In the summer of the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (AD 219), Cao Cao had just experienced a defeat in Hanzhong. The love general Xia Houyuan also died in this battle. Before he had time to be sad, another bad news followed. Xiangyang and Fancheng were heavily attacked by Guan Yu. Siege. Although the general Cao Ren insisted on holding the city and resisted stubbornly, the enemy was few and the situation was critical, and he might fall at any time. Xiangyang and Fancheng were an important military barrier for Cao Wei in the Jingzhou area. Once they were defeated, Xu Du would be exposed to Guan Yu's front without any cover. This was undoubtedly what Cao Cao worried most.
Picture-the situation of the Three Kingdoms period and the location of Xiangyang
Later, Cao Cao ordered one of the five good generals to take command of the ban and command the seven armies to help. However, it was disadvantageous for Yuban to leave the division. Soon after he came to the front line, he encountered continuous rainstorms. Guan Yu judged the situation and used the water potential to fight the Ban. Cao Cao's rescue not only failed to alleviate the crisis, but suffered a huge loss. Ai will be captured by the ban, Pound was killed, 30,000 elites were captured, and Guan Yu's battle was a powerful shock to China.
However, what Cao Cao and Guan Yu did not expect was that this battle completely changed the trend of the battle. Sun Quan took the initiative to attack Jingzhou, and in just one month occupied the strategic points of Jingzhou such as the police and Jiangling. Guan Yu's base camp fell into the hands of Sun Quan, and he had to withdraw from the front lines of Xiangyang and Fancheng and head south for assistance. As a result, not only has the siege between Xiangyang and Fancheng been resolved, but Guan Yu's destiny has also undergone tremendous changes. When Guan Yu led his troops south to Maicheng, he was besieged by the regiments of the Soochow Army. Guan Yu had to break through Maicheng and attempt to escape back to Yizhou, but was defeated. It is precisely because of this that later generations appeared the phrase "walking wheat city", describing the fall from the peak to the bottom.
Figure-Schematic Diagram of the Battle of Xiangfan
Maicheng was Guan Yu’s last defensive position during his lifetime, and it was also the place where he fell from the altar. Such a special place has naturally aroused the interest of many people, so where is the specific location of Maicheng? Regarding this question, there is no clear answer in "Three Kingdoms". The author gives a brief introduction to Maicheng based on relevant historical data and documentary records.
Maicheng has a relatively long history. According to "Zuo Zhuan", in the fourteenth year of King Zhou Jing (506 BC) at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the famous general Wu Zixu and the military strategist Sun Wuju were in Mai The city fought fiercely with the Chu army for several months. At that time, Maicheng had high walls and strong defenses, and the Wu army suffered heavy casualties here and was unable to attack for a long time. Therefore, Wu Zixu ordered the people to build the Donkey City and the Mill City on the east and west sides of Maicheng. The sergeants of the two cities took turns to attack Maicheng. As a result, the Chu army was exhausted in the city. . From this record, it can be known that until the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, Maicheng has a history of at least 700 years, and has always been a military center in the Jingzhou area.
Picture-Hubei Province City and River Distribution Map
The specific location of Maicheng first appeared in Li Daoyuan's "Shui Jing Zhu" during the Northern Wei Dynasty. According to the book, Maicheng is located at the confluence of Jushui and Zhangshui in the southeast of Dangyang County. The Song Dynasty's "Jingzhou Ji" also has the same record, and it is specifically stated that this place was the last place where Guan Yu was defeated when he guarded Jingzhou. This statement was also confirmed in the "Dangyang County Chronicles" during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. According to the book, there is a Maicheng fifty li southeast of Dangyang County, which is said to be built by Miren, the king of Chu Zhao during the Spring and Autumn Period.
Figure-Yichang City Topographic and Political District Map
These historical materials all indicate the approximate location of Maicheng, which is in the southeast of Dangyang City, Yichang City. However, this seems to contradict the statement in "Three Kingdoms". According to the "Three Kingdoms: Master Wu Zhuan": "Guan Yu is still in Dangyang, Xibao Maicheng." From this record, we can know that Maicheng is not far to the west of Dangyang County. This appears in the records of later generations. Two opposite directions. So, why is there such a big gap in the records in historical materials in the same place?
With this question, modern scholars read a lot of historical materials, combined with the relevant records in the "Three Kingdoms", and finally came to a conclusion: Dangyang County in the early period of the Three Kingdoms was located in Yiyang City, Hubei Province. The area west of the city, which is similar to the one in "Three Kingdoms"It coincides that Maicheng is located to the west of Dangyang County. The location of Dangyang County was most likely to be moved to the current location of Dangyang City, Yichang City when the famous Soochow general Zhu Ran rebuilt the Jiangling Defense Line in the 11th year of Chiwu (248 AD) in the middle of the Three Kingdoms. To defend Cao Wei. This resulted in the description that Maicheng was located in the southeast of Dangyang County in later historical materials.
Figure-Topographic Map of Hubei Province
This conclusion resolves the contradictions in historical data, and some archaeological discoveries in the last century have also confirmed the correctness of this statement. However, although the approximate location of Maicheng can be determined, Maicheng no longer exists. According to relevant historical materials in the Qing Dynasty, natural disasters have occurred frequently in this area since the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty. The two rivers of Ju and Zhang were flooded frequently due to continuous heavy rains. Maicheng was hit by floods and had long since disappeared, and the ruins were deeply buried. In the sand. Therefore, the specific location of Maicheng remains an unsolved mystery, which once plagued many scholars.
Time was extended to the late 1950s and early 1960s. Local cultural relic workers discovered some ancient relics in the southeast of Dangyang County. Experts confirmed that this place is an ancient street relic. However, due to the impact of the environment at that time, local cultural relic workers were unable to excavate and protect. In the later man-made excavation and development process, many ancient tombs and relics were damaged to varying degrees.
Picture-Location of Lianghe Town, Dangyang City
After the mid-1970s, the local area invested a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources to carry out extensive Archaeological excavations. Through years of hard work, a large number of ancient tombs of various periods have been discovered in the area, many precious cultural relics have been unearthed, and an ancient city site has also been discovered in Lianghe Town, southeast of Dangyang City. This finding is undoubtedly exciting, and the news immediately attracted a large number of scholars to study.
Today, the whole picture of the ancient city is no longer known. After years of rain washing and man-made destruction, only a section of the ruined wall with a width of about 100 meters and a total length of 600 meters is left. The scholars combined a large number of historical records, field investigations, and textual research to come to a conclusion: the site is the location of Maicheng where Guan Yu was dropped into the altar. It can be seen that the specific location of Maicheng is in Lianghe Town, southeast of Dangyang City, Yichang City, Hubei Province.
Reference books: "Three Kingdoms", "Shui Jing Zhu", "Jingzhou Ji", "Dangyang County Chronicles"
