Ma Rong (Chinese: 馬融; 79–166[1]), courtesy nameJichang (季長), was a Chinese essayist, poet, and politician of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was born in Youfufeng (右扶風) in the former Han capital region, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi Province. His father Ma Yan (馬嚴) was a son of Ma Yu (馬余), an elder brother of the famed general Ma Yuan.[2] He was known for his commentaries on the Five Classics. He was the first scholar known to have written commentaries on them, and he also developed the double column commentary for his project.[citation needed] His notable students were Lu Zhi and Zheng Xuan.[3]
He was suspended for ten years due to critical comments. Eventually he was restored to the Governor of Nan Commandery (modern Hubei). His biography appears in the Book of Later Han (volume 60, part 1). He wrote the Rhapsody on Long Flute (長笛賦); the Song dynasty Classic of Loyalty (忠經), patterned after the Classic of Filial Piety, bears attribution to his name.[4]
His daughter Ma Lun (122 - 184[5]) later married Yuan Wei, an uncle of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.[6] Ma Lun also had a younger sister, Ma Zhi.[7]
References
^According to Ma Rong's biography in Book of the Later Han, he died aged 88 (by East Asian age reckoning) in the 9th year of the Yanxi era of Emperor Huan's reign. (年八十八，延熹九年卒于家。) Houhanshu, vol.60 part 1
^(...将作大匠严之子。....严，援兄余之子。 Houhanshu, vol.60 part 1)
^(融才高博洽，为世通儒，教养诸生，常有千数。涿郡卢植，北海郑玄，皆其徒也。) Houhanshu, vol.60 part 1
^Liu Kwang-ching (1990). "Socioethics as Orthodoxy". In Liu Kwang-ching (ed.). Orthodoxy In Late Imperial China. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 69. ISBN9780520065420.
^(维光和七年，司徒袁公夫人马氏薨，其十一月葬。....春秋六十有三，....) Cai Zhonglang Ji, vol.06. Lady Ma was buried in the 11th month of that year, which corresponds to 21 Dec 184 to 18 Jan 185 in the Julian calendar. Her biography in Book of the Later Han only recorded that she died "in her 60s". (年六十馀卒。) Houhanshu, vol.84.
^"Lun" was Lady Ma's courtesy name (汝南袁隗妻者，扶风马融之女也。字伦。) Houhanshu, vol.84.
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