Empress Ma (Ming) - Family Background and Marriage To Crown Prince Zhuang

Family Background and Marriage To Crown Prince Zhuang

In 40, the eventual Empress Ma was born to Emperor Guangwu's General Ma Yuan, known for his expeditions against Vietnamese rebellions and his exhortations on personal living, and his wife Lady Lin (藺夫人). Ma was a marquess, and Lady Ma was therefore born into comfort and wealth, as a member of a noble family.

In 49, however, things would change. Ma, while on expedition against the Wulin tribes (in modern eastern Guizhou and northwestern Hunan), died during the campaign from a plague, which also killed a large number of his soldiers. After his death, Ma's deputy Geng Shu (耿舒), who had disagreed with Ma's strategy, and Emperor Guangwu's son-in-law Liang Song (梁松), who had prior grudges against Ma, falsely accused Ma of many crimes — most of which is unknown to us. Two specific accusations that are known are that Ma, by the route he took against the Wulin tribes, was responsible for the plague, and that he had, while on campaigns, embezzled pearls and rhinoceros horns. (The later accusation was a misunderstanding in that one of Ma's favorite foods — which he considered capable of warding off plagues — was Job's tears (Chinese pearl barley), which was produced in southern China and northern Vietnam, which Ma had transported in large quantities back to the capital Luoyang.) Emperor Guangwu believed these false accusations and posthumously stripped Ma of his marquess title and fief, thus depriving the Ma family of its major source of income.

The other noble families began to look down on the Ma family. Lady Ma had been previously engaged to marry a son of another noble family, the Dous. The Dous began to have second thoughts of the marriage, believing that Lady Ma was no longer worthy to marry their son. Lady Ma's cousin Ma Yan (馬嚴) and mother Lady Lin were angered by the Dous' attitude, and resolved to dissolve the engagement and offer Lady Ma to Crown Prince Liu Zhuang as a consort instead.