Qin and Han · Envoy and Official

Tang Meng 唐蒙

Attested BC 135 - BC 129

Passages: 12
Chapters: 3
Histories: 2

Overview

The translated histories identify Tang Meng as an envoy, military officer, and official. This record brings together 12 passages from 3 chapters across 2 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Tang Meng	唐蒙	Tang Meng
Personal name	Tang Meng	唐蒙	Tang Meng

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · hanshu:067:s0002, shiji:116:s0019

Roles

Envoy
Military Officer
Official

Life and dates

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 唐蒙使略通夜郎 · Western Year: BC 129
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:067:s0002, hanshu:067:s0035
Source Date: Text: 建元六年 · Western Year: BC 135
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:116:s0018, shiji:116:s0019

Career and standing

Label: Palace Gentleman General / 郎中將 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 建元六年 · Western Year: BC 135
Explicit · shiji:116:s0029
Label: Prefect of Fanyang / 番陽令 · Action: held
Explicit · shiji:116:s0019

Places and affiliations

Polity: Han / 漢 · Relation: served
Explicit · hanshu:067:s0002, shiji:116:s0019
Place: Chang'an / 長安 · Relation: traveled-to
Explicit · shiji:116:s0021

Works and attributed material

Kind: memorial · Role: author · Other Person Id: Emperor of Han (天子) · Provenance: Mode: quotation · Speaker Person Id: Tang Meng (唐蒙)
Explicit · shiji:116:s0024, shiji:116:s0025, shiji:116:s0026, shiji:116:s0027

Events and relationships

Kind: diplomatic · Role: envoy · Action: met Duotong and negotiated Han control of Yelang · Other Person Id: Duotong (多同)
Explicit · shiji:116:s0029, shiji:116:s0030
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: opened road to Yelang; executed ringleaders under wartime law · Place: Yelang / Bozhong / 夜郎、僰中
Explicit · hanshu:067:s0002, hanshu:067:s0019, hanshu:067:s0020
Kind: political · Role: envoy · Action: returned and reported; Jianwei commandery established
Explicit · shiji:116:s0032
Kind: diplomatic · Role: envoy · Action: warned Southern Yue
Explicit · shiji:116:s0019

References in the histories

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

Book of Han, Chapter 27Volume 24b: Treatise on Trade 2 · 1 passage

唐蒙、司馬相如始開西南夷，鑿山通道千餘里，以廣巴蜀，巴蜀之民罷焉。 Tang Meng and Sima Xiangru launched southwestern expansion, cutting mountain passes over a thousand li into Ba and Shu, leaving those populations worn out.

Book of Han, Chapter 67Volume 57b: Sima Xiangru · 3 passages

相如為郎數歲，會唐蒙使略通夜郎、僰中，發巴、蜀吏卒，千人，郡又多為發轉漕萬餘人，用軍興法誅其渠率。 Xiangru had served as a gentleman attendant for several years when Tang Meng was dispatched to push the frontier toward Yelang and the Bozhong region. Tang called up a thousand officers and troops from Ba and Shu, and the commanderies raised more than ten thousand additional laborers for transport and supply. Invoking the statutes used in wartime mobilization, he put their leaders to death.

上聞之，乃遣相如責唐蒙等，因諭告巴、蜀民以非上意。 When the emperor learned of the unrest, he sent Xiangru to reprimand Tang Meng and his associates and to make clear to the people of Ba and Shu that none of this had been the sovereign's will.

唐蒙已略通夜郎，因通西南夷道，發巴、蜀、廣漢卒，作者數萬人。 Tang Meng had already pushed through to Yelang and was extending the southwest road, drafting tens of thousands of laborers from Ba, Shu, and Guanghan.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 116Treatise on the Southwestern Yi People · 8 passages

恢因兵威使番陽令唐蒙風指曉南越。 Riding the momentum of this campaign, Hui dispatched Tang Meng, the Prefect of Fanyang, to deliver veiled warnings to the Southern Yue.

南越食蒙蜀枸醬，蒙問所從來，曰「道西北牂柯，牂柯江廣數里，出番禺城下」。 The Southern Yue served Tang Meng a citrus sauce from Shu. When he asked where it came from, they told him, 'It comes by way of Zangke to the northwest. The Zangke River is several li across and flows down to the walls of Panyu.'

蒙歸至長安，問蜀賈人，賈人曰：「獨蜀出枸醬，多持竊出市夜郎。 When Tang Meng returned to Chang'an, he questioned merchants from Shu. They told him, 'Only Shu produces this citrus sauce. Traders smuggle large quantities of it out to sell in Yelang.

蒙乃上書說上曰：「南越王黃屋左纛，地東西萬餘里，名為外臣，實一州主也。 Tang Meng then submitted a memorial to the Emperor, arguing, 'The King of Southern Yue rides beneath a yellow canopy with a great banner at his left, and his domains stretch more than ten thousand li from east to west. In name, he is an outer vassal, but in truth he is the lord of an entire province.

乃拜蒙為郎中將，將千人，食重萬餘人，從巴蜀筰關入，遂見夜郎侯多同。 Tang Meng was appointed Palace Gentleman General and given command of a thousand soldiers with over ten thousand supply personnel. He entered through the Zuo Pass from Ba and Shu and secured an audience with Duotong, the Marquis of Yelang.

蒙厚賜，喻以威德，約為置吏，使其子為令。 Tang Meng lavished gifts upon him, impressed upon him the might and benevolence of Han, and negotiated an agreement to install officials, with the marquis's own son appointed as a local magistrate.

夜郎旁小邑皆貪漢繒帛，以為漢道險，終不能有也，乃且聽蒙約。 The smaller settlements surrounding Yelang all coveted Han silks, yet they believed that the treacherous roads would forever prevent Han from exerting real control over them. For the time being, they agreed to Tang Meng's terms.

還報，乃以為犍為郡。 When Tang Meng returned and made his report, the court established the Commandery of Jianwei.