Ma Su

Ma Su
Portrait of Ma Su from a Qing Dynasty edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms
General, strategist of Shu Han
Born	190
Died	228 (aged 38)
Names
Traditional Chinese	馬謖
Simplified Chinese	马谡
Pinyin	Mǎ Sù
Wade–Giles	Ma Su
Courtesy name	Youchang (Chinese: 幼常; pinyin: Yòucháng; Wade–Giles: Yu-ch'ang)

Ma Su (190–228),courtesy name Youchang, was a military general and strategist of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period. He was a younger brother of Ma Liang. Ma Su had conspicuous talent in military theories and was admired by the Shu chancellor Zhuge Liang. However, a tactical blunder by Ma Su at the Battle of Jieting resulted in Shu being dealt a huge defeat by Zhang He, a general of the rival state of Wei.

Much dramatization shrouds the death of Ma Su. In the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms as well as the Peking opera Loss of Jieting, Ma Su was said to have been beheaded on Zhuge Liang's order. However, according to the biographies of Ma Su and his close friend Xiang Lang (向朗) in the Records of Three Kingdoms, Ma Su had actually attempted to escape after his defeat at Jieting, but was captured. He eventually died of illness in prison before the ordered execution could be carried out.

A local of Yicheng, Xiangyang (present-day Yicheng, Hubei), Ma Su was one of the five brothers in the family, all of whom were renowned for their intellects, though Ma Su's elder brother Ma Liang was deemed to be the most talented among them all. Together with Ma Liang, Ma Su began his service under Liu Bei around 205, when Liu Bei was still a guest of Liu Biao in Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan).

Since the start, Liu Bei's chief advisor Zhuge Liang had been impressed by Ma Su's expansive knowledge in military strategy. At some point before 219, Ma Su was transferred to Yuexi, a troubled commandery in the south. Yuexi was home to numerous indigenous tribes, many of whom refused to accept Liu Bei’s authority. It was the site of a significant tribal revolt led by Gaodingyuan in 218. With help form Li Yan who bent Gaodingyuan in a battle in 218, Ma Su did well in keeping order in the commandery. Before Liu Bei died in 223, he warned Zhuge Liang that Ma Su was not as talented as he seemed and should not be given important appointments. However, Zhuge Liang did not heed the warning, and Ma Su was made a personal military consultant to Zhuge soon after Liu died. The two would often hold discussions from dawn to dusk.