達妻子，賴先主不聽耳。達曰：『諸葛亮見顧有本末，終不爾也。』盡不信沖言，委仰明公，無復已已。」) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 41.</ref>

==Rebellion and death==
{{Main|Xincheng Rebellion}}

[[Zhuge Liang]] attempted to contact Meng Da and induce him to defect back to Shu, despite objection from [[Fei Shi]], who remarked that Meng Da was an untrustworthy traitor. By then, the Wei emperor [[Cao Pi]] had died and was succeeded by [[Cao Rui]], who treated Meng Da less favourably. Meng Da's close friends [[Huan Jie]] and [[Xiahou 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 of [[Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions|Northern Expeditions]] against Wei, and he succeeded in persuading Meng Da to assist the [[Shu Han|Shu]] army by rebelling against Wei. However, Meng Da's rebellion plot was leaked out by Shen Yi ({{lang|zh|申儀}}), the Administrator of Weixing ({{lang|zh|魏興}}), whom Meng Da had a feud with. The Wei general [[Sima 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-day [[Nanyang, Henan|Nanyang]], [[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 ({{lang|zh|鄧賢}}) and subordinate Li Fu ({{lang|zh|李輔}}) and his rebellion was swiftly suppressed. He was captured and executed by Sima Yi.

==In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''==
{{Main|Xincheng Rebellion#In fiction}}

Meng Da appeared as a character in the 14th-century historical novel ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]''. His [[courtesy name]] in the novel is "Ziqing" ({{lang-zh|t=子慶|s=子庆|p=Zǐqìng|labels=no}}). His role in the novel is mainly centred on the events in the Xincheng Rebellion.

==See also==
* [[Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* [[Chen Shou|Chen, Shou]] (3rd century). ''[[Records of the Three Kingdoms]]'' (''Sanguozhi'').
* [[Fang Xuanling|Fang, Xuanling]] (ed.) (648). ''[[Book of Jin]]'' (''Jin Shu'').
* [[Pei Songzhi|Pei, Songzhi]] (5th century). ''[[Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms]]'' (''Sanguozhi zhu'').
* [[Sima Guang|Sima, Guang]] (1084). ''[[Zizhi Tongjian]]''.

{{People of Cao Wei}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meng, Da}}
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:228 deaths]]
[[Category:Cao Wei generals]]
[[Category:Generals under Liu Bei]]
[[Category:Political office-holders in Hubei]]
[[Category:Cao Wei government officials]]
[[Category:Politicians from Shaanxi]]
[[Category:People executed by Cao Wei]]