Li Meng (Han dynasty)

Li Meng (died 195) was a general serving under the warlord Dong Zhuo during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. After Dong Zhuo died by his own adoptive son Lü Bu in an assassination plot by Wang Yun, he went on to serve Wang Yun for a short time.

Later that same year (192), Dong Zhuo's loyalists led by Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, and Zhang Ji came to the city of Chang'an. Li Meng and his friend Wang Fang made a secret pact with the loyalists and opened Chang'an's gates together, allowing Dong Zhuo's loyalists into the city. Li Meng and Wang Fang then joined the loyalists against their new master Wang Yun. In the second lunar month of 195, Li Meng and Fan Chou were killed by Li Jue for reasons unstated, spreading panic and paranoia among the generals in the imperial capital.

In the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, two years after the loyalists took over Chang'an and the young Emperor Xian (195), an army from the west from Liang Province approached Chang'an led by Ma Teng and Han Sui. During the battle, Li Meng fought with Ma Teng's eldest son Ma Chao and lost. Li Meng was soon defeated again and tried to escape, but was caught and beheaded.

Role in Fiction
Li Meng is a minor character in the story "Switchblade". Shortly after Dong Zhuo's death, Lu Bu arrests Li Meng for his relation to Li Jue. Wang Fang and Zhang Xiu manage to break him out of prison and open the gates. When Wang Fang spared Han Sui in battle, Li Jue executed him, as well as Li Meng.