Ma Yin

Ma Yin (; c. 853 He initially took control of the Changsha region in 896 after the death of his predecessor Liu Jianfeng, and subsequently increased his territorial hold to roughly modern Hunan and northeastern Guangxi, which became the territory of Ma Chu.

Background and early career Ma Yin was born in 853, during the reign of Emperor Xuānzong. He was known to be from Yanling (鄢陵, in modern Xuchang, Henan), but all that is known about his ancestors is that his great-grandfather was named Ma Yun , his grandfather was named Ma Zheng , and his father was named Ma Yuanfeng . His family claimed ancestry from the great Han dynasty general Ma Yuan.

At one point, when Zhongwu Circuit (忠武, headquartered in modern Xuchang) stationed an army at Cai Prefecture (蔡州, in modern Zhumadian, Henan) to defend against the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao, Ma Yin served in the Zhongwu army stationed at Cai, under the officers Sun Ru and Liu Jianfeng. By that time, Ma had become known for his abilities and bravery. Later, when Qin Zongquan the military governor of Fengguo Circuit (奉國, headquartered at Cai Prefecture) rebelled against the rule of Emperor Xuānzong's grandson Emperor Xizong, Sun and Liu, as well as their army, came under Qin's rule.

Service under Sun Ru In 887, Qin Zongquan sent his brother Qin Zongheng , with Sun as his deputy, to advance into Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), to contend for control of the circuit, which by that point had fallen into an internecine struggle between Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo on one side, and Yang Xingmi on the other. Liu and Ma were both in this army commanded by Qin Zongheng. When they arrived at Huainan's capital Yang Prefecture , Yang Xingmi had captured it and forced Qin Yan and Bi to flee. Qin Yan and Bi then joined forces with Qin Zongheng as well. Soon thereafter, when Qin Zongquan, himself facing military pressure from Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), tried to recall Qin Zongheng's army, Sun assassinated Qin Zongheng and took over the army, thereafter executing Qin Yan and Bi. Sun soon defeated Yang Xingmi and took over Yang Prefecture, claiming the title of military governor of Huainan. (Yang subsequently took Ningguo Circuit (寧國, headquartered in modern Xuanzhou, Anhui and became its military governor.)

In spring 891, Sun launched the initial phase of an ambitious plan to first destroy Yang Xingmi and then Zhu. He took all of the army available to him and headed for Xuanshe's capital Xuan Prefecture .

Service under Liu Jianfeng Instead of attacking Zhennan Circuit, Liu's army continued to head southwest, toward Wu'an Circuit, which was then ruled by Deng Chuna. When Liu reached Liling (醴陵, in modern Zhuzhou, Hunan) in summer 894, Deng sent his subordinates Jiang Xun and Deng Jichong to defend Longhui Pass (龍回關, in modern Shaoyang, Hunan) against Liu's advance. Ma Yin advanced to the pass and sent a messenger to Jiang and Deng Jichong. The messenger persuaded Jiang and Deng Jichong that Liu's arrival was foretold by the stars and that their army would be unable to resist his. At the suggestion of the messenger, Jiang and Deng Jichong disbanded their army. Liu then had his soldiers put on the uniforms that Jiang's and Deng Jichong's army wore, and then quickly advanced to Wu'an's capital Tan Prefecture (in modern Changsha, Hunan). When they arrived there, the Tan Prefecture's defenders mistook them for Jiang's and Deng Jichong's army, and therefore took no precautions. Liu's army directly headed for the headquarters, where Deng Chuna was holding a feast. They captured Deng Chuna, and Liu executed him and claimed the title of acting military governor.

In winter 895, after Jiang's request to be the prefect of Shao Prefecture (邵州, in modern Shaoyang) was rebuffed by Liu, he and Deng Jichong rose to oppose Liu. They quickly captured Shao Prefecture and tried to pressure Tan Prefecture. In spring 896, Liu sent Ma Yin to attack Jiang and Deng, and Ma had initial successes. However, during this campaign, Liu was assassinated by his officer Chen Zhan , whose wife Liu had been having an affair with. The soldiers initially supported Zhang to succeed Liu. However, as Zhang was riding a horse to headquarters, the horse suddenly got spooked and bit Zhang in the left leg. This caused Zhang to believe that his succeeding Liu was not in accordance with divine will. He thus issued an order to Ma to return to Tan Prefecture, offering to support him as Liu's successor. Ma thus left his subordinate Li Qiong at Shao to continue the campaign, while he himself returned to Tan. Once Ma returned to Tan, Zhang turned the governance of the circuit over to him, and Ma accepted; Zhang then left to take over the campaign at Shao. Emperor Zhaozong subsequently confirmed Ma as acting military governor. Emperor Zhaozong formally bestowed on Ma the title of military governor.

In 902, Emperor Zhaozong, who was then under the controls of the eunuch Han Quanhui and the warlord Li Maozhen at Li Maozhen's Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), which was then under siege by Zhu Quanzhong, sent the imperial emissary Li Yan to the southeastern circuits to encourage the warlords there to join under Yang's command and attack Zhu. As part of the edicts that Li Yan promulgated, Ma was given the honorary chancellor title of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi .

By 903, Zhu had prevailed over Li Maozhen, forcing Li Maozhen to seek peace by killing Han and giving control of the emperor to Zhu. Thereafter, Yang sent emissaries to Ma, accusing Zhu of inappropriate actions, and offering an alliance to Ma if Ma would cut off his relationship with Zhu. Ma's general Xu Dexun pointed out that Zhu controlled the emperor and that it would not be advantageous to Ma to end that relationship. Ma agreed and did not accept Yang's proposal.

Meanwhile, an ally of Zhu's, Du Hong the military governor of Wuchang Circuit (武昌, headquartered in modern Wuhan, Hubei), had been under attack by Yang for several years and was in a desperate situation. Zhu sent his general Han Qing south to try to save Du, while also requesting Cheng, Ma, and Lei Yanwei the military governor of Wuzhen Circuit (武貞, headquartered in modern Changde, Hunan) to launch troops to save Du. Cheng agreed and launched a fleet, which he himself commanded, toward Wuchang. However, after Cheng left his capital Jiangling, Ma sent Xu to join forces with Lei's officer Ouyang Si to attack Jiangling. They captured it, pillaged it for its population and wealth, and then withdrew. Cheng's army, hearing that their families and wealth had been captured, lost its morale, and was subsequently defeated by Yang's general Li Shenfu; Cheng committed suicide by drowning. On the way back to Tan, Xu met with Deng Jinzhong the prefect of Yue Prefecture (岳州, in modern Yueyang, Hunan) and persuaded Deng that he should submit to Ma. Deng agreed, surrendered the prefecture, and moved his entire family to Tan to show submission to Ma. Ma made Xu the prefect of Yue and Deng the prefect of Heng.

In 906, Yang's son and successor Yang Wo sent his officer Chen Zhixin to attack Yue Prefecture. Chen was successful, forcing Xu to flee, and Yue fell to Huainan control. During the same year, Peng Gan the prefect of Ji Prefecture (吉州, in modern Ji'an, Jiangxi) surrendered Ji to Ma, after Yang Wo had conquered most of Zhennan Circuit (which Ji Prefecture belonged to) and captured its military governor Zhong Kuangshi.

In 909, Wei Quanfeng, who had been controlling four Zhennan prefectures centered around Fǔ Prefecture (撫州, in modern Fuzhou, Jiangxi, note different tone than the prefectures in Tianmen and Hezhou) for years, claimed the title of military governor of Zhennan and set out to attack Hong Prefecture. When Wei sought support from Ma, Ma sent Wan Mei and Peng Gan's nephew Peng Yanzhang to put Gao'an (高安, in modern Yichun, Jiangxi) under siege to divert Hongnong forces. Subsequently, after Wei was defeated and captured by the Hongnong general Zhou Ben, Chu forces withdrew. Further, Peng Gan abandoned Ji Prefecture and fled to Tan, thus allowing Hongnong to take over Ji. Ma made Peng Gan the prefect of Chēn Prefecture, and took one of Peng's daughters as the wife of his son Ma Xifan.

Also in 910, Pang Juzhao the military governor of Ningyuan Circuit (寧遠, headquartered in modern Yulin, Guangxi), and Liu Changlu the defender of Gao Prefecture (高州, in modern Maoming, Guangdong), who had just recently repelled an attack by Liu Yin but believed that they had no strength to stand against Liu Yin long term, wrote to Ma, offering their territory to him. Ma sent Yao Yanzhang to their territory to escort them to Chu proper. He had Yao serve as the prefect of Ningyuan's capital Rong Prefecture to defend the territory,

In 914, the Wu prefect of Yuan Prefecture (袁州, in modern Yichun), Liu Chongjing , surrendered the prefecture to Ma. Ma sent Xu Zhen to support him. After the Wu generals Chai Zaiyong and Mi Zhicheng attacked, however, Liu and Xu abandoned Yuan Prefecture and returned to Chu territory.

In 919, Chu forces attacked Jingnan, and Gao Jixing sought aid from Wu. Wu had Liu Xin head directly toward Tan Prefecture, while Li Jian attacked Chu's Fù Prefecture . Li Jian captured Fù's prefect Bao Tang , and the Chu forces, hearing of Liu Xin's advances, withdrew from Jingnan.

During Later Tang

During Emperor Zhuangzong's reign In 923, Li Cunxu claimed himself to be the legitimate successor to Tang, establishing a new Later Tang as its Emperor Zhuangzong. Thereafter, he made a surprise attack on the Later Liang capital Daliang (大梁, i.e., formerly Bian Prefecture), catching it defenseless. Zhu Zhen, not wanting to be captured, committed suicide before the city fell to Later Tang forces, ending Later Liang. The circuits that had previously been controlled by Later Liang came under Later Tang control. Ma Yin, hearing of the Later Tang victory, sent Ma Xifan to Daliang to pay tribute to Emperor Zhuangzong. When Ma Xifan met Emperor Zhuangzong, Emperor Zhuangzong asked him about the events in the Chu realm and was impressed. Wanting to praise Ma Xifan while, at the same time, sow seeds of suspicion by Ma Yin against Gao Yu, he stated to Ma Xifan, "I had often heard that one day Gao Yu would take over the Hunan region. If the Prince of Chu has a son like you, how could Gao do so?"

In 924, Emperor Zhuangzong bestowed on Ma Yin the title of Shangshu Ling .

In 925, Emperor Zhuangzong sent his son Li Jiji the Prince of Wei and the major general Guo Chongtao to attack Former Shu (which was then ruled by Wang Jian's son and successor Wang Zongyan. Former Shu quickly fell and was absorbed into Later Tang. Hearing of Former Shu's destruction, Ma, in fear, submitted a report to Emperor Zhuangzong, stating:

During Emperor Mingzong's reign After Emperor Mingzong took the throne, he confirmed Ma Yin's title of Shangshu Ling. Meanwhile, with Gao Jixing taking an increasingly confrontational attitude with the Later Tang court, including seizure of a major shipment of Former Shu wealth that Li Jiji (prior to Emperor Zhuangzong's death and his own suicide) sent toward Luoyang, as well as the seizure of three prefectures that formerly belonged to Former Shu, Emperor Mingzong sent the general Liu Xun to attack Jingnan. Ma sent Xu Dexun with a fleet toward Jingnan, but stopped Xu's fleet at Yue Prefecture. Meanwhile, Gao defended Jiangling and refused to engage Liu, who soon became bogged down in his attack due to rains and illnesses afflicting his army. Emperor Mingzong sent the chief of staff Kong Xun to the front to examine the situation, and Kong tried to entice Ma to join the battle as well by sending a gift of clothes to the Chu army and horses and jade belts to Ma personally, and requesting that Ma send food supplies to Liu's army — a request that Ma apparently did not openly reject but never carried out. Eventually, Liu was forced to withdraw, and Jingnan became effectively independent of Later Tang after that point.

In 927, Emperor Mingzong bestowed the greater title of King of Chu on Ma. After accepting the title, Ma took on greater royal trappings, including referring to his residence as palace and establishing the various offices for his officials like an imperial regime, only changing the official titles somewhat to show deference to the Later Tang emperor. He made Yao Yanzhang and Xu his chancellors. He assumed all responsibilities for commissioning officials within his reign, except that he would submit reports after commissioning the military governors of Wuping (武平, i.e., formerly Wuzhen) and Jingjiang.

In 928, Ma sent Yuan Quan , Wang Huan , and his son Ma Xizhan , to attack Jingnan. After the Chu forces dealt the Jingnan forces a major defeat at Liulang Ford (劉郎洑, in modern Jingzhou), Gao, in fear, returned the Chu emissary to Later Tang, Shi Guangxian (whom Gao had seized after turning against Later Tang). When Ma subsequently blamed Wang for not further destroying Jingnan, Wang responded:

Ma understood the point and thereafter did not speak of capturing Jingnan any further.

Meanwhile, also in 928, Ma sent a fleet to attack Feng Prefecture (封州, in modern Zhaoqing, Guangdong), which belonged to Liu Yan — who, by that point, had declared himself emperor of a new state of Southern Han. The fleet, however, was defeated by the Southern Han general Su Zhang and forced to withdraw.

Later in 928, Wu launched a major attack on Yue Prefecture, commanded by Miao Lin and Wang Yanzhang . Ma sent Xu to face them. Xu secretly sent Wang Huan with a smaller fleet to get behind the Wu fleet, and then attacked the Wu fleet from both ends. The result was a major Chu victory, and both Miao and Wang Yanzhang were captured. Subsequently, though, to try to make peace with Wu, Ma sent both Miao and Wang Yanzhang back to Wu. When sending them off at a feast, Xu, who had by this point had become concerned that Ma's sons were fighting over succession rights, made what was later viewed as a prophetic statement:

Meanwhile, Gao, after breaking with Emperor Mingzong, submitted to Wu, and the Wu emperor Yang Pu (Yang Longyan's brother and successor) created Gao the Prince of Qin. Emperor Mingzong ordered Ma to attack Jingnan. Ma sent Xu and Ma Xifan to attack Jingnan. When the two armies met, Gao Jixing's nephew Gao Congsi challenged Ma Xifan to single combat, but the Chu officer Liao Kuangqi came out and engaged Gao Congsi instead, killing him. Gao Jixing then sued for peace, and Xu and Ma Xifan withdrew. However, for some time, there continued to be border skirmishes between Chu and Jingnan.

Meanwhile, as Xu perceived, there was a struggle over succession rights. Ma Yin's oldest son, Ma Xizhen , was born of his wife (whose name was not recorded in history), but his favorite son was his second son Ma Xisheng, who was born of his favorite concubine Consort Yuan. Ma Xizhen, not wanting to fight over the succession with Ma Xisheng, became a Taoist monk and retired from politics. In 929, Ma formally put Ma Xisheng, who then carried the title of deputy military governor of Wu'an and acting mayor of the capital Changsha, in charge of the Chu administration. From this point on, all matters of state were to be reported to Ma Xisheng first, before being reported to Ma Yin, and this effectively designated Ma Xisheng as Ma Yin's heir. However, Ma Xifan, who was born on the same day as (but apparently later in the day than) Ma Xisheng, resented Ma Xisheng for not even showing any sign of deferring to him. He hated Ma Xisheng and Consort Yuan from this point on.

In late 928, Gao Jixing died and was succeeded by his son Gao Conghui. Gao Conghui, believing that his small state could not withstand Later Tang military pressure if it continued to confront Later Tang, resubmitted to Emperor Mingzong through Ma Yin and the Later Tang military governor of Shannan East Circuit (山南東道, headquartered in modern Xiangyang), An Yuanxin .

After Ma Xisheng took the reins of the state, he began to run into conflicts with Gao Yu, and he was also suspicious of Gao due to the prior seeds of suspicion sewn by Emperor Zhuangzong and Gao Jixing (who, while alive, had publicly stated that he wanted to enter into a blood brotherhood with Gao because he believed that Gao would become Chu's ruler). In 929, with Ma Xisheng repeatedly requesting it, Ma Yin ordered Gao into retirement. Gao, in frustration, stated, "I am going to build a mansion in the hills to the west, for retirement. The pony [(employing a similar double entendre as Xu did)] has grown up and can bite now." Ma Xisheng heard the remark and became angry — so angry that he falsely announced that Gao had committed treason, and he slaughtered Gao and his family, without first informing Ma Yin. When Ma Yin heard this, he cried bitterly, but did not punish Ma Xisheng.

Ma Yin died in 930. He left instructions that his sons were to pass the throne to their younger brothers, and further ordered that anyone who spoke against this succession principle be put to death. Ma Xisheng thereafter took over control of the state.

Personal information Father Ma Yuanfeng , posthumously honored King Jingzhuang of Chu Wife Name unknown, mother of Ma Xizhen Major Concubines Consort Yuan, mother of Ma Xisheng and Ma Xiwang Lady Chen, mother of Ma Xifan Lady Hua, mother of Ma Xigao Children (Ma Yin had at least 35 sons, but the names of most of them were lost to history) Ma Xizhen , became Taoist monk Ma Xisheng (899–932), later prince Ma Xifan (899–947), later prince Ma Xiwang (d. ~933) Ma Xigao (poisoned by Ma Xifan 945) Ma Xi'e , later prince Ma Xiguang , later prince (died 950) Ma Xichong , later prince Ma Xizhan (died 949) Ma Xineng Ma Xiguan Ma Xiyin Ma Xijun Ma Xizhi Ma Xilang daughter, Empress Ma of Southern Han, wife of Liu Yan daughter, wife of Qian Chuansu , son of Qian Liu the King of Wuyue