Ma Yin (; c. 853 – December 2, 930), courtesy name Batu (霸圖), also known by his posthumous name as the King Wumu of Chu (楚武穆王), was a Chinese military general and politician who became the founding ruler of the Chinese Ma Chu dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. He was the only monarch who carried the title of "king" in his dynasty.Ma Yin's title was Wang (王) in Chinese, which could be translated as either "Prince" or "King" in English. The translation of "Prince" will be used here during the time that he carried the title of Wang of Chu during Later Liang and most of Later Tang. The translation of "King" will be used after he was created the Guowang (literally, "State King/Prince") of Chu by Li Siyuan, a title that carried for the rest of his life. 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),History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 133. 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 ().New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 66. His family claimed ancestry from the great Han dynasty general Ma Yuan. Ma Yin was a carpenter in his youth. He had at least two younger brothers, Ma Cong () and Ma Cun ().Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms, vol. 71.
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.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 256.
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.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 257. (Yang subsequently took Ningguo Circuit (寧國, headquartered in modern Xuanzhou, Anhui and became its military governor.)Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 258.
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 (). Liu was part of Sun's army. Sun's army was initially victorious, and by spring 892 had put Xuan Prefecture under siege. However, Sun was unable to capture Xuan, and soon got bogged down, with Yang sending raiders to cut off his food supplies. Further, his army was soon troubled by torrential floods and illnesses, and Sun himself was suffering from malaria. He was forced to send Liu and Ma out to raid the nearby regions for food. Meanwhile, Yang, hearing that Sun was suffering from malaria, attacked. He crushed Sun's army and killed Sun. Most of Sun's soldiers surrendered to Yang. Liu and Ma took 7,000 soldiers and headed south, toward Zhennan Circuit (鎮南, headquartered in modern Nanchang, Jiangsi); the soldiers supported Liu as their leader, with Ma as his forward commander and Zhang Ji () as his strategist. The army's size eventually ballooned to over 100,000.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 259.
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 summer 895, then-reigning Emperor Zhaozong commissioned Liu as the military governor of Wu'an.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 260.
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.
As Tang military governor of Wu'an When Ma Yin took over command of Wu'an, he was apprehensive of the strengths of both Yang Xingmi (who was firmly in control of Huainan by that point) and Cheng Rui the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou, Hubei), and he considered giving them gold and silk to appease them. His strategist Gao Yu pointed out that Cheng was not as strong as he looked, while Yang was a sworn enemy who could never be appeased through gifts. At Gao's suggestion, Ma concentrated on comforting the people and training his army, to strengthen his own army without external aid.
In 897, Zhang Ji captured Jiang Xun, allowing Shao Prefecture to come under Ma's control. However, it was said that at that point, while Wu'an Circuit legally consisted of seven prefectures, Ma was in actual control of only Tan and Shao; the other five prefectures were all actually controlled by agrarian rebels — Heng (modern Hengyang in Hunan) by Yang Shiyuan (), Yong (永州, in modern Yongzhou, Hunan) by Tang Shimin (); Dao (道州, in modern Yongzhou) by Cai Jie (); Chēn (郴州, in modern Chenzhou, Hunan) by Chen Yanqian (); and Lian (連州, in modern Qingyuan, Guangdong) by Lu Jingren (). Under the suggestion of Yao Yanzhang, Ma sent an army commanded by Li Qiong and Qin Zongquan's cousin Qin Yanhui () to attack Heng and Yong, quickly capturing them; Yang died in flight, while Tang was killed by Ma's army. When Ma sent Li Tang () in 899 to attack Dao, Cai initially repelled Li Tang's attack, but Li Tang subsequently succeeded in capturing Dao and killing Cai, taking Dao under Ma's control as well. By the end of 899, Li Qiong had captured and executed Chen Yanqian, and when he attacked Lian, Lu committed suicide, allowing Ma to control all seven of Wu'an's prefectures.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 261. Emperor Zhaozong formally bestowed on Ma the title of military governor.
When Liu Shizheng () the military governor of Jingjiang Circuit (靜江, headquartered in modern Guilin, Guangxi) heard that Ma had pacified all of Wu'an, he became apprehensive, and he sent his deputy Chen Kefan () to defend Quanyi Heights (全義嶺, in modern Guilin) against a possible Ma attack. When Ma sent emissaries to Liu to try to establish peaceful relations, Chen refused. Ma, in 900, sent Qin and Li Qiong to attack Jingjiang. They quickly defeated Liu's army, killing Wang Jianwu () and capturing Chen. They put Jingjiang's capital Gui Prefecture () under siege, and after a few days of siege, Liu surrendered, allowing Ma to take Jingjiang's five prefectures under control. Ma commissioned Li Qiong as the military governor of Jingjiang.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 262.
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 ().Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 263.
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.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 264.
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.