39 Facts About Meng Zhixiang

Meng Zhixiang was a general of the Later Tang who went on to found the independent state of Later Shu during the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

Meng Zhixiang was an in-law of the Later Tang ruling family, who went by the family name Li.

Meng Zhixiang served the Later Tang as the military governor of Xichuan Circuit, after the conquest of Former Shu.

Meng Zhixiang, fearing accusations by Emperor Mingzong's chief advisor An Chonghui, rebelled, in alliance with Dong Zhang, military governor of neighboring Dongchuan Circuit.

Meng continued as titular vassal to Mingzong for the rest of that emperor's reign; but, afterwards, Meng Zhixiang declared himself suzerain of an independent state named Shu, in 934, now called Later Shu to avoid confusion with other political entities sharing the same name.

Meng Zhixiang was born in 874, during the reign of Emperor Yizong of Tang.

Meng Zhixiang's family was from Xing Prefecture, and his ancestors had served for generations as army officers at Xing, including his grandfather Meng Cha and his father Meng Dao.

However, when Zhaoyi came under attack in 901 by Li's archrival Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit, Meng Zhixiang Qian surrendered the circuit to Zhu.

However, as that position was a thankless position, and several prior chiefs of staff had been executed due to accusations of wrongdoing, Meng Zhixiang was fearful and declined the position.

Meng Zhixiang himself was thereafter made the discipline officer at Hedong.

Meng Zhixiang commissioned Li Jiji as the titular commander as its operations, with Guo Chongtao serving as deputy commander, in actual command of the operations.

Meng Zhixiang was unable to persuade Emperor Zhuangzong of this and she decided to issue an edict on her own, to be delivered by her servant eunuch Ma Yangui to Li Jiji, ordering Guo's death.

When Ma caught up with Meng Zhixiang, he delivered the message to Meng Zhixiang, and then himself rushed toward Chengdu.

Meng Zhixiang knew that disaster was about to come, and therefore decided to speed himself to Chengdu as well, behind Ma.

However, Meng Zhixiang was said to begin to plan to take personal control of the region, by establishing, in addition to the 26 corps that Guo Chongtao left in Xichuan, which totaled 27,000 soldiers, some 36 additional corps of troops, totaling 32,000 soldiers, including six special naval corps preparing to defend against attacks from water.

Meng Zhixiang kept Zhao at Chengdu to serve as his deputy military governor.

Meng Zhixiang was very displeased with Li's commissioning, and while ostensibly welcoming Li, he sent a large number of soldiers to escort Li to Chengdu, hoping that the large display of military might would intimidate Li into leaving on his own.

In 928, Meng Zhixiang reacted by establishing taxation checkpoints on the border of Xichuan and Dongchuan and taxing such salt trade heavily.

Meng Zhixiang sent 3,000 troops, commanded by the officer Mao Chongwei.

Meng Zhixiang then sent secret messengers to Mao and induced him to, in violation of imperial orders, return to Chengdu with his troops.

Further, Meng Zhixiang started to refuse to comply with past orders to supply the central government-created Ningjiang Circuit with food, claiming that the food was necessary for his own circuit's army.

However, Dong, believing that Jianmen Pass was securely defended by his own Dongchuan army, turned down Meng Zhixiang's offer of reinforcements; rather, he headed for Zhaowu's capital Li Prefecture and tried to capture it; when inclement weather subsequently stopped his advance, he withdrew back to Lang Prefecture without reinforcing the Jianmen defense.

Meanwhile, Meng Zhixiang sent the former Former Shu general Zhang Wu to capture the imperially-held Wutai Circuit.

Meng Zhixiang was particularly worried about the western circuits' reports of their difficulty in supplying Shi's army.

Apparently as a test to see whether Meng Zhixiang would be willing to end his resistance, Emperor Mingzong released some 1,500 men that Xichuan had previously sent to Kui Prefecture back to Xichuan.

In spring 931, Meng Zhixiang submitted a petition thanking Emperor Mingzong for their release, but did not stop his own military operations, as soon thereafter, Li Renhan captured Sui Prefecture, and Xia committed suicide.

Meng Zhixiang, after showing Xia's head to the imperial army to demonstrate that Sui Prefecture had fallen, buried Xia with respect.

Zhao Tingyin subsequently advocated seizing Dong by trick and taking over his army, but Meng Zhixiang stopped him from doing so.

When Zhao Tingyin subsequently advocated further attacking Shannan West Circuit Meng Zhixiang, pointing out that the army was tired, refused.

Meng Zhixiang, not wanting to be seen as the breaker of the covenant between him and Dong, did not himself send emissaries to the imperial government initially, and tried two more times to persuade Dong, to no avail.

Meng Zhixiang paid no heed to those letters, and, leaving Zhao Jiliang in command at Chengdu, himself took an army, along with Zhao Tingyin, to engage Dong.

Meng Zhixiang, to resolve the situation, took command of Dongchuan himself, while returning Li to Wuxin and giving Zhao the command of Baoning.

Meng Zhixiang reported the death of Grand Princess Fuqing, whom Emperor Mingzong then posthumously honored as Grand Princess Yongshun of Jin.

Shortly thereafter, Meng Zhixiang had Li Hao draft petitions on the part of the five acting military governors of the five subsidiary circuits, asking that Meng Zhixiang be given acting imperial authority in the region and asking for imperially-issued staffs for their own commands.

Under Li Hao's suggestion, Meng Zhixiang therefore submitted a petition of his own, requesting authority to commission prefectural prefects and lower-level officials on his own, while requesting that the imperial government officially command the five acting military governors as military governors.

Meng Zhixiang requested that the imperial government send the wives and children of the soldiers from the Central Plains to allow the families to be reunited.

Meng Zhixiang himself crafted clothes and crowns that were like the emperor's.

Meanwhile, Meng Zhixiang, who was said to have suffered from a stroke for over a year, became gravely ill.

Meng Zhixiang died the same day, and Meng Renzan took the throne.