Meng Fangli
Meng Fangli (died July 2, 889) was a Tang dynasty warlord who controlled all or part of Zhaoyi Circuit from 881 to 889. He moved the circuit’s headquarters from Lu Prefecture to his home Xing Prefecture and ruled there as its military governor. He came from Xing Prefecture.
In 881, Gao Xun, the Zhaoyi governor, was leading a campaign to retake the capital Chang’an when he was assassinated by Cheng Lin. Meng Fangli killed Cheng Lin and then left Lu Prefecture with his army for Xing Prefecture. The people of Lu supported the eunuch Wu Quanxu to serve as acting military governor.
In 882, an edict in Emperor Xizong’s name named Meng the prefect of Xing, but Meng refused the commission and even arrested Wu, arguing that a eunuch could not be acting governor. He asked for a civilian official to be made the military governor. Zheng Changtu was installed as acting governor, but Emperor Xizong later named Wang Hui to be the new military governor. Wang Hui did not want to travel far and suggested Zheng again. Zheng went to Lu, but left after less than three months, leaving Meng in effective control of Zhaoyi. Meng then moved the circuit’s headquarters to Xing and claimed the title of acting military governor, placing Li Yinrui as Lu prefect.
To weaken Lu, Meng forced officers and the wealthy to move their families east of the Taihang Mountains. The eunuch monitor Qi Shenhui had An Jushou secretly appeal to Li Keyong, the military governor of Hedong, asking for intervention. In winter 883, Li Keyong sent He Gongya to attack Meng, but Meng defeated He. Li Keyong then sent his cousin Li Kexiu, who captured Lu and killed Li Yinrui, taking Lu for himself. This began years of war between Li Keyong and Meng that devastated Zhaoyi.
In fall 884, Li Keyong asked Emperor Xizong to name Li Kexiu as the military governor of Zhaoyi, leaving two contending governors in the circuit. In 885, a subordinate, Ma Shuang, rebelled against Meng to force Meng to kill Xi Zhongxin, but Ma was defeated and fled to Weibo Circuit. Meng sent Le Yanzhen to kill Ma.
In fall 886, Li Kexiu attacked Meng and captured many cities east of the Taihang. An Jinjun was made the prefect of Xing. In 888, Meng counterattacked by sending Xi to strike Hedong’s Liao Prefecture, but Xi was defeated and sent to Li Keyong.
In summer 889, Li Keyong launched a major assault on Meng, sending Li Hanzhi and Li Cunxiao. Ming and Ci Prefectures fell quickly. Meng sent Ma Gai and Yuan Fengtao to resist, but they were defeated at Liuli Slope near Xing. With Xing under siege and his officers growing distrustful of him, Meng Fangli killed himself in distress. The soldiers supported Meng Qian to act as governor, but Meng Qian eventually surrendered, leaving Li Keyong in control of a reunified Zhaoyi Circuit.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 19:46 (CET).