Mr. Meng Siming (1908-1974), originally named Erlin or Hongyi, was born in Jindingchang, Yanting, Sichuan Province. His elder brother Meng Wentong was a famous historian. In his boyhood, Mr. Meng studied in the countryside and then in the county seat. He left his hometown in 1922 to study in Zhiping Middle School at Jiangbei, Chongqing. At that time, Yun Daiying and Xiao Chunu, CPC members and later well-known revolutionary martyrs, came to Sichuan to spread revolutionary ideas. Influenced by Yun and Xiao, as well as the progressive books and periodicals, Mr. Meng became interested in political issues and began his pursuit of truth and a revolutionary career. After graduating from the primary middle school in 1925, he moved to study at Shanghai Lidayuan Senior School Department. Driven by the great revolutionary era, Mr. Meng devoted himself to the revolutionary tide dominated by workers and farmers. In the summer of 1926, he joined the Communist Youth League of China, assuming the position of secretary of the branch of Lidayuan Senior School Department. Afterwards, Mr. Meng participated in three workers’ riots in Shanghai which were personally led by Zhou Enlai. In April 12, 1927, Chiang Kai-shek launched the counter-revolutionary coup and created the white terror. The Kuo Min Tang reactionaries violently caught and killed CPC members and progressives. Mr. Meng was also on the list. Faced with the increasingly cruel political persecution of the Kuo Min Tang reactionaries, Mr. Meng had to take refuge in the French Concession and change his name to Hong Yi. Soon he went to Hangzhou to study in the Department of Sociology at Hang Chow University. In the autumn of 1927, Mr. Meng was arrested, and afterwards saved by his uncle Meng Caichen (Gong Fu) and elder brother Meng Wentong. In the spring of 1928, Mr. Meng fled to Japan and studied at Ookayama Continuation School in Tokyo. Two months later, there occurred the May 3 Massacre in Jinan. To protest against the Japanese imperialists’ cruel massacre of the Chinese people, Mr. Meng stopped his study in Japan and returned to China. He immediately joined the Anti-Japanese Alliance formed by the Chinese Students Studying in Japan and positively disseminated anti-Japanese ideas, fully demonstrating his patriotic enthusiasm. As the revolutionary activities by the Anti-Japanese Alliance were prohibited by the local government, it was dispersed instantly, and Mr. Meng was forced to come back to his hometown Yanting in the autumn of 1928. At that time, the death of his uncle caused the decline of his family’s financial situation and the abandonment of his schooling. Disappointed at the social darkness and the corruption of the then politics, and in order to learn more about the future development of the society, Meng shifted his interest to social history which was emerging at that time. He then changed his name to “Siming” (literally meaning to consider and clarify ambiguous issues) and began his career of historical research.

From the autumn of 1929 to 1933, Mr. Meng studied at the Department of History of West China University. From 1933 to 1935, he taught at West China University and West China Union Senior High School. While teaching the Western history and the Chinese and foreign geography, he sometimes engaged in the research work of Harvard Research Society. From 1935 to 1938, Mr. Meng furthered his study of Chinese history at the Department of History of the Research Institute of Yenching University in Beijing. The Hierarchy in the Yuan Dynasty, which enjoyed high reputation in the circles of history, was actually his graduation thesis. We can see that his representative works were written in this period and some conclusions were made as follows:

The book The Hierarchy in the Yuan Dynasty, which was published in the 16th edition of the special issue of Yenching University Journal in April 1938, was regarded as Mr. Meng’s representative historical work about the Yuan Dynasty. The book consisted of five chapters, attached with 1,748 annotates. At that time, Yuan Dynasty was called “the Age of Conquest” in the circles of history, regarding the Yuan Dynasty as the society dominated by national conflicts; also the revolutions at the end of the Yuan Dynasty were regarded as a kind of racial revolution. Under such influence, Mr. Meng prevailed over all dissenting views and created his own ones, holding that: (I) Mongolians thrust into the central area of China and took over the reign. They had disrupted the original social organizations and economic structures which featured “the division of the rich and the poor” since the Song and Jin Dynasties; (II) Mongolians created the four-class hierarchy among races. Mr. Meng held that “the difference was based on the strength of different peoples;” (III) Despite of the fact that the revolutions erupted at the end of the Yuan Dynasty resulted in the ousting of Mongolians, “they actually originated from poor people’s lack of food,” “the people who threw themselves into the uprisings were all poor peasants,” and “the resistance against the revolution came from the rich Han people,” therefore, “it is different from the conventional conclusion that it was a revolution in which the Han people revolted against the Mongolian ruler, namely, a revolution between races.” This conclusion was fundamentally consistent with the viewpoints of Marxism in its observance of national issues that emphasized the class nature. Mr. Meng’s foresight was inseparable from the influence of Marxism which he accepted in his youth. In particular, this book “is rich in materials, its organization is very complete and its argument is especially prudent,” thus earning good comments in the then circles of history. “In particular, Mr. Meng can analyze the transition of the Yuan Dynasty from the aspect of dynamics. This is especially estimable.” (See the Comment by Ximen in the 23rd edition of Yenching University Journal which was published in June 1938), Japanese scholar Suzuki Tadashi so commented when recommending the book, believing that it should become the “essential and must-read book” of researchers on Chinese social institutions. Mr. Meng was only 30 years old when he completed the book, by which he had got the master’s degree of Yingching University. Mr. Meng also focused his research on Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, and made some achievements. The Hierarchy of the Yuan and Wei Periods made detailed textual research and explanation of the status and conditions of all classes in the Yuan and Wei periods, which served as “a pivot which witnessed the transition from the ancient society to the mediaeval times;” the book the Formation Process of the Intelligentsia in the Six Dynasties analyzed the evolvement of the landlord class since the Western Han and Eastern Han Dynasties as well as the characteristics of the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties from the perspective of the hierarchy, and proposed the viewpoint that “Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties should also be called the period controlled by Intelligentsia;” in the book Social Reform during Cao Cao’s Reign, Mr. Meng confirmed that Cao Cao was actually “an outstanding figure” at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty by analyzing the decline of the politics and economy as well as the success or failure of Cao Cao’s reform, in view of the prevalent prejudice at that time that “Cao Cao was an arch careerist.” In such way Mr. Meng “attempt to reveal Cao Cao’s real side, without any attempts” “after Cao Cao had been disgraced for roughly one thousand years.” The late 1950s witnessed the occurrence of some viewpoints of “reversing the verdict of Cao Cao” which caused a great disturbance in the circles of history. They had actually been established by Mr. Meng as early as 20 years ago. Mr. Meng had accumulated lots of thinking about the history of Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, which were converted into manuscripts, but failed to be published. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, he discussed with Miu Yue, another famous expert on the histories of the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, about the compilation of the History of Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, which also proved a failure. As of now, only one manuscript made at those days was left, which was called “The Society of Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties.” All the brilliant discussions of Mr. Meng on this period of history were included in it.

Emphasis on the method in his historical research is one of Mr. Meng’s major features. At the time when the textual research prevailed, some historians even held that “historical materials are the historical science themselves,” and “a history cannot be formed without the support of historical materials.” In such circumstances, Mr. Meng highlighted the method of historical research. He wrote some books to support his argument, covering all objects of historical research, the tasks of the methods in historical research, the selection of research topics, the collection of historical materials and the status of textual research in the historical science. He pointed out in a systematic manner that “the objects of historical research are the human activities in the past;” that historical materials are only one of the media to learn the history itself; and that historical science is the method and theory used in the historical science. The primary task in historical research “is to occupy a position in the research of science.” The so-called scientific research method means the employment of textual research and the method of reconstructing historical facts; “is to construct the philosophical method on the basis of historical facts; and “is to establish the style and method of writing historical books”. These three methods must be adopted in a scientific manner. Mr. Meng acutely criticized those methods which “are very conservative and outdated” and those people who “make historical researches by means of conjecture or imagination, readily believe in, obstinately follow traditions, are presumptuous in explanation or are deceptive.” He bitterly denounced their absurd viewpoints as “the evil or misfortune, as well as the barriers on the way to academic progress.” He lifted up a cry that the first task of the method of historical research is to “eliminate all corrupted forces in historical research.” These viewpoints were of progressive and aggressive significance at those days.

In 1944, Mr. Meng left West China University and furthered his study at Harvard in the United States, where he took languages including Germany, French and Japanese as his selective courses, and continued his study of the histories of Russia, the United States and Japan as well as the modern history of China. In this period, he was very serious with his study. He was one of the Chinese students who were kind, sincere and prudent. He made full use of the archives and materials about the modern history of China which were stored in local libraries and similar facilities, and based on which he had completed the academic paper titled the Organization and Functions of Qing’s Foreign Affairs Office, by which he was granted the PhD degree from Harvard University eventually. In addition, he had handed over two articles of the Investigation into Russian Embassy in Beijing and the Signing of the Treaty of Aigun to the university. At the end of 1949, Chengdu was liberated, the news of which had so excited him; he immediately completed the procedures of returning to his motherland to engage in the construction of the socialist country. After some troubles, Mr. Meng, with his wife Wei Zhitong, was back to Chengdu in 1950.

From then on, Mr. Meng had engaged in the education work with the institutions of higher learning. From 1950 to 1952, he took up the positions of professor at the Department of Philosophy, dean of the Literature School and head of the Department of Foreign Languages at West China University. He had worked hard to open such new courses as the History of the Soviet Union, Materialism and the History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as well as the new methods of historical research. After the schools and departments were adjusted or mixed in 1952, Mr. Meng served as vice provost, provost of West China University and professor of the Department of History. He gave such courses as the modern history of China, the processing of data of the modern history of China and the methods of historical research. Mr. Meng was diligent in the study and research. So long as he had got anything in the study, he would have them recorded. The materials were piled as high as several volumes, but were later lost in the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution. Mr. Meng was earnest in teaching and accumulated lots of experiences, thus esteemed by his students. In his old age, he still harbored a great ambition and kept on work. He taught the history of the Yuan Dynasty, recruited postgraduates and cultivated young teachers. Mr. Meng had faithfully researched some significant issues of the history of the Yuan Dynasty, recollected historical materials and wrote the preface for the book. In the Cultural Revolution, a number of intellectuals were cruelly persecuted by the Lin Biao and the Gang of Four Counter-revolutionary Clique. Despite the fact that he suffered from a serious disease, Mr. Meng failed to escape the misfortune. After being tortured repeatedly, he passed away on Feb.3, 1974, at the age of 66. In his deathbed, Mr. Meng made the last wish that his books of history and philosophy in foreign languages were donated to Sichuan University. Such an absolute devotion to the educational had, has and will encourage people from generation after generation.