Ma Chao tomb

Ma Chao tomb

Ma Chao tomb, also known as Ma Chao temple and Ma Gong temple, is the cemetery of Ma Chao, a warlord and Hussars general in the late Eastern Han Dynasty

It is near Dingjun mountain, Mianxian County, Shaanxi Province, with Leigong Mountain in the north and Hanjiang River in the south. Two kilometers to the west of Mianxian county is 108 National Highway, which belongs to Jiguang village of Wuhou town. It is about 1 km away from Wuhou Temple, opposite to the temple of girls in Guanzi mountain (that is, Zhang Qiying, daughter of Zhang Lu).

Ma Chao's ancestral hall is divided into front courtyard and back courtyard. The front courtyard has three halls: the main hall (believing in beitu), Hanzhong Exhibition for hegemony (also serving as the capital of culture and martial arts), and Ma Chao's life exhibition (the hero of my life). The back courtyard and the front courtyard are separated by the Han Hui canal. There is a stone bridge leading to both sides in the middle, which is named "Fengyu bridge". The back courtyard is the cemetery where Ma Chao was buried. Ma Chao's tomb is made in the Han Dynasty, with a circumference of 90 meters and a tomb height of 8 meters. There are two tombstones, one in front of the tomb and the other beside the 108 road in front of the ancestral temple. The contents are the same. On the tombstone, the official script "Tomb of Ma Gong Chao, the general of the Han Dynasty conquering the west" was engraved, which was written by Bi Yuan, the Minister of the Ministry of war and vice governor of Shaanxi Province in 1776.

History of tombs

According to the records of Guanzhong relics, Guanzhong mausoleum and Zhuge Liang chronicle compiled by Guo Qinghua, an expert on the culture of the Three Kingdoms

In 221 A.D., after Liu Bei became emperor, Ma Chao was promoted to be a general of Hushi. He led the herdsmen of Liangzhou and guarded Yangpingguan (now the old city of Mianxian county). In 222 ad, he died at the age of 47 and was buried here.

In 227 A.D., Zhuge Liang went to the northern expedition of Cao Wei. After passing through Ma Chao's tomb, he ordered his younger brother Ma Dai to mourn and offer sacrifices in the tomb of Liang qinyi, encouraging the soldiers of the three armies to turn grief into strength.

Today, with the rapid development of cultural relic tourism and the development of Western China, Ma Chao's tomb temple, which has experienced a lot of vicissitudes, is glowing with new brilliance.

In 1983, the people's Government of Mianxian County announced it as a key cultural relics protection unit at the county level. The county museum set up a cultural protection team in the local area, demarcated the four boundaries, established protection archives, and installed protection signs for protection and management.

In 1984, in order to welcome the second national Zhuge Liang Research Conference held in Mianxian County, the provincial and local governments funded the maintenance of the main hall of Ma Chao's tomb temple, and the acquisition of land to add walls, forming an independent management system.

On April 20, 1992, the people's Government of Shaanxi Province announced the tomb Temple of machao as the third batch of provincial key cultural relics protection units in the province, and the county set up a cultural relics management office with special personnel for protection and management.

In 1999, the county museum made a general plan for the tomb of Ma Chao, which was submitted to the Provincial Bureau of cultural relics for examination and approval. With the concern and support of the municipal and county governments and relevant departments, through various financing channels, the main hall, Mountain Gate and east-west wing rooms of machao temple have been restored, and two large-scale painted statue stands of pound and Madai under the statue niche of machao in the main hall have been restored; five wooden tablets have been copied, and three stone inscriptions of patriotic general Feng Yuxiang and other celebrities in machao's tomb have been imitated; the county transportation department has allocated more funds The bridge corridor of Han Huiqu, which connects the ancestral temple and tomb, was newly built with special funds; more than 10 mu of land around the tomb was newly expropriated, 350 square meters of wall around the tomb was built, and a vertical flower gate was built; the road from the mountain gate to the middle of the tomb area was paved to connect the ancestral temple and tomb; more than 1000 trees and flowers were planted.

Temple structure

Magong temple is 4km away from Sichuan Shaanxi highway in Mianxian county. On the south side of the highway, there is a large stele, 2.9m high, 0.98M wide and 0.24M thick. It is written in Shangke Lishu as "the tomb of Magong Chao, a general of the West army of the Han Dynasty". The main courtyard of machao temple is about 60 meters to the north of the stone tablet. Because Liu Bei named machao the Marquis of "Tai", the temple was named "Han Marquis Temple", commonly known as "Magong Temple". It was built in the Qing Dynasty, covering an area of more than 20 mu. Beside it is the school building of Jiguang primary school. At the gate of the hall, there is a plaque of the ancestral hall of "the Marquis of the Han Dynasty", and there are five eastern chambers and five steles. There are three main halls in the front courtyard of the temple. They are: the main hall (with statues of Ma Chao, pound, Ma Dai, Jin Tong Yu NV, etc.) and the plaque with four characters of "believe in the northern soil"; the side halls on both sides, the exhibition of Ma Chao's life and the history of Cao Liu's struggle for hegemony in Hanzhong, etc. Behind the Mountain Gate in the backyard, it is the site of Ma Chao's tomb, with a perimeter of 90 meters and a height of 8 meters. Around it, 350 square meters of tomb walls have been built. The temple as a whole has many buildings, such as mountain gate, shadow wall, wing room, main hall, fengyuqiao, chuihuamen, etc.

Main attractions

Three halls in front yard

It is distributed in the front yard of Ma Chao's tomb. There are three halls. The statue of Ma Chao on the shrine in the main hall was molded in the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty. It is full of vitality, powerful and majestic, and has a "supporting wind"

The two statues of pound and Madai were separated from each other. On the plaque at the front door were written four characters: "believe in beitu". It was the words boasting Ma Chao in the imperial edict when Emperor zhaolie Liu Bei granted Ma Chao the title of general of Hushi and Marquis of Qixiang. The same words also included "powerful and Zhao, resisting Yanghu, Diqiang leading suit, Yimu" and so on. The original book was "believe in beitu" "Beitu" should be the wrong character on the tablet In the hall of the first world hero, the exhibition of Ma Chao's life is continued, using graphic mode, including the famous "six battles of Weishui River" and "Ma Chao's investment in Liu". In the hall of "concurrently invested in civil and military affairs", the story of Cao Cao and Liu Bei's battle for hegemony in Hanzhong is described. Ma Chao also participated in the battle and played an important role. When Ma Chao joined Liu Bei, Guan Yu wrote a book asking Liu Bei who Ma Chao could be compared with. Zhuge Liang wrote back: "Mengqi is a man of both culture and martial arts, a man of great strength, and a man of great life. He should keep abreast of Yide, but he is not as good as meixugong." When Zhuge Liang raised Guan Yu, he also boasted about Ma Chao's talent.

Wind and rain bridge of Hanhui canal

The Han Hui canal separating Ma Chao's tomb is 100 meters long. Fengyu bridge is a stone slab bridge connecting Ma Chao's hall and Ma Chao's tomb. Huiqu flows from west to East, meandering East. Originally, it was a combination of canals and roads. But when we arrived at the village, the canals and roads separated, and the market goers diverged to the main road. The footprints on the canal bank were quiet. We could take a bath, swim, run and bask in the nude The width of the bed is less than two meters, the depth of the water is less than one meter five, the sand bottom and the grass bank are within reach, which is a natural safe swimming lane for children.

Statue of Ma Chao

Built in 2002, it is located at the roadside of national highway 108, with large sculptures such as "Ding Jun Ding" and "Shenbing Tianjiang" built at the same time. Designed by Chen Hansheng, a sculptor and artist in Xi'an, Shaanxi.

Ma Chao cemetery

The tomb of machao is a rectangle shaped and covered with a bucket. Around the base of the tomb is 56 meters, and the height of the tomb is about 3 meters. A stone tablet was erected in front of the tomb. The content of the tablet is the same as that in front of the tomb. It is carved at the same time and is short, small, narrow and thin. The tomb is made in Han Dynasty, with a circumference of 90 meters and a height of 8 meters. According to historical records: in the Qing Dynasty, there were pines and cypresses planted around Ma Chao's tomb, but only high graves were left. When the Huiqu canal was built around 1935, the corridor of Ma Chao's tomb was opened and an iron knife was found. Fearing that there were hidden weapons in the tomb, no one dared to enter it, so it was closed immediately. This place was originally called majiaying. Maybe Ma Chao was stationed here at that time. Now Dingjun mountain is a granary in southern Shaanxi with beautiful scenery, ditches in the fields and fragrant rice and wheat.

Antithetical couplet of tomb Temple

Wangmang temple in Changhe, and machao temple in Dushu. -Zong Ji

His fame is based on the history of the Han Dynasty. -Feng Yuxiang

Two ancestral temples stand at the foot of the mountain; two ancient tombs stand at the water side of the Han Dynasty.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dou Xian defeated the Huns.

Wanrenshan pass is still here today, but there is no general Ma back then.

Awe the northwest, carry forward the righteousness of Tianhan, martial arts than the closing hero binghuan bullfight.

Analysis of authenticity

Cultural relics workers once organized excavation of Ma Chao's tomb. After opening the top of the tomb, they found that both the pattern and the bricks and stones were from the Han Dynasty, which was consistent with the historical records, and there was no objection from the historians, so there is no doubt that Ma Chao's tomb system is true.

Traffic information

Hanzhong goes to Mianxian by car or train. Mianxian take bus No.3 to talk to the conductor about Ma Chao's tomb, or take a taxi.

Address: about 1km away from Wuhou Temple, magongci village, west of Mianxian County, Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province

Longitude: 106.640461

Latitude: 33.15196

Chinese PinYin : Ma Chao Mu