Ma Dai

Who is Ma Dai?

Ma Dai was a military general of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He previously served under his uncle Ma Teng, a warlord in northwestern China, during the late Eastern Han Dynasty. After Ma Teng's death, he followed his cousin Ma Chao and they joined the warlord Zhang Lu in Hanzhong for a short period of time. Ma Chao later defected to another warlord Liu Bei, and Ma Dai accompanied him. Ma Dai served under Liu Bei and later in the state of Shu Han.

Not much information on Ma Dai is found in historical records. It is known that in 234, he participated in the fifth Northern Expedition led by Shu's chancellor Zhuge Liang to attack the Shu's rival state Cao Wei. During that campaign, he was defeated by the Wei general Niu Jin. Ma Dai was also credited with slaying the Shu general Wei Yan, who was alleged to have turned against Shu after the death of Zhuge Liang.