ABSTRACT
Madam Meng (b. ca. 380 a . d . ) was the wife of Meng Chang, who led a rebellion against the cruel Emperor Huan Xuan. The exact dates of her birth and death are unrecorded, but she is believed to have been bom at the end of the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is known that her maiden name was Zhou and that her cousin was married to Meng’s younger brother, Meng Yi. She was from a wealthy and well-positioned family and entered her marriage with a large dowry. Meng Chang’s ancestral home was in Pingchang prefecture in the state of Qingzhou (modern-day Shandong province). Because there had been great turbulence in northern China at the end of the Western Jin dynasty, Meng’s family had moved south to live in Jingkou (modern-day Zhenjiang in Jiangsu province).
