Meng Tian

Meng Tian (c. 250 – c. August/September 210 BC)¹ was a Chinese inventor and general of the Qin dynasty who distinguished himself in campaigns against the Xiongnu and in the construction of the Great Wall of China.² He was the elder brother of Meng Yi. He descended from a great line of military officials and architects. His grandfather, Meng Ao, was a general from the era of King Zhao, while and his father, Meng Wu, served as deputy to Wang Jian.

Life

In 224 BC, having recently conquered Wei, the Qin king Ying Zheng appointed Li Xin as commander-in-chief and Meng Tian as his vice-general to lead a 200,000 strong army in an assault against Chu. The invasion was successful at first, Meng Tian's army took Qigui but then, both Li Xin's and Meng Tiang's armies were effectively annihilated by Chu troops under Xiang Yan and Lord Changping. Following this defeat, Ying Zheng appointed Qin generals Wang Jian and Meng Wu as commanders of a 600,000 Qin army in order to finally achieve the conquest of Chu.

By the time the Qin state conquered the other six states and began its reign over a unified China in 221 BC, the nomadic Xiongnu had grown into a powerful invading force in the north and started expanding both east and west. Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, sent a 300,000-strong army headed by Meng Tian to drive the Xiongnu northward for 1,000 li (about 416 km) and began work on what has become known as the Great Wall to guard against invasion. The defensive works he began were said to extend over 10,000 (4,158 km) "from to and even extended across the Yellow River and through and Beijia.", that is, from the southwest corner of the to the Yellow Sea. Yangshan and Beijia are hard to locate, but the wall ran along the Yellow River and included all of the Ordos Loop.