Meng Huo - Contentions On Historicity

Contentions On 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 Yunnan 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 Annal of Han and Jin Dynasty, written by Xi Zaochi (習鑿齒) of 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 Zaochi's work unreliable at times. Pei does not specifically comment on Meng Huo's historicity, but points out elsewhere that Xi writes history not found in earlier records, hence the Yunnan historian Fang Guoyu (方国瑜) uses Pei's doubts on Xi's unreliability to challenge the story of Meng Huo's seven captures (though Fang does not go as far as to doubt Meng Huo's existence). Modern researcher Huang Chengzhong (黄承宗) of the Liangshan Yi Slave Society Museum (凉山彝族奴隶社会博物馆) believes Meng to be a real historical figure, though he is certain that the "seven times freed" story is fiction. The Sichuan University professor Miao Yue (缪钺) contended Zhuge would not be able to release the leader if the latter was indeed captured. Tan Liangxiao (谭良啸), director of the Museum of Temple of the Marquis of Wu 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.