Copper columns of Ma Yuan ( vi, Cột đồng Mã Viện) were a pair of copper

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

s erected by General Ma Yuan of

Han China The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

after his suppression of the

Trung sisters' rebellion The Trưng sisters' rebellion was an armed civil uprising in the south of Han China between 40 AD and 43 AD. In 40 AD, the Vietnamese leader Trưng Trắc and her sister Trưng Nhị rebelled against Chinese authorities in Jiaozhi (in what i ...

in 43 AD. The columns stood at southern frontier of

Tượng Lâm Tượng Lâm (Vietnamese chữ Hán pronunciation of Chinese: 象林 Xianglin) was an area in what is today the central Vietnam modern-day Thừa Thiên Huế province which rebelled against the Han dynasty’s rule during the second Chinese domin ...

(Xianglin) to mark the boundary of Chinese territory against the barbarians. Ma prayed to the heaven: "if the columns break,

Jiaozhi Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: ''Jiāozhǐ''), or Giao Chỉ (Vietnamese), was a historical region ruled by various Chinese dynasties, corresponding to present-day northern Vietnam. The kingdom of Nanyue (204–111 BC) set up the Jiaozhi Co ...

will be destroyed." (銅柱折交趾滅) The location of the column is unknown, with various explanations given for its disappearance. One popular story is that locals developed a superstitious habit of placing rocks to support the column as they passed and that, over time, this pile grew so large that it completely covered the columns. Another is that they threw the rocks from hatred. Later rationalist Chinese and Vietnamese scholars opined that it had probably simply fallen into the sea in the course of an earthquake or change of shoreline. In 1272,

Kublai Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of the ...

sent his emissary to Vietnam to search for the columns.

Trần Thánh Tông Trần Thánh Tông (October 12, 1240 – July 3, 1290), personal name Trần Hoảng (), was the second emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1258 to 1278. After ceding the throne to his son Trần Nhân Tông, Thán ...

replied they had disappeared for a long time and were hard to find. The emissary had to give up.

Trần Trọng Kim Trần Trọng Kim (Chữ Nôm: ; 1883 – December 2, 1953), courtesy name Lệ Thần, was a Vietnamese scholar and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the short-lived Empire of Vietnam, a state established with the support of Impe ...

, ''Việt Nam sử lược'', Quyển 1, Phần 3, Chương 4

References

Monumental columns Military history of the Han dynasty Military history of Vietnam {{Vietnam-struct-stub