Liu Mengyan

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Liu Mengyan was born during the Jiading era of Emperor Ningzong of the Southern Song, around 1219, and was a native of Quzhou. Quzhou lay in western Zhejiang at a transportation junction between the East Zhejiang Circuit and the Jiangnan West Circuit and had a long tradition of literary learning. The Liu family was not a prominent official lineage in the area. In his youth, Liu Mengyan was known for intelligence and diligence in study and placed considerable importance on personal reputation.

From the reign of Emperor Lizong onward, the Southern Song recruited large numbers through the imperial examination system, but ranking first remained one of the highest honors available to a scholar-official. In 1244, the fourth year of the Chunyou era, Liu Mengyan took first place in the jiachen examination at about age twenty-six. Deng Wenmian, Chen Zhuo, and others passed in the same cohort. After becoming the top graduate, Liu received an official appointment according to custom and began his career.

Career Advancement, 1244–1274

After placing first in the examination, Liu Mengyan initially served as Judicial Assistant of the Zhendong Military Commission. He later held a succession of central posts including Corrector in the Palace Library, Editorial Director, Deputy Director of the Directorate of Armaments, Deputy Director of the Palace Library, Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Clan and Crown Prince's Reader, Compiler in the National History Office, Reviewer in the Veritable Records Office, Revising Editor of the Palace Library, supervisory official in Fujian, and Right Vice Minister of Personnel. His career shows long service in central scholarly offices and the Six Ministries as well as some provincial assignments such as the Fujian supervisory post, reflecting the typical upward trajectory of an examination-trained bureaucrat.

In 1265, the first year of the Xianchun era under Emperor Duzong, Liu served as Academician of Duanming Hall and Signing Officer of the Bureau of Military Affairs, entering the core of Southern Song military decision-making. The following year he was promoted to Co-administrator of the Bureau of Military Affairs. In 1267 he concurrently became Assistant Grand Councilor and Military Affairs Commissioner, joining the highest executive ranks. In 1274 he left the capital as prefect of Tanzhou and Pacification Commissioner of Hunan, guarding the Jinghu South Circuit. By then Mongol forces had already broken Xiangyang and were advancing eastward along the Yangtze, and the Southern Song situation deteriorated rapidly. Liu remained in Tanzhou only briefly before being recalled to court the next year.

Grand Councilor and Abandonment of the Dynasty, 1275–1276

In 1275, the first year of Deyou under Emperor Gong of Song, Yuan forces invaded the south in strength and prefectures along the Yangtze fell one after another. The Southern Song court urgently recalled Liu Mengyan and appointed him Co-administrator of the Bureau of Military Affairs and Assistant Grand Councilor, then Right Grand Councilor and Military Affairs Commissioner, as well as Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the Circuits. Yet by the time he received these appointments, Yuan armies were advancing rapidly and the Southern Song stood on the brink of collapse. Liu shrank from the crisis, claimed illness, and remained at home. Only after Grand Empress Dowager Xie Daoqing personally visited his residence did he take office as Left Grand Councilor.

In the first month of 1276, the second year of Deyou, Yuan troops approached Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou). Despite holding the grand councilorship, Liu Mengyan abandoned his office and fled directly back to his home in Quzhou. The court summoned him twice, but he ignored both calls. In the third month Yuan forces occupied Lin'an and Emperor Gong of the Southern Song surrendered. In the ninth month Yuan troops captured Quzhou, and Liu, identifying himself as a former Southern Song grand councillor, led others in surrender. In this way the former examination laureate and grand councillor completely abandoned the Song court.

Service under the Yuan and Final Years, 1276–1295

After Liu Mengyan surrendered, the Yuan treated him generously. He first became Minister of Personnel, then Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and later Chief Hanlin Academician, reaching a rank comparable to the highest ministers. As a former Southern Song grand councillor, he also helped persuade a number of former Song officials to submit, and thus rendered what the new Yuan government regarded as service.

The action for which Liu later received the greatest condemnation was his alleged obstruction of Kublai Khan's plan to release Wen Tianxiang. After Wen was defeated and captured, Kublai respected his learning and character, treated him as an honored guest, and repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to persuade him to surrender. According to the account preserved here, torture was then used, but Wen remained unyielding. Some former Southern Song officials who had submitted to the Yuan asked the emperor to release Wen so that he could become a Daoist priest, and the emperor was inclined to do so. Liu Mengyan allegedly objected: "If Tianxiang is released, he will again rally righteous men south of the Yangtze to resist the Yuan. Where would that leave people like us?" The intervention is said to have strengthened the emperor's decision to execute Wen Tianxiang.

In 1295, the first year of Yuanzhen under Emperor Chengzong of Yuan, Liu Mengyan retired from office. He died of illness at home not long afterward, aged seventy-seven.

Major Activities

First Place in the Imperial Examination and Official Career

In 1244, the fourth year of Chunyou under Emperor Lizong of Song, Liu Mengyan ranked first in the jiachen jinshi examination; Deng Wenmian, Chen Zhuo, and others were among the same cohort. He later served in a long series of offices, including Judicial Assistant of the Zhendong Military Commission, Corrector in the Palace Library, Editorial Director, Deputy Director of the Directorate of Armaments, Deputy Director of the Palace Library, Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Clan and Crown Prince's Reader, Compiler in the National History Office, Reviewer in the Veritable Records Office, Revising Editor of the Palace Library, supervisory official in Fujian, and Right Vice Minister of Personnel. He accumulated the rank of Xuanfeng Dafu and became Academician of Duanming Hall. In 1265 he entered the Bureau of Military Affairs and later successively served as Signing Officer and Co-administrator of the Bureau, Assistant Grand Councilor, Military Affairs Commissioner, and other major posts, becoming one of the important executive ministers of the late Southern Song.

Becoming Grand Councilor and Surrendering to the Yuan

In 1275, the first year of Deyou, Liu Mengyan was appointed Right Grand Councilor and Military Affairs Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the Circuits, then soon transferred to Left Grand Councilor. Yet at the moment of greatest danger, with Yuan forces nearing the capital, he claimed illness and did not appear for duty. Only after Grand Empress Dowager Xie Daoqing personally urged him did he take up his responsibilities. In 1276, as Yuan forces closed on Lin'an, Liu abandoned office and fled to Quzhou. In the ninth month, after Yuan troops captured Quzhou, he led others in surrender as a former Southern Song grand councillor. Under the Yuan he served as Minister of Personnel, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Chief Hanlin Academician, eventually reaching grand-councillor rank.

Alleged Obstruction of Wen Tianxiang's Release

After Wen Tianxiang was defeated and captured, Kublai Khan respected his scholarship and character and repeatedly sought to persuade him to submit. Some former Song officials who had joined the Yuan asked that Wen be released to become a Daoist priest, and the emperor is said to have considered the request. Liu Mengyan allegedly objected: "If Tianxiang is released, he will again rally righteous men south of the Yangtze to resist the Yuan. Where would that leave people like us?" This account became a major source of Liu's posthumous infamy.

However, Deng Guangjian's early-Yuan Biography of Grand Councillor Wen, quoting the Collected Works of Wen Tianxiang, vol. 17, "Chronological Record", states that the person who advocated Wen Tianxiang's execution was instead Qingyang Mengyan, another former Southern Song scholar who had surrendered to the Yuan, not Liu Mengyan. Qingyang was a compound surname found in Sichuan, while Liu Mengyan was from Quzhou in Zhejiang. This account leaves unresolved whether Liu Mengyan directly contributed to Wen Tianxiang's death.

Wen Tianxiang's Satirical Poem

Wen Tianxiang strongly despised Liu Mengyan's surrender to the Yuan and wrote the poem "Written for Someone" to mock him:

"Across a hundred years success and failure drift; I smile to see the Keshan game still unfinished. Pleasures at the Golden Horse are now old rain; The camel of bronze leaves grief to the west wind. You boast of black hair like Jiang Zong, Yet men speak of Duke Chu with teeth turned cold. Dragon-head laureate, yellow-gated councillor—truly a dream; Awake from it, with what face can you see Jiangdong?"

In the poem, "Keshan" refers to Lanke Mountain in Quzhou, while "dragon-head laureate" and "yellow gate" evoke his status as examination laureate and grand councillor. The poem ridicules the idea that a man who held such honor could surrender to the enemy and still face the people of Jiangdong.

Personal Relations

Family

• Descendants of the Liu clan: according to later tradition, during the Ming, members of the Liu surname wishing to sit for the imperial examination had to submit a written declaration that they were "not descendants of Liu Mengyan" before being admitted to the examination hall.

Rulers and Officials

• Emperor Lizong of Song: Liu Mengyan ranked first in the 1244 examination during his reign.
• Emperor Duzong of Song: during the Xianchun era, Liu held major posts in the Bureau of Military Affairs and served as Assistant Grand Councilor.
• Emperor Gong of Song: Liu became Right Grand Councilor in 1275 and abandoned office and surrendered the following year.
• Xie Daoqing, Grand Empress Dowager: when Liu claimed illness in 1275 and stayed home, she personally visited his residence to urge him to serve, after which he became Left Grand Councilor.
• Kublai Khan, Emperor Shizu of Yuan: treated Liu generously after his surrender and appointed him Minister of Personnel, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Chief Hanlin Academician. Kublai was also recorded as saying: "Mengyan was the top graduate under the Song and rose to grand councillor. When Jia Sidao deceived the ruler and harmed the state, Mengyan merely accommodated himself and sought favor; Ye Li was only a commoner, yet he submitted a memorial at the palace gate. In this, Ye Li was worthier than Mengyan."

Colleagues and Associates

• Wen Tianxiang: another late Southern Song grand councillor. After Wen was captured, Liu was said to have opposed his release, and Wen wrote "Written for Someone" to ridicule Liu.
• Wang Jiweng: a former Song official who joined the Yuan and petitioned to have Wen Tianxiang released as a Daoist priest, taking a position opposed to Liu's alleged view.
• Xie Changyuan: former Song official under the Yuan who participated in the request to release Wen Tianxiang.
• Qingyang Mengyan: former Song scholar under the Yuan; according to one account, he, rather than Liu Mengyan, advocated Wen Tianxiang's execution.
• Zhao Mengfu: famous painter and calligrapher of the early Yuan, said to have written a "Poem Mocking Liu Mengyan" by order of Kublai Khan. He also described Liu positively as "grave and substantial, firm in self-confidence, fond of planning and capable of decision, with the qualities of a great minister."
• Wang Yun: Yuan writer who addressed a poem to Liu Mengyan: "Sir, your bearing and spirit are pure; after returning from your commission, you are a guest in Jicheng."
• Zhang Zhihan: Yuan writer who wrote of Liu: "Even when he reached the highest point of Aofeng, his energy remained undiminished."
• Wang Mengdou: Southern Song loyalist who said of Liu, "When the gentleman entered the Yuan court he did not bend, and only called himself former Zhengfeng Dafu."

Hostility and Conflict

• Jia Sidao: powerful late-Southern Song grand councillor. Liu accommodated himself to Jia while the latter dominated court, something for which Kublai later criticized him.
• Chen Pengnian: early-Qing official who, on seeing a portrait of Liu Mengyan in the Liu ancestral hall, reportedly became angry, threw the image to the ground, and ordered twenty strokes of punishment.
• Qianlong Emperor: commented that "those possessing both talent and virtue are best; next comes virtue, without regard to talent. When the Song fell, men of talent such as Lü Wenhuan, Liu Mengyan, and Ye Li all betrayed their state and surrendered to the Yuan."

Historical Assessment

Yuan / Contemporary Assessments

• Kublai Khan: "Mengyan was the top graduate under the Song and rose to grand councillor. When Jia Sidao deceived the ruler and harmed the state, Mengyan merely accommodated himself and sought favor; Ye Li was only a commoner, yet he submitted a memorial at the palace gate. In this, Ye Li was worthier than Mengyan." (History of Yuan) Although Kublai employed Liu, he also looked down on his accommodation of Jia Sidao and his lack of ministerial integrity.
• Zhao Mengfu: "He was grave and substantial, firm in self-confidence, fond of planning and capable of decision, with the qualities of a great minister." Although Zhao was said to have written a poem mocking Liu by imperial order, he also gave this positive assessment.
• Wang Yun wrote a poem for Liu: "Sir, your bearing and spirit are pure; after returning from your commission, you are a guest in Jicheng. An elegant gathering needs no northern drinking bout; refined conversation has the flavor of Delin's delicacies." The poem suggests that Liu retained a degree of social standing among early-Yuan scholar-officials.
• Zhang Zhihan wrote: "Even when he reached the highest point of Aofeng, his energy remained undiminished. A small carriage answered the summons to discuss affairs of the age; a great brush received imperial favor to draft commands." The poem reflects Liu's continued employment at the Yuan court.
• Wang Mengdou: "When the gentleman entered the Yuan court he did not bend and only called himself former Zhengfeng Dafu." This was a Southern Song loyalist's assessment of Liu's conduct under the Yuan.

Loyalists at the Song–Yuan Transition

• Zhou Mi, a Southern Song loyalist, recorded Liu Mengyan's surrender to the Yuan in Qidong Yeyu.
• Deng Guangjian, another Southern Song loyalist, recorded in his Biography of Grand Councillor Wen that Qingyang Mengyan obstructed Wen Tianxiang's release, leaving unresolved the question of whether Liu Mengyan directly caused Wen's death.

Ming and Qing Periods

• Zheng Zhen of the early Ming: "Mengyan rose to the honorable rank of chief minister. When the state fell and he became a captive, he could not die for his cause, but shamelessly ended his life in wealth and honor."
• Kong Tianyin of the Ming: "The Two Zhe have Mengyan; he is the shame of the Two Zhe."
• Qiaoshu, a Ming work: "The Two Zhe have Mengyan; he is the shame of the Two Zhe. Throughout the several hundred years of the Ming, every descendant of the Liu surname who went to sit the examinations was required to write a declaration saying, 'I am not a descendant of Liu Mengyan,' before being allowed to enter."
• Ling Mengchu of the Ming: in Second Collection of Slapping the Table in Amazement, the chapter "A Brothel Market Searches for a Man's Traces; a Red-Flower Ground Stages a Ghostly Disturbance" uses the story of Liu Mengyan as an opening anecdote.
• Chen Pengnian of the early Qing: on seeing Liu's portrait in the Liu ancestral hall, reportedly became furious, threw it to the ground, and ordered twenty strokes.
• Qianlong Emperor: "Those possessing both talent and virtue are best; next comes virtue, without regard to talent. When the Song fell, men of talent such as Lü Wenhuan, Liu Mengyan, and Ye Li all betrayed their state and surrendered to the Yuan."

Modern Period

• Jiang Xueke (2019), in "Liu Mengyan in the Eyes of Yuan People", surveyed Yuan-period records and evaluations of Liu and argued that his image in Yuan sources was complex rather than uniformly negative.
• Modern historians generally regard Liu Mengyan as a representative example of a late Southern Song scholar-official who surrendered to the Yuan, often grouping him with Lü Wenhuan, Ye Li, and others as examples of the collapse of literati political integrity during the fall of the dynasty.