Empress Ma (馬皇后, personal name unknown) (died January 22, 935''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

'', vol. 279.

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

br>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter
) was the only known empress of the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state

Southern Han Southern Han ( zh , t = 南漢 , p = Nán Hàn , j=Naam4 Hon3; 917–971), officially Han ( zh , t = 漢 , links=no), originally Yue ( zh , c = 越 , links=no), was a dynastic state of China and one of the Ten Kingdoms that existed during the ...

. She was the wife of Southern Han's founding emperor Liu Yan (Emperor Gaozu), and the daughter of

Ma Yin 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 dynas ...

(Prince Wumu), the prince of Southern Han's northern neighbor

Chu Chu or CHU may refer to: Chinese history * Chu (state) (c. 1030 BC–223 BC), a state during the Zhou dynasty * Western Chu (206 BC–202 BC), a state founded and ruled by Xiang Yu * Chu Kingdom (Han dynasty) (201 BC–70 AD), a kingdom of the H ...

Background

It is not known when the future Empress Ma was born. Further, while she was known to be a daughter of

's, no historical record indicated who her mother was. In 913, Liu Yan, who was then formally a Later Liang vassal (as Ma Yin was as well) as the military governor (''

jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (, Old Turkic: Tarduş) or jiedu, was a regional military governor in China; the title was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissi ...

'') of Qinghai Circuit (清海, headquartered in modern

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

), sent emissaries to Ma Yin, asking to marry a daughter of his. Ma Yin agreed.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 268. In 915, Liu sent emissaries to Chu to welcome her; Ma Yin, in turn, sent his brother (her uncle) Ma Cun (馬存) to escort her to Qinghai's capital Guang Prefecture (廣州) for the wedding.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 269.

Marriage with Liu Yan

In 917, Liu Yan declared himself emperor of a new state of Yue, independent from Later Liang.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 270. He did not create Lady Ma empress at that time, creating her only the Lady of Yue.''

Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms The ''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese title ''Shiguo Chunqiu'' (), is a history of the Ten Kingdoms that existed in southern China after the fall of the Tang dynasty and before the reunification of China ...

'' (十國春秋)
vol. 61
In 919, by which time he had changed the name of his state from Yue to Han (and therefore the state became historically known as

), he created her empress. Little else is known about Empress Ma's marriage with Liu Yan, and none of his sons was recorded as being born of her. She died in 935.

Notes and references

* ''

'' (十國春秋)
vol. 61
* ''

'', vols.

268 __NOTOC__ Year 268 (Roman numerals, CCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Paternus and Egnatius (or, less frequently, the year 1021 ''Ab urbe ...

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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Empress 935 deaths Ma Chu people Southern Han empresses Later Liang (Five Dynasties) people Year of birth unknown