Ma Xiyin
Ma Xiyin (
Background
[edit]Ma Xiyin was a son of Chu's founder Ma Yin (King Wumu) — the youngest, according to the Zizhi Tongjian.[1] During the subsequent reign of Ma Xiyin's older brother (Ma Yin's fourth son) Ma Xifan (Prince Wenzhao), Ma Xiyin was made the deputy military governor of Jingjiang.[2]
By 950, Chu was embroiled in a civil war between Ma Xiyin's older brothers Ma Xiguang (Ma Yin's 35th son), who had taken the throne after Ma Xifan's death, and Ma Xi'e (Prince Gongxiao, Ma Yin's 30th son), who considered himself to have a superior claim on the throne.[3] In light of Chu's civil war, Liu Sheng, the emperor of Chu's southern neighbor Southern Han, sent the eunuch general Wu Huai'en (
After Chu's fall
[edit]Xu Keqiong's abandoning of Meng allowed Wu Huai'en to seize it, and then approach Gui, pillaging the territory of Jingjiang. Meanwhile, Ma Xichong, finding his own position untenable, surrendered the remaining parts of the Chu realm that he still had control over to Southern Tang, leaving Ma Xiyin without possible reinforcements from Chu proper. Ma Xiyin and Xu did not know what to do, and then spent time drinking and crying together.[1]
Liu Sheng (whose father Liu Yan had married Ma Xiyin's sister as his empress, and therefore would refer to the Ma brothers as uncles even though he was not born of her), then wrote a letter to Ma Xiyin, claiming that his intent was to aid Ma Xiyin:
King Wumu (i.e., Ma Yin) took over the entire Chu territory and built up a rich, powerful, and peaceful state for 50-some years. It was unfortunate that Uncle 35 [(i.e., Ma Xiguang)] and Uncle 30 [(i.e., Ma Xi'e)] fought with and slaughtered each other, such that they surrendered the ancestral foundation to the enemy to the north. I heard that the Tang forces have already taken over [(Chu's capital)] Changsha, and I have to believe in my heart that Guilin would be their next target. Our empire had long been in alliance with your kingdom, and the relationship was strengthened by marital relations. Now that I see that you are about to fall, so how can I not save you? I have launched an army to head toward you by both water and land, and I will surely let you, Uncle Chancellor, always have a military command and always control territory.
Ma Xiyin considered surrendering to Southern Han, but could not decide immediately. When Wu quickly reached Gui Prefecture, Ma Xiyin and Xu instead abandoned it and fled to Quan Prefecture (
Ma Xiyin later went to Southern Tang and was settled at Yang Prefecture (