Tomb of Ma Fa

Tomb of Ma Fa

The Tomb of Ma Fa is a cultural relic protection unit of Chaozhou City.

The Tomb of Ma Fa is located beside the Yilan Pavilion at the summit of Jinshan in the urban area, facing southeast. The memorial stele was erected by Sun DanYa, a military leader of the People's Army in the early years of the Republic of China, but was later damaged. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was once relocated near Nanyan of West Lake Mountain. In the 1960s, it was moved back to Jinshan Summit. During the Cultural Revolution, the tombstone was shattered and the burial mound was leveled. It was restored in 1979, with the original (damaged) stele reinstalled and erected once again in front of the tomb.

The Tomb of Ma Fa is also known as the Tomb of Lord Ma. Ma Fa was a native of Haiyang (the former name of Chao’an) and served as the Commandant of Cuifeng Stockade in Chaozhou during the Jingyan era of the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, the Yuan army invaded the south, and Emperor Duzong of Song (later succeeded by Emperor Bing) fled to the border of Guangdong to continue resisting the Yuan forces. In the second year of Jingyan (1277), the Yuan general Suo Du led troops to advance on Chaozhou. Upon hearing the news, the prefect Ye Hou abandoned his post and fled. The Song emperor then sent a pacification commissioner to Chaozhou to console Ma Fa and appointed him to temporarily oversee military and civil affairs in Chaozhou, granting him the title of Pacification Commissioner. Ma Fa led the people in defending Chaozhou City, which the Yuan army repeatedly failed to capture. In the third year of Jingyan (1278), the defector Chen Yi led the Yuan forces under Suo Du in another attack on the city. Thanks to Ma Fa’s steadfast defense, the city held firm. Suo Du attempted to persuade Ma Fa to surrender multiple times, but all such offers were refused. Ma Fa also seized opportunities to launch counterattacks and repel Yuan troops. Later, the Yuan army bribed Huang Huzi, the patrol inspector of the southern gate, who secretly opened the southern gate on the night of the 29th of February, allowing the Yuan troops to swarm in and carry out widespread arson and looting — countless civilians were killed. Ma Fa fought to the death with only a hundred or so men left; outnumbered, he had no choice but to retreat to the citadel. That night, amid the cold wind, Ma Fa stood atop the mountain and heard the agonized cries of civilians being massacred outside the citadel. Seeing the Yuan troops approaching the citadel, he resolutely returned to his inner chamber, first ordering his wife and children to hang themselves, then drinking poison himself. Thirteen members of his family died as martyrs. The following day was the first day of the third month in the third year of Jingyan. Afterwards, the people of Chaozhou buried his family’s remains on Jinshan. The tombstone bears the inscription: “Tomb of Ma Fa, Commandant of Cuifeng Stockade and Prefectural Military-Civil Administrator of Chaozhou in the Southern Song Dynasty, Who Died with His Entire Family Upholding Their Honor.”

One of the “Eight Scenic Spots of Chaozhou,” known as “Ancient Pines of Jinshan,” is located near the Tomb of Ma Fa.

In 1987, the Chaozhou Municipal People’s Government designated it as a cultural relic protection unit.

Ma Fa, a Southern Song hero who resisted the Yuan. A native of Putian, his ancestors migrated to Chaozhou Prefecture in the late Tang Dynasty, and by Ma Fa’s generation, they were in their 16th generation. In the second year of Jingyan of the Southern Song Dynasty (1277), when the Yuan army besieged Chaozhou City, his entire family of nine perished. Before the city fell, his wife, Lady Wang, secretly ordered three servants to help five of their sons escape. Three went to seek refuge with their maternal grandfather, an external affairs official surnamed Wang, in Zhanglin (now Chenghai), Raoping, while two stayed with relatives in Heping, Raoping. To this day, both places have thriving Ma family lineages. … More details about Ma Fa ++