Ma Dai () ( 222–235) was a Chinese military general of the state of

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

period of China. He previously served under his uncle

Ma Teng Ma Teng () (died June or July 212), courtesy name Shoucheng, was a Chinese military general and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He controlled Liang Province (涼州; covering parts of present-day Shaanxi and Gansu ...

, a warlord in northwestern China, during the late

Eastern Han dynasty 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 Ma Teng's death, he followed his cousin

Ma Chao Ma Chao () (176–222), courtesy name Mengqi, was a Chinese military general and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. A descendant of the general Ma Yuan, Ma Chao was the eldest son of Ma ...

(Ma Teng's eldest son) and they joined the warlord Zhang Lu in

Hanzhong Hanzhong (; abbreviation: Han) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shaanxi province, China, bordering the provinces of Sichuan to the south and Gansu to the west. The founder of the Han dynasty, Liu Bang, was once enfeoffed as the ...

for a short period of time. Ma Chao later defected to another warlord

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the H ...

, and Ma Dai accompanied him. Ma Dai served under Liu Bei and later in the state of Shu Han (founded by Liu Bei). Not much information on Ma Dai is found in historical records. It is known that in 234, he participated in the fifth

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...

led by Shu's

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang ( zh, t=諸葛亮 / 诸葛亮) (181 – September 234), courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman and military strategist. He was chancellor and later regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He is r ...

to attack the Shu's rival state

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

. Ma Dai was also credited with slaying the Shu general

Wei Yan Wei Yan () (died October 234), courtesy name Wenchang, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Originally a subordinate of the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dy ...

, who was alleged to have turned against Shu after the death of Zhuge Liang.

Life

Ma Dai was a younger cousin of

. He does not have a biography in the ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''), the authoritative source for the history of the

period; he is mentioned occasionally in the biographies of other people such as

and

. He is first mentioned in Ma Chao's biography in a letter written by Ma Chao to

before his death. Ma Chao wrote: "Over 200 members of my family were killed by

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...

. I only have my cousin Ma Dai left with me. He will be the one to continue my family line. I entrust him to Your Majesty's care. That is all I have to say." Ma Dai served in the state of

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <

's biography. In 234, when conflict broke out between Yang Yi and Wei Yan after

's death, Yang Yi ordered Ma Dai to attack Wei Yan. Ma Dai caught up with Wei Yan while the latter was fleeing towards

, decapitated him, brought his head back, and threw it in front of Yang Yi. Ma Dai is also briefly mentioned in

Sima Yi Sima Yi ( ; 179 CE – 7 September 251 CE), courtesy name Zhongda, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He formally began his political career in 208 un ...

's biography in the ''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang X ...

''. In 235, he led Shu forces to attack Shu's rival state,

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

, but was defeated and driven back by the Wei general

Niu Jin Niu Jin () ( 208–238) was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He continued serving in the state of Cao Wei, founded by Cao Cao's successor Cao Pi, during the Three Kingdoms period ...

. He lost about 1,000 troops in battle.

In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''

Ma Dai 2016 Temple of Marquis Wu (Wuzhang Plains)

Ma Dai is a character in the 14th-century historical novel ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'', which romanticises the historical events and figures of the late

and

period. In the novel, he follows

to the capital on a summon from

, and survives when Ma Teng and his sons are killed by Cao Cao's men in a trap. He joins his cousin

in the Battle of Tong Pass against Cao Cao, and accompanies Ma Chao when the latter is defeated and has to seek refuge under Zhang Lu of

. He follows Ma Chao and comes to serve

when his cousin defects to Liu Bei's side during the

takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to t ...

Yi Province Yizhou (益州), Yi Province or Yi Prefecture, was a '' zhou'' (province) of ancient China. Its capital city was Chengdu.de Crespigny, p. 256. During the Han dynasty, it included the commanderies Hanzhong, Ba, Guanghan, Shu, Wenshan, Jianwei, ...

. Ma Dai participates actively in southern campaign against the

Nanman The Man, commonly known as the Nanman or Southern Man (, ''lit. Southern Barbarians''), were ancient indigenous peoples who lived in inland South and Southwest China, mainly around the Yangtze River valley. In ancient Chinese sources, the term ...

and the Northern Expeditions against the rival state of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

. After

's death, the Shu general

rebels, and Ma Dai pretends to support him but kills him later.''Sanguo Yanyi'' ch. 105.

In popular culture

Ma is sometimes venerated as a

door god Menshen or door gods are divine guardians of doors and gates in Chinese folk religions, used to protect against evil influences or to encourage the entrance of positive ones. They began as the divine pair Shenshu ( ) and Yulü () under the H ...

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

and

Taoist temple A Taoist temple (, also called ''dàoguàn'' and , is a place where the Tao is observed and cultivated it is a place of worship in Taoism. Structure and function can vary according to the Taoist school the temple belongs to. For example, ''guàn ...

s in

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

, usually in partnership with

. Ma Dai is first introduced as a playable character in the seventh instalment of

Koei Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its ''Dynasty Warriors'' games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based on p ...

's ''

Dynasty Warriors is a series of Japanese hack and slash action video games created by Omega Force and Koei (now is Koei Tecmo). The series is a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy '' Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' series, based upon the Chinese novel of ...

'' video game series.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Fang, Xuanling (648). ''

'' (''Jin Shu''). * Luo, Guanzhong (14th century). ''

'' (''Sanguo Yanyi''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Dai Chinese gods Deified Chinese people Generals from Shaanxi Generals under Liu Bei Ma Teng and associates Shu Han generals Zhang Lu and associates

Life

In ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''

In popular culture

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography