Ma Sui (馬遂) (died 1048) was a minor

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

military officer who tried to kill the rebel leader

Wang Ze Wang Ze (died 14 March 1048) was a rebel leader during Emperor Renzong's reign in the Song dynasty, whose agrarian army occupied Bei Prefecture for 65 days before it was crushed by the government army led by Wen Yanbo. Wang utilized Maitrey ...

with his bare hands, but failed and was

dismembered Dismemberment is the act of completely disconnecting and/or removing the limbs, skin, and/or organs from a living or dead being. It has been practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, especially in connection with regicid ...

. His heroics impressed

Emperor Renzong of Song Emperor Renzong of Song (30 May 1010 – 30 April 1063), personal name Zhao Zhen, was the fourth emperor of the Northern Song dynasty of China. He reigned for about 41 years from 1022 to his death in 1063, making him the longest reigning Song ...

, who generously rewarded his family. Ma Sui was prominently featured (as one of the "Three Sui") in the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

novel ''

The Three Sui Quash the Demons' Revolt ''The Three Sui Quash the Demons' Revolt'' (; ), also translated as ''Quelling the Demons' Revolt'' and ''The Sorcerer's Revolt'', is a Chinese novel attributed to the 14th-century novelist Luo Guanzhong, although the earliest extant version was c ...

'', a fantasy novel loosely based on Wang Ze's rebellion.

Biography

A native of

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

, the

capital, Ma Sui first joined the capital army and rose in ranks overs the years. When Wang Ze rebelled in

Bei Prefecture Beizhou or Bei Prefecture was a '' zhou'' (prefecture) in imperial China seated in modern Qinghe County in Hebei, China. It existed (intermittently) from 578 to 1048, when its name changed to En Prefecture after Wang Ze's rebellion in the prefe ...

in 1048, Ma Sui was stationed in the "northern capital" Daming Prefecture. Having heard the news, he went to see the Daming prefect Jia Changchao (賈昌朝) and asked to fight the rebels. Jia Changchao instead sent him to Bei Prefecture as an unarmed messenger with a letter demanding Wang Ze's surrender. Wang received Ma generously, but refused to answer any of Ma's questions. Suddenly Ma jumped, threw his cup at Wang, and with his fingers squeezed Wang's throat so hard it bled. Wang's followers then hacked off one of Ma's arms. Wang screamed, "You devil, I will chop you into ten thousand pieces!" Ma was promptly dismembered in front of the hall, but Wang reportedly rested for many days after the scare and injury.

sighed for a long time after hearing Ma's story. He awarded Ma posthumously as "commissioner of palaces and gardens" (宮苑使). Ma's wife was honored as a madame, and his 5 sons received offices. The family also received generous material rewards. Wang's rebellion was suppressed quickly, and the soldier Shi Qing (石慶) who killed Ma was brought before Ma's sons, who sacrificed him.

References

* * 1048 deaths The Three Sui Quash the Demons' Revolt characters {{China-mil-bio-stub