Ancient China · Aristocrat

Lord Mengchang 孟嘗

Mengchang

Attested BC 300 - BC 220

Passages: 7
Chapters: 7
Histories: 2

Overview

The translated histories identify Lord Mengchang as an aristocrat, named individual, official, and royal family member. This record brings together 7 passages from 7 chapters across 2 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Lord Mengchang	孟嘗	Mengchang
Title	Lord Mengchang	孟嘗	Mengchang
Title	Lord Mengchang	孟嘗	Mèngcháng
Title	Lord Mengchang	孟嘗君	Mengchang Jun
Title	Lord Mengchang	孟嘗君	Mèngcháng Jūn
Title	Lord of Mengchang	孟嘗君	Mèngcháng Jūn

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Title only
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Explicit · shiji:048:s0168, shiji:076:s0017, shiji:078:s0106, shiji:085:s0056
Sex: male
Strongly inferred · shiji:124:s0022

Roles

Aristocrat
Named Individual
Official
Royal Family Member
Statesman

Life and dates

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 戰國時期 · Western Year: c. BC 290
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:048:s0168
Source Date: Text: 是時齊有孟嘗 · Western Year: c. BC 280
Derived · shiji:076:s0017
Source Date: Text: 莊襄王元年 · Western Year: BC 249
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:085:s0052, shiji:085:s0056
Source Date: Text: 近世延陵、孟嘗、春申、平原、信陵 · Western Interval: Start: BC 300 · End: BC 220
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:124:s0022
Source Date: Text: 齊有孟嘗君 · Western Interval: Start: BC 262 · End: BC 255
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:078:s0106

Career and standing

Status: royal-kin · Label: relied on kinship with royalty / 因王者親屬
Explicit · shiji:124:s0022

Places and affiliations

Polity: Qi / 齊 · Relation: of
Explicit · shiji:085:s0056
Organization: retainers / 士 · Relation: patron-of
Explicit · shiji:076:s0017

Events and relationships

Kind: alliance · Role: lord · Action: led the anti-Qin alliances of the feudal states
Explicit · shiji:048:s0168, shiji:048:s0169

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: discerning, loyal, generous, caring toward followers, and respectful of worthy men · Provenance: Mode: quoted-source-judgment · Source Person Id: Jia Yi (賈誼)
Explicit · shiji:048:s0168
Assessment: worthy; attracted worthies and won renown · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment · Speaker Person Id: Sima Qian (太史公)
Explicit · shiji:124:s0022

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Book of Han, Chapter 96Volume 85: Gu Yong and Du Ye · 1 passage

昔豫子吞炭壞形以奉見異，齊客隕首公門以報恩施，知氏、孟嘗猶有死士，何況將軍之門！」 Yurang disfigured himself with charcoal for his lord; a Qi retainer dashed out his brains at the gate to repay a kindness. Even the houses of Zhi Bo and Lord Mengchang kept men willing to die—how much more may your own gate command such loyalty!"

Book of Han, Chapter 104Volume 92: Youxias · 1 passage

由是列國公子，魏有信陵、趙有平原、齊有孟嘗、楚有春申，皆借王公之勢，競為遊俠，雞鳴狗盜，無不賓禮。 Then came the famous lords of the blood—Xinling in Wei, Pingyuan in Zhao, Mengchang in Qi, Chunshen in Chu—who traded on royal connections, bankrolled knights-errant, and honored even petty schemers as honored guests.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 48House of Chen She · 1 passage

當此之時，齊有孟嘗，趙有平原，楚有春申，魏有信陵：此四君者，皆明知而忠信，寬厚而愛人，尊賢而重士。 At that time, Qi had Lord Mengchang, Zhao had Lord Pingyuan, Chu had Lord Chunshen, and Wei had Lord Xinling. These four lords were all men of keen discernment and steadfast loyalty, generous of spirit and devoted to their followers, who honored the worthy and valued men of talent.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 76Biographies of Lord Pingyuan and Yu Qing · 1 passage

是時齊有孟嘗，魏有信陵，楚有春申，故爭相傾以待士。 At that time, Qi had Lord Mengchang, Wei had Lord Xinling, and Chu had Lord Chunshen; all of them vied with one another to attract and maintain worthy men.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 78Biography of Lord Chunshen · 1 passage

春申君既相楚，是時齊有孟嘗君，趙有平原君，魏有信陵君，方爭下士，招致賓客，以相傾奪，輔國持權。 Lord Chunshen became prime minister of Chu. At this time, Qi had Lord Mengchang, Zhao had Lord Pingyuan, Wei had Lord Xinling—all competing to win over scholars, recruiting retainers to outdo one another, strengthening their states and wielding influence.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 85Biography of Master Lü Buwei · 1 passage

當是時，魏有信陵君，楚有春申君，趙有平原君，齊有孟嘗君，皆下士喜賓客以相傾。 In that era, the state of Wei had the Lord of Xinling, Chu had the Lord of Chunshen, Zhao had the Lord of Pingyuan, and Qi had the Lord of Mengchang. Each of these great lords vied with the others in humbling himself before scholars and hosting retainers.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 124Biographies of Knight-errants · 1 passage

近世延陵、孟嘗、春申、平原、信陵之徒，皆因王者親屬，藉於有土卿相之富厚，招天下賢者，顯名諸侯，不可謂不賢者矣。 In more recent times, the Lord of Yanling, Lord Mengchang, Lord Chunshen, Lord Pingyuan, and Lord Xinling all drew on royal kinship and the vast wealth of their fiefs to attract the worthiest men under heaven and win renown among the feudal lords — they were, by any measure, men of worth.