Device
Muniu Liuma 木牛流馬
About this item
The Muniu Liuma are the wooden ox (muniu) and the gliding horse (liuma), transport devices that Zhuge Liang built to carry provisions during his northern campaigns. Chen Shou records that Zhuge Liang's improvement of the Liannu, the repeating crossbow, and his making of the wooden ox and the gliding horse all came from his own ideas, and the Shu army first carried provisions with the wooden ox at Mount Qi in the 9th year of Jianxing (231), and first with the gliding horse when it came out through the Xie Valley in the 12th year (234). In the Romance, Zhuge Liang builds them in Shangfang Valley, and by a trick of twisting their tongues he carries off the copies Sima Yi has made after seizing some. Records, Shu 5 §42Records, Shu 3 §12 · 15Romance, Ch. 102 §40 · 53 · 55
Chen Shou's text records the wooden ox and the gliding horse in the Biography of the Later Sovereign in Records of Shu 3 and the Biography of Zhuge Liang in Records of Shu 5, and the method of making them is preserved in the Liang ji (Collected Works of Zhuge Liang) quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary on the Biography of Zhuge Liang. The Romance depicts them in detail in the part of Chapter 102 whose title reads "Zhuge Liang builds the wooden oxen and gliding horses," and mentions them again in Chapters 103 and 109. Records, Shu 3 §12–13 · 15Records, Shu 5 §37–38 · 42Romance, Ch. 102 §40–61Romance, Ch. 103 §18Romance, Ch. 109 §7
In the Records
The Biography of the Later Sovereign in Records of Shu 3, part of Chen Shou's text, records that in the 2nd month of spring in the 9th year of Jianxing (231), when Zhuge Liang again sent out his army and besieged Mount Qi, provisions were first carried with the wooden ox. The Biography of Zhuge Liang in Records of Shu 5 likewise records that in this year he came out to Mount Qi and carried provisions with the wooden ox, but withdrew his army when provisions ran out, and fought Wei's Zhang He and shot him dead. Records, Shu 3 §12Records, Shu 5 §37
The Biography of the Later Sovereign records that in the 10th year of Jianxing (232) Zhuge Liang rested his soldiers and encouraged farming at Huangsha, finished making the gliding horses and wooden oxen and trained his troops, and that in the 2nd month of spring in the 12th year (234), as he came out through the Xie Valley, provisions were first carried with the gliding horse. The Biography of Zhuge Liang records that at this time he led his whole host out through the Xie Valley, carrying provisions with the gliding horse, occupied the Wuzhang Plains and faced Sima Yi south of the Wei River, and that, always worried that his provisions would not keep up, he divided his troops to set up military farms. In the 8th month of that year Zhuge Liang died of illness in the army. Records, Shu 3 §13 · 15Records, Shu 5 §38
In the Biography of Zhuge Liang, Chen Shou records that Zhuge Liang was by nature skilled at ingenious contrivance, and that his improvement of the Liannu and his making of the wooden ox and the gliding horse all came from his own ideas. The "Method of Making the Wooden Ox and Gliding Horse" in the Liang ji (Collected Works of Zhuge Liang), quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary on this passage, says that the wooden ox has a square belly and a curved head, one leg and four feet, that it carries much but travels little, going several tens of li when traveling singly and 20 li when traveling in a group, and that carrying a year's provisions and going 20 li a day it does not greatly tire its men. For the gliding horse it gives measurements for each part, such as ribs 3 chi 5 cun (feet and inches) long, and says that each of its two square bags holds 2 hu 3 dou (dry measures) of rice. Records, Shu 5 §42
In the Romance
In Chapter 102 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang, who aims to take the land south of the Wei River, sends more than a thousand craftsmen into Shangfang Valley to build wooden oxen and gliding horses and has Ma Dai guard the mouth of the valley. When Yang Yi says that the provisions are all at Jiange and hard to transport, Zhuge Liang says that the wooden oxen and gliding horses made from the timber he has stockpiled and the great trees bought in Xichuan neither drink nor eat and can carry loads day and night, and he writes out the method of making them in his own hand to show them. Romance, Ch. 102 §39–45
The wooden oxen and gliding horses completed a few days later look just like living creatures and move easily up and down the mountains, and Zhuge Liang has Gao Xiang drive them with 1,000 troops to carry provisions from Jiange to the great camp at Mount Qi. Sima Yi sends Zhang Hu and Yue Chen to seize a few, has his craftsmen take them apart, and within half a month builds more than 2,000 identical ones, and has Cen Wei carry provisions from Longxi with them. Romance, Ch. 102 §49 · 51–53
This is just what Zhuge Liang wanted. Wang Ping, disguised as Wei troops, cuts down Cen Wei and drives off the wooden oxen and gliding horses, and when Guo Huai gives chase he twists round the tongues in the mouths of the oxen and horses and abandons them on the road. While Guo Huai's troops cannot make them move however hard they drive them, Wei Yan and Jiang Wei charge in, Wang Ping turns the tongues back again and drives them off, and Zhang Ni's troops, disguised as spirits, emerge from the smoke and sweep away the wooden oxen and gliding horses. Romance, Ch. 102 §54–61
In Chapter 103, Zhuge Liang has Gao Xiang drive the Muniu Liuma back and forth in Shangfang Valley and lets the Wei army seize them again and again, to please Sima Yi. In Chapter 109, hearing that the Shu army is carrying provisions with the Muniu Liuma behind Mount Tielong, Wei's Xu Zhi sets out to seize them and falls into an ambush. Romance, Ch. 103 §18 · 21 · 24Romance, Ch. 109 §7–9
Where the Romance differs
When they were made: In Chapter 102 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang, facing Sima Yi south of the Wei River in the 12th year of Jianxing (234), first builds the wooden oxen and gliding horses together in Shangfang Valley. In the Biography of the Later Sovereign in the Records, provisions were first carried with the wooden ox during the siege of Mount Qi in the 9th year of Jianxing (231), the gliding horses and wooden oxen were completed at Huangsha in the 10th year (232), and provisions were first carried with the gliding horse when Zhuge Liang came out through the Xie Valley in the 12th year (234). Romance, Ch. 101 §56Romance, Ch. 102 §39–40Records, Shu 3 §12–13 · 15
Load: The method in Chapter 102 of the Romance says that each ox carries a month's food for ten men and that the ox neither drinks nor eats. The method in the Liang ji quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary records that it carries a year's provisions and goes 20 li a day, and says nothing about not eating. Romance, Ch. 102 §45Records, Shu 5 §42
Wei's copies: In Chapter 102 of the Romance, Sima Yi seizes wooden oxen and gliding horses and builds more than 2,000 identical ones, and Zhuge Liang carries them off with the trick of twisting their tongues to stop them. The Biography of Zhuge Liang in the Records says only that at this time Zhuge Liang carried provisions with the gliding horse and divided his troops to set up military farms, and nothing appears about the Wei army seizing or copying the wooden oxen and gliding horses. Romance, Ch. 102 §52–53 · 55 · 60–61Records, Shu 5 §38
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.
Ownership history
| Owner | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Zhuge Liang | 231~234 | Novel & History 「始以木牛運」 · 「始以流馬運」(sgz-shu-03:s15) · 「卒于軍」 · 「製造木牛流馬應用」 |
| Sima Yi | 234~ | Romance 「一樣製造木牛流馬」 · 「說魏兵搶奪木牛流馬各五六匹去了」(yy-102:s54) |
Ownership is checked against the source texts (3KDEX) — each entry rests on the passage where the item changes hands. Owners not in the People index are not shown.