Warlord
Ma Teng faction 馬騰
About this faction
This faction was the warlord force that Ma Teng commanded in Liang Province and Guanzhong at the end of the Eastern Han. At the end of Emperor Ling's reign Ma Teng rose in the western region together with Bian Zhang, Han Sui and others, and in the 3rd year of Chuping (192) he came to Chang'an with Han Sui, was made General Who Conquers the West and was stationed at Mei County. After attacking Chang'an, being defeated and returning to Liang Province, he and Han Sui attacked each other by turns, and he held on as one of the commanders of Guanzhong. Records, Shu 6 §25Records, Wei 6 §22 · 31Records, Wei 13 §5
When Cao Cao was about to campaign against Jing Province, Ma Teng, after long persuasion by Zhang Ji (張既), went east and became Minister of the Guards, and his followers were commanded by his son Ma Chao, who was made a general. What followed continues in the Ma Chao faction. When Ma Chao rebelled in the 16th year of Jian'an (211) and seized Hanyang, Ma Teng was implicated and his three sets of kin were exterminated. Records, Wei 15 §41Records, Shu 6 §26Records, Wei 6 §31
Chen Shou did not give Ma Teng a biography of his own, recording him briefly together with Han Sui in the section "Ma Teng and Han Sui" in Records of Wei 6. The Romance first presented this faction in Chapter 5 with Ma Teng, Administrator of Xiliang, as the 13th contingent among the lords who answered Cao Cao's call to arms, and in Chapter 10 had him attack Li Jue and Guo Si in Chang'an with more than 100,000 troops. Records, Wei 6 §29–31Romance, Ch. 5 §7–8Romance, Ch. 10 §5
Rise and fall in the Records
According to the biography of Ma Chao, his father Ma Teng rose in the western region together with Bian Zhang, Han Sui and others at the end of Emperor Ling's reign. The biography of Pang De records that in the Chuping era Pang De followed Ma Teng in attacking the rebellious Qiang and Di, won merit many times, and gradually rose to Colonel. Records, Shu 6 §25Records, Wei 18 §68
In the 3rd year of Chuping (192) Han Sui and Ma Teng led their followers to Chang'an. The court made Han Sui General Who Guards the West and sent him back, and made Ma Teng General Who Conquers the West and stationed him at Mei County. The Palace Attendant Ma Yu plotted with the Grandee Remonstrant Chong Shao and the General of the Household of the Left Liu Fan to have Ma Teng attack Chang'an while they collaborated from inside to kill Li Jue and the others, but when Ma Teng reached the Changping Lodge the plot leaked out. Fan Chou attacked and defeated Ma Teng, who returned to Liang Province, and Ma Yu and the others, who had fled to Huaili, were all killed. The biography of Liu Yan in Records of Shu 1 records that Liu Yan and his son Liu Fan conspired with Ma Teng, who was at Mei County, to attack Chang'an. Records, Shu 6 §25Records, Wei 6 §22Records, Shu 1 §10
Thereafter Han Sui and Ma Teng returned to Liang Province and attacked each other by turns. The biography of Zhong Yao records that because the commanders of Guanzhong, Ma Teng, Han Sui and others, each held powerful troops and fought one another, Cao Cao, busy with affairs east of the mountains, had Zhong Yao act as Colonel-Director of Retainers while serving as Palace Attendant and supervise the armies of Guanzhong. When Zhong Yao reached Chang'an and sent letters setting out the consequences of disaster and fortune, Ma Teng and Han Sui each sent a son to serve at court. Records, Wei 6 §31Records, Wei 13 §5
While Yuan Shang was resisting Cao Cao at Liyang, he sent Guo Yuan, the Administrator of Hedong whom he had appointed, Gao Gan, Inspector of Bing Province, and the Chanyu of the Xiongnu to seize Pingyang, and sought to ally with the commanders of Guanzhong. When Zhang Ji (張既), sent by Zhong Yao, explained the advantages and dangers, Ma Teng and the others followed him, and Ma Teng gave his son Ma Chao more than 10,000 troops to attack Gao Gan and Guo Yuan together with Zhong Yao. Guo Yuan was crushed and beheaded while crossing the Fen River before half his men were over, and the biography of Pang De records that Pang De, who had gone with Ma Chao, led the vanguard and personally cut off Guo Yuan's head. Records, Wei 15 §39–40Records, Wei 13 §8Records, Wei 18 §68
Later, when Gao Gan rebelled again with Bing Province and Zhang Sheng of Henei, Wei Gu of Hedong and Zhang Yan of Hongnong rose, Cao Cao had Zhang Ji summon the commanders of the west, Ma Teng and others. They brought their troops together, defeated Zhang Sheng and the others, and beheaded Zhang Yan and Wei Gu. When Zhang Baiqi rebelled in Hongnong, Pang De again followed Ma Teng and defeated him between the two Xiao Mountains, and Pang De's valor was foremost in Ma Teng's army. Records, Wei 15 §40Records, Wei 18 §69
When Cao Cao was about to campaign against Jing Province, Ma Teng and the others held divided parts of Guanzhong. Cao Cao again sent Zhang Ji to instruct Ma Teng to release his private troops and return to the court. Ma Teng agreed but then hesitated, and when Zhang Ji, fearing trouble, pressed the counties to stockpile supplies and had the officials of two thousand dan rank go out to the outskirts to welcome him, Ma Teng had no choice but to set out east. Cao Cao memorialized that Ma Teng be made Minister of the Guards and Ma Chao a general in command of his followers. Records, Wei 15 §41
The biography of Ma Chao records the same event as follows: when Ma Teng fell out with Han Sui, he asked to return to the capital region and was summoned as Minister of the Guards, and Ma Chao, made Lieutenant General and Marquis of a Chief Village, commanded Ma Teng's private troops. Pang De stayed behind under Ma Chao. Records, Shu 6 §26Records, Wei 18 §69
In the 16th year of Jian'an (211) Ma Chao rebelled together with the commanders of Guanzhong, Han Sui and others, and was defeated by Cao Cao. When Ma Chao seized Hanyang, Ma Teng was implicated and his three sets of kin were exterminated. In the memorial he later submitted in Shu as death approached, Ma Chao said that his clan of more than two hundred people had been almost entirely killed by Mengde, and that only his cousin Ma Dai remained. Records, Wei 6 §31Records, Shu 6 §33
Since Ma Teng has no biography of his own, there is no assessment of him by Chen Shou. In his assessment in Records of Shu 6, Chen Shou wrote that Ma Chao, relying on the Rong and trusting in his valor, brought ruin upon his clan, and that this was regrettable. Records, Wei 6 §29–31Records, Shu 6 §44
In the Romance
In Chapter 5 the Romance counted Ma Teng, Administrator of Xiliang, as the 13th contingent among the lords who raised troops in answer to Cao Cao's call to arms. In Chapter 10 Ma Teng, together with Han Sui, Inspector of Bing Province, marched on Chang'an with more than 100,000 troops, declaring that he would attack the rebels. The two commanders had colluded beforehand with the Palace Attendant Ma Yu, the Grandee Remonstrant Chong Shao and the General of the Household of the Left Liu Fan, and when these three secretly petitioned Emperor Xian, Ma Teng was made General Who Conquers the West and Han Sui General Who Guards the West, and they received a secret edict. Romance, Ch. 5 §8Romance, Ch. 10 §5–6
Jia Xu advised holding fast, but Li Meng and Wang Fang went out to fight; Wang Fang was run through and killed by Ma Teng's son Ma Chao, and Li Meng was captured. When Li Jue and Guo Si then refused to give battle, the Xiliang army ran out of grain and fodder in less than two months, and a household servant of Ma Yu exposed the plot from inside. Ma Teng and Han Sui withdrew their troops but were badly defeated when pursued by Zhang Ji (張濟) and Fan Chou, and Ma Chao, fighting in the rear, drove Zhang Ji back. Romance, Ch. 10 §7–13
In Chapter 20 Ma Teng, about to return home after his audience at court, called on Dong Cheng and rebuked him for not thinking of attacking the traitor even though he was full of rage over what had happened at the hunt at Xutian. On seeing the edict in the sash, he bit his lip until it bled and said that he would respond from outside with the troops of Xiliang, signed his name on the pledge, and in Chapter 21 proposed drawing in Liu Xuande, Governor of Yu Province. When Liu Bei left, Ma Teng also received urgent news from the frontier and returned to Xiliang. Romance, Ch. 20 §38–42Romance, Ch. 21 §1 · 33
In Chapter 57, when Cao Cao worried that Ma Teng might attack Xudu while he campaigned in the south, Xun You proposed luring Ma Teng to the capital with an edict making him General Who Conquers the South and ordering him to attack Sun Quan, and then doing away with him. Ma Teng had his eldest son Ma Chao guard Xiliang with crack troops and, reasoning that Cao Cao would not dare harm him for fear of Ma Chao and Han Sui, took only his sons Ma Xiu and Ma Tie and his nephew Ma Dai and arrived with 5,000 Xiliang troops 20 li outside Xuchang. Romance, Ch. 57 §38–39 · 42 · 44
Ma Teng and Huang Kui, whom Cao Cao had sent, agreed to kill Cao Cao when he reviewed the troops outside the city, but Miao Ze, who was carrying on an affair with Huang Kui's concubine Li Chunxiang, reported this to Cao Cao. The next day Ma Teng was surrounded by Cao Hong, Xu Chu, Xiahou Yuan and Xu Huang; Ma Tie was killed by arrows, and the captured Ma Teng, cursing without stopping, was put to death together with Ma Xiu and Huang Kui. Romance, Ch. 57 §45–52
In Chapter 58, when Ma Dai, who had escaped, brought the news, Ma Chao, commanding the host of Xiliang, raised troops on receiving a letter from Liu Bei, and Han Sui helped him. In this way, in the Romance, the troops of Xiliang passed to the Ma Chao faction. Romance, Ch. 58 §5 · 8–13
Where the Romance differs
The lords who attacked Dong Zhuo: In Chapter 5 of the Romance, Ma Teng, as Administrator of Xiliang and the 13th contingent, was among the lords who rose to attack Dong Zhuo. In the list of those who raised troops in the 1st year of Chuping (190) in the Annals of Emperor Wu in the Records, only Yuan Shu, Han Fu, Kong Zhou, Liu Dai, Wang Kuang, Yuan Shao, Zhang Miao, Qiao Mao, Yuan Yi and Bao Xin appear, and Ma Teng is not among them. Romance, Ch. 5 §8Records, Wei 1 §7
How the attack on Chang'an came about: In Chapter 10 of the Romance, Ma Teng, made General Who Conquers the West by a secret edict after Ma Yu and others petitioned the emperor, attacked Chang'an with Han Sui and more than 100,000 troops. In the Records, he came to Chang'an with Han Sui in the 3rd year of Chuping (192), was made General Who Conquers the West and stationed at Mei County, and later, following the plot of Ma Yu and others, attacked Chang'an, but the plot leaked out at the Changping Lodge and he was defeated by Fan Chou. Romance, Ch. 10 §5–6Records, Wei 6 §22Records, Shu 6 §25
Li Meng and Wang Fang: In Chapter 10 of the Romance, the two came out on Li Jue's side to stop Ma Teng; Wang Fang was run through by Ma Chao's spear, and Li Meng was captured by Ma Chao and beheaded. In the biography of Dong Zhuo in the Records, Li Meng and Wang Fang appear only as former subordinates of Dong Zhuo who, with Fan Chou, joined Li Jue and others in surrounding the city of Chang'an; the man who defeated Ma Teng was Fan Chou, and Ma Chao does not appear in this battle. Romance, Ch. 10 §9–11Records, Wei 6 §20 · 22
The edict in the sash: In Chapter 20 of the Romance, Ma Teng signed his name on Dong Cheng's pledge and swore an oath smeared with blood. In the Biography of the First Sovereign in the Records, those who joined Dong Cheng's plot of the secret edict were the First Sovereign (Liu Bei), the Colonel of the Changshui Garrison Chong Ji, and the generals Wu Zilan, Wang Zifu and others, and Ma Teng does not appear. Romance, Ch. 20 §41–42Records, Shu 2 §15
Relations with Han Sui: Chapter 57 of the Romance says that Ma Teng had become sworn brothers with Han Sui, General Who Guards the West. Chen Shou's main text does not say the two became sworn brothers; it says they returned to Liang Province and attacked each other by turns, and the biography of Ma Chao records that Ma Teng fell out with Han Sui and asked to return to the capital region. Romance, Ch. 57 §40Records, Wei 6 §31Records, Shu 6 §26
How he entered the court: In Chapter 57 of the Romance, following Xun You's plan, an edict making him General Who Conquers the South and ordering him to attack Sun Quan summoned Ma Teng, and he arrived outside Xuchang with 5,000 troops. In the Records, when Cao Cao was about to campaign against Jing Province he sent Zhang Ji (張既) to instruct Ma Teng to release his private troops and return; Ma Teng, who had hesitated, had no choice but to set out east and became Minister of the Guards, and his followers were entrusted to Ma Chao. Romance, Ch. 57 §39 · 44Records, Wei 15 §41
His death and Ma Chao's uprising: In Chapters 57–58 of the Romance, Ma Teng was killed first while plotting with Huang Kui to kill Cao Cao, and Ma Chao raised troops to avenge him. In the Records the order is reversed: in the 16th year of Jian'an (211), after Ma Chao rebelled with Han Sui and others and seized Hanyang, Ma Teng was implicated and his three sets of kin were exterminated. Romance, Ch. 57 §51–52Romance, Ch. 58 §8–11Records, Wei 6 §31
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
Lineage
- Succeeded by: Ma Chao faction (208) — 「太祖表騰為衞尉，子超為將軍，統其衆」 · 「以超為偏將軍…領騰部曲」