Traditional Chinese 孟獲 Pinyin | Simplified Chinese 孟获 Wade–Giles Meng Huo Parents Meng Du | |
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Similar Wei Yan, Sima Yi, Huang Gai, Zhuge Liang, Zhang Jue | ||
Three kingdoms meng huo s elephants
Meng Huo (birth and death dates unknown) was popularly regarded as a local leader representing the gentries of the Nanzhong region during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. The Nanzhong region part of the territories of the state of Shu Han. When the Shu Han emperor Liu Bei died in 223 CE, the local people of Nanzhong rebelled against Shu Han, stating that there were three lords claiming to be the legitimate ruler of China and they no longer knew whom they should pledge allegiance to. In retaliation, the Shu Han chancellor Zhuge Liang launched an invasion on the Nanzhong region and successfully quelled the uprising. The Spring and Autumn Annals of the Han and Jin Dynasties (漢晉春秋) and the Chronicles of Huayang recorded that Zhuge Liang captured and released the local leader seven times until he finally swore allegiance to Shu Han.
Contents
- Three kingdoms meng huo s elephants
- Dynasty warriors 8 empires meng huo all cutscenes
- Historicity
- In Romance of the Three Kingdoms
- In popular culture
- References
Meng Huo's popular image comes from the 14th-century semi-fictional novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, who romanticised the events before and during the Three Kingdoms period. The novel portrayed Meng Huo as a southern barbarian tribal leader. He also married the fictional Lady Zhurong, who claimed descent from the fire deity Zhurong.
The Yi consider Meng Huo one of their rulers and call him Mot Hop (Yi language: ꂽꉼ).
Dynasty warriors 8 empires meng huo all cutscenes
Historicity
The absurdity of Meng Huo being captured and released seven times led many to doubt the story, and even of Meng Huo's existence. The Republican-era historian Zhang Hualan (張華爛) wrote in his article "Discussion on Meng Huo" (孟獲辯) that Meng was a fictional character invented by later historians, noting that the name "Huo" (獲), which means "captured" in Chinese, is too coincidental considering Meng's fate on being captured – a view shared by many academics.
Meng Huo and the record of his captures first appeared in the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Han and Jin Dynasties, written by Xi Zuochi in the Eastern Jin dynasty, and were also detailed in the near-contemporary Chronicles of Huayang. The Liu Song dynasty historian Pei Songzhi, when compiling his annotated version of the Records of the Three Kingdoms, found Xi's work unreliable at times. Pei did not specifically comment on Meng Huo's historicity, but pointed out elsewhere that Xi wrote history not found in earlier records, hence the historian Fang Guoyu (方國瑜) used Pei's doubts on Xi's unreliability to challenge the story of Meng Huo's seven captures. However, Fang did not go as far as to doubt Meng Huo's existence.
Huang Chengzhong (黃承宗) of the Liangshan Yi Slave Society Museum believes Meng to be a real historical figure, though he is certain that the "seven times freed" story is fiction.
Sichuan University professor Miao Yue (繆鉞) contended Zhuge Liang would not be able to release the leader if the latter was indeed captured. Tan Liangxiao (譚良嘯), director of the Zhuge Liang Memorial Temple in Chengdu, also stated the "seven times freed" story to be "strange and unbelievable", but like Fang and Huang, he believes Meng Huo did exist in history.
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Extracts from Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms about Meng Huo:In popular culture
Meng Huo is featured as a playable character in Koei's Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi video game series.