Ma Yinsun

Ma Yinsun (died 953), courtesy name Qingxian , was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period Later Tang state, serving briefly as a chancellor during the reign of its last emperor Li Congke. (Some traditional sources written during the subsequent Song dynasty referred to him as "Ma Yisun" to observe naming taboo for Song's founding emperor Zhao Kuangyin (Emperor Taizu).)

Background It is not known when Ma Yinsun was born, and all that is known about his family background was that he was from Shanghe (商河, in modern Jinan, Shandong). It was said that he had a weak personality. He was studious in his youth, and he particularly took after Han Yu in his writing style. At some point (although it is not known when), he passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class.

Service under Li Congke

Before Li Congke's reign During the reign of the Later Tang emperor Li Siyuan, Li Siyuan's adoptive son Li Congke served as the military governor (Jiedushi) of Huguo Circuit (護國, headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi). Ma Yinsun became Li Congke's assistant in Li Congke's role as governor (觀察使, Guanchashi). but respected Ma for his faithfulness.

In spring 936, Li Congke commissioned Ma as the Zhongshu Shilang (中書侍郎, deputy head of the legislative bureau) and chancellor, with the designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi . However, it was said that because Ma was overly careful, he did not handle many of the responsibilities of chancellorship, and also was not seeing guests. Therefore, people referred to him as, "the one who does not open three things" — i.e., he did not open his mouth (to talk), did not open his seal (to handle official business), and did not open his gate (to welcome people in).

Shortly after Ma became chancellor, Shi Jingtang, then still at Hedong, rebelled. The forces that Li Congke sent against him, commanded by Zhang Jingda, was defeated by the joint army of Shi and Emperor Taizong of Later Tang's northern rival Khitan Empire, and soon became surrounded by Khitan/Hedong troops at Jin'an Base (晉安寨, near Hedong's capital Taiyuan). A second major general that Li Congke sent, Zhao Dejun, was not fully devoted to Li Congke's cause, and stopped well short of Taiyuan, while secretly negotiating with Emperor Taizong, hoping that Emperor Taizong would support him rather than Shi as Li Congke's replacement instead. Li Congke's own army stopped at Huai Prefecture (懷州, in modern Jiaozuo, Henan), as Li Congke became paralyzed by fear.

In retirement, Ma made a complete turn in his spiritual beliefs. Previously, he had been a critic of Buddhism, taking after Han Yu, whose writing style he followed. Now, in retirement, he lamented Li Congke's fate bitterly, as he was still thankful for Li Congke's grace toward him. He began to study Buddhist sutras, hoping to gain divine favor and have the favor transferred to Li Congke's soul. He was particularly fascinated with the Avatamsaka Sutra and the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. He took to copy those sutras personally, and he wrote poems summarizing their theology, which he collected in a work titled the Faxi Collection , and further wrote a prose excerpt of key points from those sutras as well, titled the Fuguo Collection . When someone mockingly asked him, "You, Lord, throughout your life, had viewed Fu Yi [(a Sui dynasty anti-Buddhist writer)] and Han Yu to have the better view. How is it that your arrogance has turned to abjectness? Is it that Buddha is flattering you? Or is it that you are flattering Buddha?" Ma smiled and responded, "It would be too much for me to say that Buddha is flattering me."

Throughout Later Jin and the succeeding Later Han, it was said that because the officials knew that Ma liked to write, they often requested him to write for them. Ma also favored calligraphy, and whenever he was he wrote greetings to others, he would write it himself to show up his calligraphic abilities. After Guo Wei founded Later Zhou, he gave Ma, in addition to the title of Taizi Binke, also the title of acting minister of rites (禮部尚書, Libu Shangshu), but with his office at Luoyang rather than then-capital Kaifeng — in other words, keeping him in de facto retirement. He died in 953, during Guo's reign.

Notes and references

Old History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 127. New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 55. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 279, 280, 282.