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}} Lü Meng (178–220),〔 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 his expeditions against the Shanyue. Deng Dang was shocked to see his teenage brother-in-law in his unit, so he scolded Lü Meng and warned him to stop doing that. Lü Meng refused to listen so Deng Dang told Lü's mother about this. When she wanted to punish Lü Meng, Lü 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.〔(呂蒙字子明，汝南富陂人也。 ... 少南渡，依姊夫鄧當。當為孫策將，數討山越。蒙年十五六，竊隨當擊賊，當顧見大驚，呵叱不能禁止。歸以告蒙母，母恚欲罰之，蒙曰：「貧賤難可居，脫誤有功，富貴可致。且不探虎穴，安得虎子？」母哀而舍之。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 54.〕 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 could no longer contain his anger towards the latter. He took refuge in the house of 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 acquitted Lü of his crime and recruited him as a close aide.〔(時當職吏以蒙年小輕之，曰：「彼豎子何能為？此欲以肉餧虎耳。」他日與蒙會，又蚩辱之。蒙大怒，引刀殺吏，出走，逃邑子鄭長家。出因校尉袁雄自首，承間為言，策召見奇之，引置左右。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 54.〕 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.〔(數歲，鄧當死，張昭薦蒙代當，拜別部司馬。權統事，料諸小將兵少而用薄者，欲并合之。蒙陰賒貰，為兵作絳衣行縢，及簡日，陳列赫然，兵人練習，權見之大恱，增其兵。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 54.〕 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).〔(從討丹楊，所向有功，拜平北都尉，領廣德長。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 54.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lü Meng」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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