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Man Chong () (before 175According to the chronology of Man Chong's biography in Records of the Three Kingdoms, he was older than 17 when he was recruited by Cao Cao during Cao's tenure as Governor of Yan Province between 191 and 192. By calculation, his birth year must be before 175. - April or May 242), courtesy name Boning, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He previously served under the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He is best known for defending the city of Hefei from a series of invasions by Wei's rival state, Eastern Wu, between 230 and 235.
As Man Chong grew older, he became the Prefect (令) of Gaoping County (高平縣; northwest of present-day Weishan County, Shandong). Around the time, an official Zhang Bao (張苞) was abusing his powers by soliciting bribes and causing trouble for the local administration. One day, Man Chong led his guards into the guesthouse where Zhang Bao stayed and arrested him on allegations of corruption. After interrogating Zhang Bao and publishing his crimes, Man Chong resigned and went home with his part in the process completed.(守高平令。縣人張苞為郡督郵，貪穢受取，干亂吏政。寵因其來在傳舍，率吏卒出收之，詰責所犯，即日考竟，遂棄官歸。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
In the first incident, Cao Hong, one of Cao Cao's cousins and trusted generals, had some retainers under him who broke the law while they were in Xu County. After Man Chong arrested and imprisoned the retainers, Cao Hong wrote to him and asked him to release them. When Man Chong ignored his request, Cao Hong brought up the issue to Cao Cao, who summoned the official in charge to come and see him. Man Chong thought that Cao Cao wanted to pardon Cao Hong's retainers, so he immediately executed them. Cao Cao was pleased when he heard about it and he remarked, "Isn't this what an officeholder should do?"(時曹洪宗室親貴，有賔客在界，數犯法，寵收治之。洪書報寵，寵不聽。洪白太祖，太祖召許主者。寵知將欲原，乃速殺之。太祖喜曰：「當事不當耳邪？」) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
In the second incident, Yang Biao (楊彪), the Grand Commandant and long serving member of the Han court, was arrested and imprisoned for allegedly conspiring with Yuan Shu, a warlord who rebelled against the Eastern Han dynasty. Man Chong, who was in charge of interrogating Yang Biao, received requests from his colleagues Xun Yu and Kong Rong to refrain from flogging the well-regarded scholar Yang Biao during the interrogation. However, Man Chong ignored them and did everything by the book.(故太尉楊彪收付縣獄，尚書令荀彧、少府孔融等並屬寵：「但當受辭，勿加考掠。」寵一無所報，考訊如法。) Sanguozhi vol. 26. A few days later, Man Chong reported to Cao Cao: "Yang Biao had nothing to say when I interrogated him. Before executing a criminal, we must first produce evidence of his guilt and show it to the public. Yang Biao is a reputable man. If we execute him without sufficient evidence to show that he is guilty, the people will lose faith in us. I hope you will reconsider your decision carefully and not be too hasty in ordering Yang Biao's execution." Cao Cao then released Yang Biao. Xun Yu and Kong Rong were initially angry with Man Chong when they found out that he tortured Yang Biao during the interrogation. However, they became more amiable towards him after they heard what he told Cao Cao.(數日，求見太祖，言之曰：「楊彪考訊無他辭語。當殺者宜先彰其罪；此人有名海內，若罪不明，必大失民望，竊為明公惜之。」太祖即日赦出彪。初，彧、融聞考掠彪，皆怒，及因此得了，更善寵。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
The historian Pei Songzhi criticised Man Chong for his cruelty and said that he should not have tortured Yang Biao, who had a reputation for being virtuous. From his viewpoint, even though Man Chong deserved praise for doing things by the book, it was not enough to make up for his cruelty.(臣松之以為楊公積德之門，身為名臣，縱有愆負，猶宜保祐，況淫刑所濫，而可加其楚掠乎？若理應考訊，荀、孔二賢豈其妄有相請屬哉？寵以此為能，酷吏之用心耳。雖有後善，何解前虐？) Pei Songzhi's annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 26.
Upon assuming office, Man Chong gathered five hundred followers to attack and destroy over 20 strongholds, then invited the retainer leaders to a diplomatic meeting and there killed over 10 of them. Runan Commandery was no longer a major threat but the harsh treatment did lead to repeated revolts in the area. During his tenure, Man Chong gained control over 20,000 households, drafted about 2,000 men into military service, and implemented the tuntian policy in the commandery.(寵募其服從者五百人，率攻下二十餘壁，誘其未降渠帥，於坐上殺十餘人，一時皆平。得戶二萬，兵二千人，令就田業。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
In 208, Man Chong led his troops from Runan Commandery to join Cao Cao on a military campaign to conquer Jing Province and attack the rival warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei. After Cao Cao retreated back to the north following his defeat at the Battle of Red Cliffs in the winter of 208–209, he appointed Man Chong as acting General of Vehement Might (奮威將軍) and ordered him to remain behind in Jing Province to defend Dangyang. However, after Cao Cao's forces lost the Battle of Jiangling against Sun Quan's forces, Cao Cao ordered Man Chong to abandon Dangyang and return to his previous post in Runan Commandery. The Han imperial court awarded Man Chong the title of a Secondary Marquis (關內侯).(建安十三年，從太祖征荊州。大軍還，留寵行奮威將軍，屯當陽。孫權數擾東陲，復召寵還為汝南太守，賜爵關內侯。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
Someone suggested to Cao Ren to abandon Fancheng and escape while there was still time, since Guan Yu's forces had not completely surrounded Fancheng yet. Man Chong disagreed and said, "The floodwaters may be flowing very fast, but the flood might not last long. Guan Yu had already sent a detachment of troops from his army to station at Jia County (郟縣). There is already much panic and fear among the people living in the lands south of Xu County (許縣). Guan Yu doesn't dare to advance further because he's worried that his base (in southern Jing Province) will come under attack. If we abandon Fancheng and leave, we'll end up losing all the territories south of the river. Sir, you should continue to hold up here." Cao Ren agreed with him. Man Chong drowned his horse and pledged to stay with the soldiers in Fancheng to the end.(或謂仁曰：「今日之危，非力所支。可及羽圍未合，乘輕船夜走，雖失城，尚可全身。」寵曰：「山水速疾，兾其不久。聞羽遣別將已在郟下，自許以南，百姓擾擾，羽所以不敢遂進者，恐吾軍掎其後耳。今若遁去，洪河以南，非復國家有也；君宜待之。」仁曰：「善。」寵乃沈白馬，與軍人盟誓。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
When Xu Huang, another of Cao Cao's generals, showed up at Fancheng with reinforcements, Man Chong joined him in attacking Guan Yu and succeeded in breaking the siege on Fancheng. As a reward for his efforts, the Han imperial court promoted Man Chong from a secondary marquis to a village marquis under the title "Marquis of Anchang Village" (安昌亭侯).(會徐晃等救至，寵力戰有功，羽遂退。進封安昌亭侯。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
Sometime between 220 and 222, Man Chong participated in two battles against Wei's rival state, Eastern Wu, founded by Cao Cao's old rival Sun Quan. In the first battle, he defeated Wu forces at Jiangling (江陵; around present-day Jingzhou, Hubei). After the battle, Cao Pi promoted him to General Who Calms the Waves (伏波將軍) and ordered him to station at Xinye (新野; present-day Xinye County, Henan).(破吳於江陵有功，更拜伏波將軍，屯新野。) Sanguozhi vol. 26. In the second battle, Man Chong led the Wei army's vanguard force during a Wei campaign against Wu. The vanguard force, under his command, reached the Jing Lake (精湖) and established their position on the side of the lake directly across the enemy's side. Man Chong foresaw that the enemy would attempt to set fire to his camp at night as the winds were strong, so he warned his subordinates and put his troops on high alert. His prediction came true that night. Since they were prepared, Man Chong and his troops successfully repelled the attack and defended their position. As a reward for his contributions, Man Chong was promoted from a village marquis to a district marquis under the title "Marquis of Nan District" (南鄉侯).(大軍南征，到精湖，寵帥諸軍在前，與賊隔水相對。寵勑諸將曰：「今夕風甚猛，賊必來燒軍，宜為其備。」諸軍皆警。夜半，賊果遣十部伏夜來燒，寵掩擊破之，進封南鄉侯。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
In 222, Cao Pi granted Man Chong imperial authority and awarded him a ceremonial axe. Two years later, he promoted Man Chong to General of the Vanguard (前將軍).(黃初三年，假寵節鉞。五年，拜前將軍。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
In the spring of 228, defectors from Wei's rival state, Eastern Wu, claimed that Wu forces were preparing to attack the territories north of the Yangtze River, with the Wu emperor Sun Quan personally leading his forces. Man Chong deduced that the Wu forces were deliberately spreading misinformation and that their true target was Xiyang County (西陽縣; southwest of present-day Guangshan County, Henan), so he gave orders to strengthen the defences at Xiyang County. When Sun Quan found out, he had no choice but to call off the attack.(三年春，降人稱吳大嚴，揚聲欲詣江北獵，孫權欲自出。寵度其必襲西陽而為之備，權聞之，退還。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
In the autumn of the same year, believing Zhou Fang's fake defection was real, Cao Xiu led troops from Lujiang Commandery (廬江郡; around present-day Lu'an, Anhui) into Wu lands with Man Chong ordered by the Emperor to lead troops to Xiakou (夏口; in present-day Wuhan, Hubei). Man Chong wrote a memorial to the emperor: "Cao Xiu may be wise and decisive, but he has little experience in battle. The route that he is taking has a lake behind it and the river beside it. It is easy to advance but difficult to retreat. Military leaders tend to avoid travelling across such terrain if possible. If he is going into Wuqiangkou (無彊口), he should be well-prepared." Before Man Chong's memorial reached Cao Rui, however, Cao Xiu and his army had already entered Wuqiangkou, where Wu forces cut off his line of retreat and inflicted heavy casulities on Cao Xiu's forces.(秋，使曹休從廬江南入合肥，令寵向夏口。寵上疏曰：「曹休雖明果而希用兵，今所從道，背湖旁江，易進難退，此兵之窪地也。若入無彊口，宜深為之備。」寵表未報，休遂深入。賊果從無彊口斷夾石，要休還路。休戰不利，退走。會朱靈等從後來斷道，與賊相遇。賊驚走，休軍乃得還。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
After Cao Xiu died later in 228, Man Chong, as General of the Vanguard, was ordered to replace him as the supervisor of military operations in Yang Province. As Man Chong had gained much support from the locals during his tenure as the Administrator of Runan Commandery, the people in Runan Commandery wanted to follow him when they learnt that he had been reassigned to Yang Province. A military officer wrote to the emperor Cao Rui, seeking permission to execute the local leaders to stop an emigration of the populace. However, Cao Rui did not approve and, as a compromise, he allowed Man Chong to bring a following of one thousand personal retainers to Yang Province while the rest had to remain in Runan Commandery.(是歲休薨，寵以前將軍代都督揚州諸軍事。汝南兵民戀慕，大小相率，奔隨道路，不可禁止。護軍表上，欲殺其為首者。詔使寵將親兵千人自隨，其餘一無所問。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
In November 231,Vol.72 of Zizhi Tongjian dated the events to the 10th month of the 5th year of the Taihe era; the month corresponds to 13 Nov to 11 Dec 231 in the Julian calendar. a Wu officer Sun Bu (孫布) secretly sent a messenger to meet Wang Ling, the Wei inspector of Yang Province, and convey his desire to defect to Wei. Sun Bu also said in his message: "As we are too far apart from each other, I cannot come to you. You will need to send troops to escort me over." Wang Ling then passed the letter to Man Chong and asked him to send a convoy of troops to escort Sun Bu to Yang Province. Man Chong suspected that Sun Bu was pretending to defect so he refused and wrote a reply to Sun Bu in Wang Ling's name: "It is good to hear that you have recognised the folly of your ways and now desire to leave your tyrannical government and return to the path of righteousness. This is truly commendable. However, as much as I would like to send troops to escort you over, I do not think it is a good idea. If I send too few troops, they will not be able to protect you. If I send too many troops, the Wu government will find it suspicious. I think you should secretly make plans for yourself first and act accordingly when the time comes."(其明年，吳將孫布遣人詣揚州求降，辭云：「道遠不能自致，乞兵見迎。」刺史王淩騰布書，請兵馬迎之。寵以為必詐，不與兵，而作報書曰：「知識邪正，欲避禍就順，去暴歸道，甚相嘉尚。今欲遣兵相迎，然計兵少則不足相衞，多則事必遠聞。且先密計以成本志，臨時節度其宜。」) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
Man Chong was not on good terms with his colleague, Wang Ling, who spread rumours that Man Chong was addicted to alcohol, physically unfit for his job, and unruly and defiant. When the rumours reached the Wei imperial capital Luoyang, an official Guo Mou (郭謀) suggested to the emperor to summon Man Chong to Luoyang and see if the rumours were true, as opposed to immediately removing Man Chong from office. Cao Rui heeded the suggestion. When Man Chong met the emperor, he appeared to be in good health and remained sober after consuming one dan of alcohol. Cao Rui thus concluded that the rumours were untrue and ordered Man Chong to return to his post.(世語曰：王淩表寵年過耽酒，不可居方任。帝將召寵，給事中郭謀曰：「寵為汝南太守、豫州刺史二十餘年，有勳方岳。及鎮淮南，吳人憚之。若不如所表，將為所闚。可令還朝，問以方事以察之。」帝從之。寵旣至，進見，飲酒至一石不亂。帝慰勞之，遣還。) Shiyu annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 26.(初，寵與淩共事不平，淩支黨毀寵疲老悖謬，故明帝召之。旣至，體氣康彊，見而遣還。) Sanguozhi vol. 26. Man Chong, however, wanted to remain in Luoyang so he repeatedly sought permission from Cao Rui but was denied. Cao Rui told him, "In the past, Lian Po ate and drank heavily to show that he was in good health, while Ma Yuan turned his body to look backward while he was on horseback to show that he was still fit for battle. You aren't even old, yet you say you're old. Why don't you compare yourself with Lian Po and Ma Yuan? You should be thinking about defending the border and serving your country."(寵屢表求留，詔報曰：「昔廉頗彊食，馬援據鞌，今君未老而自謂已老，何與廉、馬之相背邪？其思安邊境，惠此中國。」) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
Before Man Chong left for Luoyang, he instructed his chief clerk, who was in charge during his absence, not to give Wang Ling command of any of his troops. Wang Ling, unable to get any troops from Man Chong's units, had to send his own subordinates and 700 soldiers from his own units to meet Sun Bu. As Man Chong foresaw, Sun Bu was indeed pretending to defect. Wang Ling's subordinates and 700 men fell into an ambush and suffered heavy casualties.(寵會被書當入朝，勑留府長史：「若淩欲往迎，勿與兵也。」淩於後索兵不得，乃單遣一督將步騎七百人往迎之。布夜掩擊，督將迸走，死傷過半。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
Man Chong sent in another memorial to argue that his plan would work because it would mislead the Wu forces into thinking that they were giving up on Hefei and lure them deeper into Wei territory, where they would lose their advantage in naval warfare and become more vulnerable. He also quoted lines from The Art of War in his memorial to support his point on using deception to lure the enemy into a trap. Zhao Zi (趙咨), a Wei official, supported Man Chong's idea and managed to convince Cao Rui to approve it.(寵重表曰：「孫子言，兵者，詭道也。故能而示之以弱不能，驕之以利，示之以懾。此為形實不必相應也。又曰『善動敵者形之』。今賊未至而移城却內，此所謂形而誘之也。引賊遠水，擇利而動，舉得於外，則福生於內矣。」尚書趙咨以寵策為長，詔遂報聽。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
Later that year, the Wu emperor Sun Quan personally led his forces to attack Hefei and wanted to besiege the newly constructed fortress, known as Xincheng (新城; literally "new fortress/city"), at the west of Hefei. However, as Xincheng was too far from the riverbank, the Wu forces were hesitant to launch an all-out attack. They remained on their ships on the river for about 20 days.(其年，權自出，欲圍新城，以其遠水，積二十日不敢下舡。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
Man Chong gathered his subordinates and told them, "Sun Quan knows that I have moved the troops out of Hefei. He'll definitely want to put on a show of might so that he can brag about how powerful his army is. Although he doesn't have the courage to push further in and attack Xincheng, he'll definitely send his troops ashore just to show off how big his army is." He then ordered 6,000 troops to lie in ambush in Hefei and wait for the Wu soldiers to come ashore. As Man Chong predicted, Sun Quan did order his troops to go ashore and put on a show of might. When that happened, the 6,000 troops in Hefei launched a sudden and fierce attack on them. Hundreds of Wu soldiers were killed while some drowned as they tried to flee back to their ships.(寵謂諸將曰：「權得吾移城，必於其衆中有自大之言，今大舉來欲要一切之功，雖不敢至，必當上岸耀兵以示有餘。」乃潛遣步騎六千，伏肥城隱處以待之。權果上岸耀兵，寵伏軍卒起擊之，斬首數百，或有赴水死者。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
During the siege, Man Chong recruited dozens of fierce warriors to make torches from tree branches, douse them with oil, and take advantage of the winds to set fire to the Wu army's siege engines and destroy them. Sun Quan's nephew, Sun Tai, was killed in the battle. Later, with his army hit by illness and aware Cao Rui was arriving soon, Sun Quan withdrew his forces.(明年，權自將號十萬，至合肥新城。寵馳往赴，募壯士數十人，折松為炬，灌以麻油，從上風放火，燒賊攻具，射殺權弟子孫泰。賊於是引退。) Sanguozhi vol. 26. Zizhi Tongjian year 234是時蜀相諸葛亮出武功，權謂魏明帝不能遠出，而帝遣兵助司馬宣王拒亮。自率水軍東徵。未至壽春，權退還，孫韶亦 Sanguozhi vol.47.
In the spring of 235, Sun Quan sent a few thousand of his soldiers and their families to farm on the north banks of the Yangtze as part of a tuntian programme. By early autumn, Man Chong deduced that it was the harvest season, so the Wu soldiers and their families would be out in the fields collecting the harvest, and their strongholds would thus be undefended. He then sent his troops to launch a surprise attack on them, destroying their strongholds and burning down their crops. Cao Rui issued an imperial decree to praise Man Chong and award the spoils of war to Man Chong's troops.(三年春，權遣兵數千家佃於江北。至八月，寵以為田向收孰，男女布野，其屯衞兵去城遠者數百里，可掩擊也。遣長史督三軍循江東下，摧破諸屯，焚燒穀物而還。詔羙之，因以所獲盡為將士賞。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
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