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Ma Liang 馬良

Jun 24, 2021 © Ulrich Theobald

Ma Liang 馬良 (187-222), courtesy name Jichang 季常, was a civilian and military official of Liu Bei 劉備 (161-222), the founder of Shu-Han 蜀漢 (221-263), one of the Three Empires 三國 (220~280 CE).

Ma hailed from Yicheng 宜城 in the commandery of Xiangyang 襄陽 (today in Hubei) and entered Liu Bei's service when he was in control of the province of Jingzhou 荊州 (mid-Yangtze region). He held first the post of section clerk of the Left General (zuojiang junyuan 左將軍掾, but when Liu Bei conquered Yizhou (Sichuan), Ma was made palace attendant (shizhong 侍中).

During Liu's eastern expedition in 221, aimed at reconquering Jingzhou, Ma Liang was appointed General to the Left (zuo jiangjun 左將軍) and drafted and commanded a native auxiliary army of the "five tribes of the hill savages" (wu ling man 五陵蠻), actually tribes living along five streams in the Wuling 武陵 area. A year later, during the disastrous battle of Yiling 夷陵, Ma died among the dispersed troops during the withdrawal operations.

Sources:
Huang Huixian 黃惠賢, ed. (1997). Ershiwushi renming da cidian 二十五史人名大辭典 (Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe), Vol. 1, 122.
Ren Baogen 任寶根, ed. (1989). Sichuan lidai mingjiang 四川歷代名將 (Chengdu: Ba-Shu shushe), 13.
Zhang Huizhi 張撝之, Shen Qiwei 沈起煒, Liu Dezhong 劉德重, ed. (1999). Zhongguo lidai renming da cidian 中國歷代人名大辭典 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe), Vol. 1, 614.
Zhuang Hanxin 莊漢新, Guo Juyuan 郭居園, ed. (1991). Zhongguo gujin mingren da cidian 中國古今名人大辭典 (Beijing: Jingguan jiaoyu chubanshe), 16.