Man Chong 滿寵

At eighteen Man Chong became Investigator of his commandery and brought to heel Li Shuo and others, who kept private troops and preyed on the common people, so that they never plundered again. While acting as Prefect of Gaoping, when Zhang Bao, a man of Gaoping County serving as Investigator of the commandery, took bribes and disrupted the administration, Man Chong arrested him, interrogated him until he died that same day, and then abandoned his office and went home. Records, Wei 26 §2

When Cao Cao took charge of Yan Province, Man Chong became an Attendant Officer, and when Cao Cao became General-in-Chief, he became Prefect of Xu after serving as Clerk of the Western Bureau. When retainers of Cao Hong repeatedly broke the law in Xu, he arrested and punished them, ignored a letter from Cao Hong, and, sensing that Cao Cao meant to pardon them, quickly had them executed. Cao Cao was pleased and said, 'Is this not just how a man in charge of affairs should be?' When the former Grand Commandant Yang Biao was handed over to prison, Xun Yu and Kong Rong asked that he not be tortured, but Man Chong interrogated him according to the law and then told Cao Cao that if Yang Biao's guilt was not clear, he would greatly lose the trust of the people, so that Yang Biao was pardoned that same day. Xun Yu and Kong Rong thought all the better of Man Chong for this. Records, Wei 26 §3–4

When Yuan Shao was powerful north of the Yellow River, in Runan, Yuan Shao's home commandery, his disciples and retainers held out with troops under their command. Made Administrator of Runan, Man Chong gathered 500 men, took more than twenty fortified camps, lured out more than ten chieftains who had not surrendered and killed them on the spot, and so pacified the commandery. He obtained 20,000 households and 2,000 soldiers and set them to farming. Records, Wei 26 §5

In the 13th year of Jian'an (208) he followed the campaign against Jing Province and remained at Dangyang as acting General of Vigorous Might; he then became Administrator of Runan again and was granted the rank of Marquis Within the Passes. When Guan Yu besieged Xiangyang, Man Chong helped Cao Ren and was stationed at Fancheng, but the armies of Yu Jin and others were engulfed and routed by water swollen by the long rains, and Fancheng too collapsed in many places. When someone proposed escaping by boat at night, Man Chong said that water coming down from the mountains would not last long, and that Guan Yu, who had sent detached commanders as far as the vicinity of Jia County yet did not dare advance, was afraid of being struck from behind; if they fled now, the land south of the great river would no longer belong to the state. Records, Wei 26 §6–7

When Cao Ren followed this advice, Man Chong drowned a white horse and swore an oath with the soldiers. When the relief army of Xu Huang and others arrived, he fought hard and won merit, and Guan Yu withdrew. He was enfeoffed as Marquis of Anchang Precinct. Records, Wei 26 §8

When Emperor Wen became King, Man Chong became General Who Displays Martial Might, and for his merit in defeating Wu at Jiangling he became General Who Calms the Waves and was stationed at Xinye. When he faced the enemy across the water at Jinghu, he had his troops prepare, saying that with the wind so fierce the enemy was sure to come and set fires, and in the middle of the night he defeated ten enemy detachments that came, and became Marquis of Nanxiang. In the 3rd year of Huangchu (222) he was granted the staff and battle-axe of authority, and in the 5th year (224) he became General of the Front. Records, Wei 26 §8–9

When Emperor Ming took the throne, Man Chong became Marquis of Changyi, and in the 2nd year of Taihe (228) he concurrently served as Inspector of Yu Province. When Cao Xiu was to advance south from Lujiang, Man Chong submitted a memorial saying that the route was easy to advance along but hard to retreat by, and that they should guard against Wuqiangkou. Before a reply came, Cao Xiu went deep into enemy territory and had his way back cut off at Jiashi, and only managed to return when Zhu Ling and others came up from behind. When Cao Xiu died, Man Chong, as General of the Front, replaced him in command of the military affairs of Yang Province. Records, Wei 26 §10–11

In the 4th year of Taihe (230) he became General Who Conquers the East. That winter, when Sun Quan withdrew, an edict came ordering the troops to be disbanded, but Man Chong judged it a feigned retreat and did not disband them; ten days or so later Sun Quan did indeed come again and attacked the city of Hefei, but could not take it. The next year, when the Wu general Sun Bu asked to surrender and requested that troops be sent to receive him, Man Chong judged it a ruse and gave no troops to the Inspector Wang Ling, and the 700 infantry and cavalry that Wang Ling sent separately were attacked by Sun Bu at night, with more than half killed or wounded. Records, Wei 26 §12–14

When Wang Ling's faction slandered Man Chong as old, worn out and unreasonable, Emperor Ming summoned him, but seeing that he was sturdy in body and vigour, sent him back. When Man Chong repeatedly asked to stay at court, Emperor Ming cited Lian Po and Ma Yuan, asked how he could call himself old when he was not, and had him guard the frontier. The next year, when Lu Xun came against Lujiang, Man Chong advanced to Yangyikou, saying that the enemy had left their boats and come 200 li so that their rear was empty, and the enemy fled that night. Records, Wei 26 §15–16

In the 1st year of Qinglong (233) Man Chong submitted a memorial proposing that, since the city of Hefei was close to the water and hard to relieve, a new city be built on strong ground 30 li to the west. Jiang Ji opposed this as a show of weakness, but Man Chong submitted memorial after memorial citing the words of Sunzi, and the Master of Writing Zhao Zi judged his plan the better, so permission was granted. That year Sun Quan, because the new city was far from the water, could not leave his boats for twenty days, and when he came ashore to parade his strength, several hundred of his men were beheaded by 6,000 troops that Man Chong had hidden in ambush at Feicheng. Records, Wei 26 §17–20

The following year, when Sun Quan reached the New City of Hefei claiming 100,000 men, Man Chong had a few dozen stout men pour hemp oil on pine torches and set fires from upwind, burning the siege engines, and shot and killed Sun Tai, the son of Sun Quan's younger brother. The Annals of Emperor Ming record that at this time Man Chong wanted to withdraw the garrison of the New City, but Emperor Ming would not allow it, and Sun Quan fled before Emperor Ming's army arrived. In the 8th month of the 3rd year of Qinglong (235) Man Chong smashed the Wu military farms north of the Yangtze and burned their grain. Records, Wei 26 §20–21Records, Wei 3 §37–38

In the 2nd year of Jingchu (238), because of his advanced age, he was summoned to court and became Grand Commandant. Since he had no wealth left in his household, Emperor Ming granted him fields, grain and money to make known his pure and frugal integrity, and his fief came to 9,600 households in all. He died in the 3rd month of the 3rd year of Zhengshi (242) and was given the posthumous title Marquis Jing. In his assessment Chen Shou said that he was firm and resolute in purpose, brave and also resourceful. Records, Wei 26 §22–23 · 80Records, Wei 4 §13