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Ma bathed in royalty and military
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IT is estimated there are 15 million people surnamed Ma in China, ranking it the 14th in terms of population. The number of Ma accounts to about 1.18 percent of the Chinese population.
There are generally six sources of the Ma name. A major branch comes from Zhao She, the great general in Zhao Kingdom during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). Defeating the Qin army in 270 BC, Zhao was granted the land of Mafu together with the title “Lord of Mafu.” His offspring then took Ma as their surnames.
There are also Mas derived from Zi Ma from the royal family of Shang Dynasty (c.16th cenutry-11th century BC). Descendants of the two-character surname Mashi in Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25) also later shortened their surname into Ma, which contributes to quite a number of Mas today in China.
Ma is a big surname in Hui minority group in terms of population. There is a saying goes that nine out of ten Hui people are surnamed Ma.
Quite a number of people from the family of Majia in Manchu minority group changed their surname into Ma. And there were also people from Xiyu, or the Western Regions, (roughly today’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Central Asia) changed their surnames into Ma after migrating to China.
The Ma family is originated in Handan of Hebei Province, and later prospered in Fufeng of Shaanxi Province. The group of Mas from the Mashi family grew quickly since Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). A big number of Mas migrated to the northwest regions of China in Han Dynasty. The population of Mas was found scattered in Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Hubei, Sichuang, Gansu, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces by the Northern and Southern Dynasties (AD 420-589). And their traces were found in Fujian Province since Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), and later developed into a big clan there. A big number of Mas dwell in North China today.
The wife of Zhu Yuanzhang (1328-1398), the first emperor of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), was one of the best known Mas. She was recorded as a much respectable queen leading a frugal and virtuous life. She once warned her own brother against his luxurious life with “che shui ma long” (endless stream of horses and carriages) at his gate. Though as a derogatory term first, the idiom is now widely used to describe the busy traffic in prosperous cities.
Other celebrities of the Ma family includes militarist Ma Yuan in Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220), official Ma Tingluan and his historian son Ma Duanlin in Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).
A family instruction of Mas today is from the family of Ma Piyao, a high official in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It says that “Gold is no treasure but book is; all is vanity but kindness is not.”
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