Ma Yin (馬殷) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Ma Yin as an aristocrat, general, military officer, and official. This record brings together 27 passages from 9 chapters across 2 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Ma Yin	馬殷	Ma Yin
Title	King of Chu	楚王
Surname	Ma	馬	Ma
Surname	Ma	馬	Mǎ
Personal	Ma Yin	馬殷	Mǎ Yīn
Personal name	Ma Yin	馬殷	Ma Yin
Personal	Ma Yin	馬殷
Personal name	Ma Yin	馬殷	Mǎ Yīn
Title	Prince of Chu	楚王
Title	Prince of Chu	楚王	Chu Wang
Given	Yin	殷	Yin
Given	Yin	殷	Yīn

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · jiuwudaishi:006:s0074, jiuwudaishi:031:s0153, jiuwudaishi:037:s0065, xinwudaishi:041:s0088, xinwudaishi:071:s0036
Sex: male
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0187, jiuwudaishi:017:s0224, jiuwudaishi:040:s0125, xinwudaishi:069:s0123
Value: male
Strongly inferred · jiuwudaishi:042:s0002

Roles

Aristocrat
General
Military Officer
Official
Ruler
Warlord

Life and dates

Birth

Date Context: Source Date: Text: 大中六年歲在壬申 · Regnal Year: 6 · Western Year: AD 852
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0039

Death

Date Context: Source Date: Text: 長興元年 · Regnal Year: 1 · Western Year: AD 930
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0036, xinwudaishi:071:s0040
Date Context: Source Date: Text: 長興二年 · Regnal Year: 2 · Western Year: AD 931 · Provenance: Mode: named-source-report · Source Work: Old History of the Five Dynasties / 五代舊史
Textual variant · xinwudaishi:071:s0037, xinwudaishi:071:s0042

Age

Age: 78 · Reckoning: sui · Provenance: Mode: named-source-report · Source Work: Old History of the Five Dynasties / 五代舊史
Textual variant · xinwudaishi:071:s0037, xinwudaishi:071:s0042
Age: 79 · Reckoning: sui · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 長興元年庚寅 · Regnal Year: 1 · Western Year: AD 930
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0039, xinwudaishi:071:s0040

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 開平二年十一月 · Regnal Year: 2 · Month: 11 · Western Year: AD 908
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:017:s0224, jiuwudaishi:017:s0226, jiuwudaishi:017:s0228
Source Date: Text: 廣順元年辛亥 · Regnal Year: 1 · Western Year: AD 951
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0047
Source Date: Text: 長興元年 · Regnal Year: 1 · Western Year: AD 930
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0036
Source Date: Text: 長興二年 · Regnal Year: 2 · Western Year: AD 931
Textual variant · xinwudaishi:071:s0037
Source Date: Text: 乾寧三年歲在丙辰 · Regnal Year: 3 · Western Year: AD 896
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0047
Source Date: Text: 大中六年歲在壬申 · Regnal Year: 6 · Western Year: AD 852
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0039
Source Date: Text: 三年 · Western Year: AD 909
Explicit event contextual date · xinwudaishi:041:s0089
Source Date: Text: 乾化元年二月 · Western Year: AD 911
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:006:s0074
Source Date: Text: 乾化元年五月 · Western Year: AD 911
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:006:s0099
Source Date: Text: 乾寧初至開平初 · Western Interval: Start: AD 894 · End: AD 907
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:017:s0187, jiuwudaishi:017:s0200
Source Date: Text: 同光二年 · Western Year: AD 924
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:031:s0153
Source Date: Text: 天成元年九月 · Western Year: AD 926
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:037:s0065
Source Date: Text: 天成四年八月 · Western Year: AD 929
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:040:s0125
Source Date: Text: 長興二年 · Western Year: AD 931
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:042:s0002
Source Date: Text: 長興元年 · Western Year: AD 930
Explicit event contextual date · xinwudaishi:069:s0123, xinwudaishi:069:s0124
Source Date: Text: 開平元年 · Western Year: AD 907
Explicit event contextual date · xinwudaishi:041:s0088

Family

Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.

Parent of Ma Xisheng (馬希聲)
Kinship Term: father / 父 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son

Kinship Role: sons · Count: 1 · Note: one son granted sixth-rank post
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:006:s0099

Career and standing

Label: acting Grand Preceptor and Grand Secretariat Director / 檢校太師、守尚書令 · Action: advanced
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:037:s0065
Label: Director of the Imperial Secretariat / 尚書令 · Action: held · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 同光二年 · Western Year: AD 924
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:031:s0153
Label: Celestial Strategy Supreme General; Grand Preceptor; Master of Writing / 天策上將軍、守太師、尚書令 · Action: held · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 長興二年 · Western Year: AD 931
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:042:s0002
Label: Grand Preceptor and Master of Writing / 太師、尚書令 · Action: held
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:040:s0125
Label: Hunan military commissioner / 湖南節度使 · Action: held
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0224
Label: Wuan military commissioner / 武安軍節度使 · Action: held
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:006:s0074
Title: King of Chu / 楚國王 · Action: held · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 長興二年 · Western Year: AD 931
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:042:s0002
Title: Prince of Chu / 楚王 · Action: held
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:037:s0065
Status: commander · Action: installed by Zhang Ji · Other Person Id: Zhang Ji (張佶)
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0193, jiuwudaishi:017:s0194, jiuwudaishi:017:s0195
Status: deceased before the edict · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 長興二年 · Western Year: AD 931
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:042:s0002
Date Context: Source Date: Text: 乾寧三年歲在丙辰 · Regnal Year: 3 · Western Year: AD 896 · Place: Hunan / 湖南
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0047

Places and affiliations

Label: Chu / 楚 · Relation: ruled
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0036, xinwudaishi:071:s0047
Polity: Chu · Relation: associated-with
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:037:s0065
Place: Jinling / 金陵 · Relation: relocated-to · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 廣順元年 · Regnal Year: 1 · Western Year: AD 951
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0043, xinwudaishi:071:s0044
Place: Hunan / 湖南 · Relation: established-in
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0046, xinwudaishi:071:s0047
Place: Hunan / 湖南 · Relation: posted-to
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0224
Organization: Ma clan / 馬氏 · Relation: member-of
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0036, xinwudaishi:071:s0043

Events and relationships

Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: besieged Shaozhou
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0187
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: besieged · Other Person Id: Lei Yiangong (雷彥恭) · Duration: Source Date: Text: 周歲 · Western Interval: Start: AD 907 · End: AD 908
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0226
Kind: military · Role: captor · Action: captured · Other Person Id: Lei Yanxiong (雷彥雄) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 開平二年十一月 · Regnal Year: 2 · Month: 11 · Western Year: AD 908
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0228
Kind: political · Role: affected · Action: clan-relocated-to-Jinling · Place: Jinling / 金陵 · Actor: Southern Tang / 南唐 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 廣順元年 · Regnal Year: 1 · Western Year: AD 951
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0043, xinwudaishi:071:s0044
Kind: funerary-honor · Role: recipient · Action: granted a posthumous title, spirit-way stele, and royal burial · Other Person Id: Li Siyuan (李嗣源) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 長興二年 · Western Year: AD 931
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:042:s0002
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: ordered-to-campaign · Place: Li prefecture / 澧州 · Counterpart Person Ids: Gao Jichang (高季昌), Ni Kefu (倪可福)
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0224
Kind: diplomatic · Role: intercessor · Action: petitioned-Tang-for-Conghui
Explicit · xinwudaishi:069:s0123
Kind: diplomatic · Role: presenter · Action: presented-Lu-Yanchang-memorial
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:006:s0074
Kind: legal · Role: captor · Action: sent-rebels-for-execution · Count: 7 · Other Person Id: Lei Yanxiong (雷彥雄) · Place: Bian Bridge / 汴橋
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0228
Kind: omen · Role: discoverer · Action: unearthed-prophetic-stone · Place: Hunan / 湖南
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0046

Source notes

Field: death-date · Statement: Jiuguo Zhi etc. place Yin death in Changxing 1 (AD 930); Old History places it in Changxing 2 (AD 931) · Preferred: Changxing 1 / age 79
Explicit · xinwudaishi:071:s0036, xinwudaishi:071:s0037, xinwudaishi:071:s0040, xinwudaishi:071:s0042

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 6Volume 6 Book of Later Liang 6: Taizu Annals 6 · 2 passages

Open chapter

武安軍節度使馬殷進呈虔州刺史盧延昌箋表。 Ma Yin, Wuan commissioner, presented the memorial and petition of Lu Yanchang, Qianzhou prefect.

諸道節度使錢鏐、張宗奭、馬殷、王審知、劉隱各賜一子六品正員官，高季昌賜一子八品正員官，賀德倫賜一子九品正員官。 Commissioners Qian Liu, Zhang Zongshi, Ma Yin, Wang Shenzhi, and Liu Yin each received a regular sixth-rank post for a son; Gao Jichang an eighth-rank post; He Delun a ninth-rank post.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 17Volume 17 Book of Later Liang 17: Biographies 7: Cheng Rui, Du Hong, Tian Yun, Zhao Kuangning, Zhang Ji, Lei Man · 12 passages

Open chapter

〈（《新唐書》云：師厚由陰穀伐木為梁，匡凝以兵二萬瀕江戰，大敗，乃燔州，單舸夜奔揚州。 (The 《New Book of Tang》 says Shihou bridged Yin Valley, Kuangning lost twenty thousand along the river, burned the prefecture, and fled by night to Yangzhou.

唐乾寧初，劉建峰據湖南，獨邵州不賓，命都將馬殷討之，期歲未克，而建峰為部下所殺，軍亂，鄰寇且至。 Early in Qianning Liu Jianfeng held Hunan while Shaozhou held out; Ma Yin besieged it a year without success, then Jianfeng was murdered, the army mutinied, and enemies closed in.

佶謂將吏曰：「吾非汝主，當迎馬公為之。」）〉 Ji told the officers, "I am not your lord—bring Lord Ma." )〉

乃謂將吏曰：「佶才能不如馬公，況朝廷重藩，非其人不可。」 He told them, "I am no match for Ma Yin, and the court needs the right man for a frontier post."

因以牘召，殷亦不疑，稟命而至。 He summoned Yin by document; Yin came without suspicion.

佶受拜謁，禮畢，命升階讓殷為帥。 Ji received his bow, then stepped aside and installed Yin as commander.

乃自請率師代殷攻邵州，下之。 He then led troops in Yin's place, took Shaozhou, and delivered it.

殷果立勳，甚德佶。 Yin prospered and held Ji in deep esteem.

開平初，殷表佶為朗州永順軍節度使，累加檢校太傅、同平章事。 Early in Kaiping Yin made him military commissioner of Langzhou's Yongshun army and Honorary Grand Tutor and Secretariat Fellow.

太祖詔湖南節度使馬殷、荊南節度使高季昌練精兵五千，遣將倪可福統之，下澧州，與潭兵合。 The Founder ordered Ma Yin and Gao Jichang to send five thousand elite troops under Ni Kefu to take Li and join the Tan army.

殷極其兵力，攻圍周歲，彥恭食盡兵敗，間使求救於淮夷。 Yin besieged a full year; starving and beaten, Yiangong sent to the Huai for aid.

馬殷擒其弟彥雄及逆黨七人，械送至闕，皆斬於汴橋下，時開平二年十一月也。 Ma Yin seized Yanxiong and seven rebels, sent them to Bian—all were executed at Bian Bridge in Kaiping 2, month 11.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 31Volume 31 Book of Later Tang 7: Zhuangzong Annals 5 · 1 passage

Open chapter

乙亥，以天策上將軍、武安等軍節度使、守太師、中書令、楚王馬殷可依前守太師，兼尚書令。 On yihai Ma Yin of Chu—Celestial Stratagem general, Wu'an commissioner, acting Grand Preceptor, and chancellor—kept Grand Preceptor and took Director of the Imperial Secretariat.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 37Volume 37 Book of Later Tang 13: Mingzong Annals 3 · 1 passage

Open chapter

癸酉，天策上將軍、湖南節度使、開府儀同三司、守太師、兼尚書令、楚王馬殷加檢校太師、守尚書令。 On guiyou Ma Yin of Chu was advanced to acting grand preceptor and grand secretariat director.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 40Volume 40 Book of Later Tang 16: Mingzong Annals 6 · 1 passage

Open chapter

今錢鏐是元帥、尚父，與使相名殊，馬殷守太師、尚書令，是南省官資，不合署敕尾，今後敕牒內並落下。」 Qian Liu is marshal-in-chief and imperial father, unlike commissioners; Ma Yin holds grand preceptor and master of writing, a southern rank unfit for edict tails—hereafter omit both from edict slips."

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 42Volume 42 Book of Later Tang 18: Mingzong Annals 8 · 1 passage

Open chapter

乙丑，詔曰：「故天策上將軍、守太師、尚書令、楚國王馬殷，品位俱高，封崇已極，無官可贈，宜賜諡及神道碑文，仍以王禮葬。」 On yichou an edict said: "The late King of Chu Ma Yin, whose ranks were already supreme, could not be given further posts but should receive a posthumous title, spirit-way stele, and royal burial."

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 41Volume 41 Miscellaneous Biographies 21: Lu Guangchou, Tan Quanbo, Lei Man, Zhong Chuan, Zhao Kuangning · 2 passages

Open chapter

開平元年，馬殷發兵攻彥恭，恃塹為阻，逾年不能破。 In Kaiping 1 (907) Ma Yin marched on Yan Gong. The moat held them off for more than a year.

三年，彥恭奔于楊行密，馬殷擒其弟彥雄等七人送于梁，斬于汴市，彥恭卒於淮南，澧、朗遂入于楚。 In year 3 Yan Gong fled to Yang Xingmi. Ma Yin seized his brother Yan Xiong and six others, sent the seven captives to Liang, and had them beheaded in Bian. Yan Gong died in Huainan. Li and Lang passed to Chu.

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 69Volume 69: Hereditary House of Nanping · 1 passage

Open chapter

從誨以父自絕于唐，懼復見討，乃遣使者聘于楚，楚王馬殷為之請命于唐，而從誨亦遣押衙劉知謙奉表自歸，進贖罪銀三千兩，明宗納之。 Because his father had broken with Tang, Conghui feared renewed punishment. He sent envoys to Chu, and King Ma Yin of Chu petitioned Tang on his behalf. Conghui also sent the yamen officer Liu Zhiqian with a memorial of submission and three thousand taels of silver as atonement. Mingzong accepted.

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 71Volume 71: Timeline for the Hereditary Houses of the Ten Kingdoms · 6 passages

Open chapter

馬氏，據《湖湘故事》、《九國志》、《運歷圖》，並雲殷以長興元年卒，是歲，子希聲立，長興三年卒。 For the Ma clan of Chu: according to the Huxiang Gushi, the Jiuguo Zhi, and the Yunli Tu, all agree that Yin died in the first year of Changxing; that year his son Xisheng succeeded, and Xisheng died in the third year of Changxing.

而《五代舊史》殷列傳云，殷長興二年卒，享年七十八，子希聲立，不周歲而卒； But the biography of Yin in the Old History of the Five Dynasties says he died in the second year of Changxing at the age of seventy-eight, that his son Xisheng succeeded him, and that Xisheng died within a year;

今據《九國志》，殷以大中六年歲在壬申生，享年七十九。 According to the Jiuguo Zhi, Yin was born in the sixth year of Dazhong (the renshen year) and died at the age of seventy-nine.

惟《舊史》書殷卒二年，及年七十八，希聲立不周歲卒為繆爾。 Only the Old History's claim that Yin died in the second year at the age of seventy-eight and that Xisheng died within a year of succeeding is mistaken.

初，殷入湖南，掘地得石，讖云：「龍起頭，豬掉尾。」 When Yin first entered Hunan, he dug up a stone bearing a prophecy that read: "The dragon rises at the head, the pig drops at the tail."

蓋殷以乾寧三年歲在丙辰，自立於湖南，至廣順元年辛亥而滅。 For Yin established himself in Hunan in the third year of Qianning (the bingchen year) and was destroyed in the first year of Guangshun (the xinhai year).