Meng Xuanzhe

Meng Xuanzhe (937 –991 His mother's identity was lost to history.

In spring 964, in the middle of the invasion by Later Shu's northeastern neighbor Song dynasty, the commanding general of the Later Shu troops Wang Zhaoyuan was suffering multiple defeats at the hands of the Song army. Meng Chang became fearful, and commissioned another army to head to defend Jianmen Pass and put Meng Xuanzhe in titular command of it, with the generals Li Tinggui and Zhang Hui'an in actual command. Meng Xuanzhe's banners were all adorned with silk, but when the army encountered rain, he had the silk removed and then replaced when the rain stopped — but doing so caused the silk to be hung upside down. He also took his concubines and entertainers with him, such that he became a laughing stock for doing so. Before he could reach Jianmen, however, news came that Wang and Wang's deputy Zhao Chongtao had been again defeated and captured by Song forces. He panicked and, after initially intending to take up defensive position at Wude's capital Zi Prefecture , instead fled back to the Later Shu capital Chengdu. This caused major panic at the capital, leading to his father Meng Chang's decision to surrender to Song shortly after, ending Later Shu.

During Song Later in 965, Meng Chang and his family, as well as a group of high level Later Shu officials, were taken from Chengdu to the Song capital Kaifeng, where they formally submitted themselves to the mercies of Song's Emperor Taizu. Emperor Taizu pardoned them, and created Meng Chang the Duke of Qin. In preparation for the campaign, he had Meng take up position at Zhen Prefecture (鎮州, in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei) to prepare for his next move. He then headed to the largest city in the Sixteen Prefectures region, You Prefecture (幽州, in modern Beijing), and put it under siege. Meng was one of the generals participating in the siege. However, a Liao relief army, commanded by the Liao chancellor Yelü Sha, arrived during the siege and defeated the Song army, forcing the Song army to flee. In the aftermaths of the defeat at You, Emperor Taizong, who suffered a severe leg wound that would eventually lead to his death in 997, was anticipating further Liao incursions, and he ordered Meng to take up defensive position at Dingwu's capital Ding Prefecture and sent a number of imperial generals to Ding as well to assist him. When a Liao incursion did occur, Meng and the other imperial generals repelled them at Xu River , leading to their retreat. For this achievement, Meng was created the Duke of Teng. He was then recalled to the imperial government to serve as a general of the imperial guards. Shortly after, he was again sent out of the capital to serve as the prefect of Hua Prefecture (滑州, in modern Anyang, Henan).

Early in Emperor Taizong's Chunhua era (990-994), Meng became ill, and requested to be moved to a less important prefecture on the Huai River. Accordingly, he was moved to Chu Prefecture (滁州, in modern Chuzhou, Anhui). He died while serving there, in 991, and was given posthumous honors.

Notes and references

History of Song, vol. 479. Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms, vol. 50. Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 289. Xu Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 2, 4, 10.