Meng Guang 孟光

Meng Guang, courtesy name Xiaoyu, was a man of Luoyang in Henan and a clansman of Meng Yu, Grand Commandant of the Han. At the end of Emperor Ling's reign he became a lecture-section clerk (jiangbu li). When Emperor Xian moved the capital to Chang'an, he at last fled into Shu, and Liu Yan and his son treated him with the courtesy due to a guest. Records, Shu 12 §30

He was broadly learned and knew antiquity, there was no book he had not read, and he devoted himself especially to the Three Histories, excelling in the old institutions of the Han house. He loved the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals and disparaged the Zuo Commentary, and he constantly argued with Lai Min over these two schools, Meng Guang always clamouring noisily. Records, Shu 12 §30

When the First Sovereign pacified Shu, learning had declined after years of turmoil, so books and records were gathered and the various schools of learning sifted. Xu Ci and Hu Qian became Erudites and, together with Meng Guang, Lai Min and others, took charge of the old texts. When the First Sovereign pacified Yi Province, Meng Guang was appointed Gentleman Consultant and took charge of institutions together with Xu Ci and others. Records, Shu 12 §27 · 31

Before the First Sovereign took the imperial throne south of Wudan in Chengdu in the 4th month of the 26th year of Jian'an (221), the memorial submitted by the Grand Tutor Xu Jing, the General Who Pacifies the Han Mi Zhu, the Military Adviser General Zhuge Liang and others said, 'We will respectfully, together with the Erudite Xu Ci and the Gentleman Consultant Meng Guang, establish the rites and ceremonies, choose an auspicious day, and present the honoured title.' Records, Shu 2 §60 · 64–65

When the Later Sovereign took the throne, Meng Guang became Prefect of Tallies and Seals, Colonel of Garrison Cavalry and Privy Treasurer of the Changle Palace, and was then transferred to Minister of Agriculture. Records, Shu 12 §31

In the autumn of the 9th year of Yanxi (246), when a general amnesty was proclaimed, Meng Guang rebuked the General-in-Chief Fei Yi in front of everyone. An amnesty, he argued, is like a paralysis of one side of the body and has no place in an enlightened age; it may be resorted to as an expedient only when decline and exhaustion have reached their limit and there is no other choice. Now that the sovereign was benevolent and wise and the officials fit their posts, what urgency was there, he demanded, that extraordinary favours should be granted again and again? He also said that pardoning the guilty at the very season when hawks and falcons begin to strike went against the season of Heaven above and against the principles of men below. Fei Yi could only turn to him in apology, ill at ease. Records, Shu 12 §32–33

Meng Guang's way of pointing out sore and itching spots was mostly of this kind, so the senior ministers in charge of the government were not pleased at heart and his rank did not advance. He always spoke bluntly and avoided nothing, and so was disliked by the people of his time. Chen Shou wrote that this was probably why the Minister of Ceremonies Tan Cheng, the Superintendent of the Imperial Household Pei Jun and others, though all junior to Meng Guang in age and service, rose to positions above him. Records, Shu 12 §33–34

When the Gentleman of the Palace Library Xi Zheng repeatedly came to consult him, Meng Guang asked him what the Crown Prince studied and read and what his temperament and tastes were. When Xi Zheng answered that the prince served his parents with reverence and respect and that in dealing with the officials his conduct sprang from benevolence and forbearance, Meng Guang said that such things were found in every household, and that what he wanted to know was how the prince's strategic judgement and resourcefulness stood. When Xi Zheng said that the way of an heir lay in carrying out his father's wishes and giving him every joy, and that whether he had resourcefulness and strategic judgement could not be settled in advance, Meng Guang understood that Xi Zheng was prudent and would not speak loosely. Records, Shu 12 §35–36

Meng Guang said that because he liked plain speaking and was always pointing out gains and faults, he was criticized and disliked by the people of his time, and that, since the realm was not yet settled, resourcefulness should come first. The heir's reading, he said, should not be like that of men such as himself, who strove to know widely in order to await questions, nor like that of Erudites who drew lots for examination questions and sat lecture tests to seek rank; he should apply himself to what was urgent. Xi Zheng deeply agreed with Meng Guang's words. Records, Shu 12 §36–37

Later Meng Guang was implicated in an affair and dismissed from office, and he died at over ninety. The Records do not give the year of his death. The Biography of Lai Min records that at that time Meng Guang, too, was careless in speech and his opinions went against the times, but he was still better than Lai Min, and that both men, as aged and respected scholars, were treated with courtesy by the world. Records, Shu 12 §37 · 41

In his assessment Chen Shou said that Xu Ci, Meng Guang, Lai Min and Li Zhuan were widely read and had heard much, and that although they were not praised for virtuous conduct or achievement, they were truly all scholars of their age. Records, Shu 12 §102