Speaking of Empress Ma, you should know that this person is really super powerful and very awesome, but the ending is very bad, and many people are also saying that this Empress Ma was killed by Zhu Yuanzhang. So this statement must be doubtful, so what is the real Empress Ma in history? Let’s analyze and uncover together!
According to historical records, Empress Ma was a very virtuous person, and Ming history highly praised her, saying that she:
Empress Gao went through difficult times under the guidance of Emperor Taizu, supported great causes, honored the world as a mother, and demonstrated great kindness and virtue.
He is a model figure of maternal etiquette in the world. We can see what kind of person Empress Ma was in history, and through this, we can understand her touching story with Zhu Yuanzhang.
Before Zhu Yuanzhang’s uprising, Empress Ma was a virtuous and helpful wife
Empress Ma did not leave a name in history, only that her name was Ma Shi and she was from Suzhou. Empress Ma’s parents passed away when she was young and she was an orphan. Due to the fact that Empress Ma’s father treated Guo Ziyi very well and entrusted her to Guo Zixing before her death, Empress Ma became Guo Zixing’s adopted daughter. Guo Zixing treated Empress Ma very well. In 1352 (the 12th year of the Zhizheng reign), Guo Zixing rebelled officially in Dingyuan. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang defected to Guo Zixing’s subordinates. Zhu Yuanzhang was very capable and won several battles, and was regarded as his confidant by Guo Zixing. In this way, Guo Zixing married Empress Ma to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Although Guo Zixing valued Zhu Yuanzhang, he was also worried that Zhu Yuanzhang would surpass him and not be able to control him. Once, he locked Zhu Yuanzhang up, and at that time, there was a poor harvest. Zhu Yuanzhang, who was imprisoned, could not eat enough. Empress Ma secretly took out freshly baked cakes from the kitchen to satisfy her husband’s hunger, and carried them in her chest to visit Zhu Yuanzhang. When she went to visit Zhu Yuanzhang, she gave them to him to eat. As the cakes had just been baked, they were placed on her chest, and the meat was burnt. Empress Ma secretly sent it over. In order to save Zhu Yuanzhang, she gave all the property in the family to her foster mother, Lady Zhang, and Guo Zixing’s concubine, Lady Zhang. In the end, the two of them helped mediate and finally released Zhu Yuanzhang.
Later on, Zhu Yuanzhang started his own business and captured Jiqing (now Nanjing). At that time, he had been fighting with Chen Youliang for a long time, and the war was tight. The logistics in the rear sometimes couldn’t keep up, and Empress Ma even personally sewed clothes and made shoes for the soldiers. In the 20th year of the Yuan Dynasty’s Zhizheng era (1360 AD), Chen Youliang was on his way to Nanjing. Zhu Yuanzhang rushed to the front to resist the enemy, causing panic among the people in Jiqing City. In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Empress Ma took out all the gold and silk in the palace to reward the soldiers and stabilize their hearts. And she often advised Zhu Yuanzhang to kill fewer people.
After Zhu Yuanzhang declared himself emperor, Empress Ma was a virtuous empress
After Zhu Yuanzhang declared himself emperor, Ma was appointed as the empress. Zhu Yuanzhang was impressed by his wife’s virtue and often spoke of her virtues in front of his ministers, comparing Ma to the virtuous Empress Changsun of the Tang Dynasty. After leaving the court, he returned to the palace and told Ma what he had said in the court. Following Ma’s words, Ma became very politically proficient. Ma said, “I heard that it is very easy for couples to maintain mutual protection, but it is very difficult for monarchs and ministers to maintain mutual protection. Your Majesty has not forgotten our difficult days back then, and I hope that you will not forget the difficult days you spent with your subjects in the future. And I dare not compare myself to Empress Changsun
Empress Ma often saved the lives of officials and others. At that time, the military officer Guo Jingxiang was stationed in Hezhou, and someone reported that his son wanted to kill his father. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and wanted to kill Guo Jingxiang’s son. Empress Ma advised Zhu Yuanzhang, “Guo Jingxiang only had one child, and what others reported may not be the actual situation. Killing him would probably cut off Guo Jingxiang’s descendants.” After carefully understanding the situation, Zhu Yuanzhang found that he was indeed wrongly accused. Zhu Yuanzhang’s adopted son Li Wenzhong guarded Yanzhou, but Yang Xian falsely accused him of not obeying the law. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to summon Li Wenzhong back. Empress Ma advised Zhu Yuanzhang not to believe it, and changing generals before the battle was not a good thing. Zhu Yuanzhang listened, and Li Wenzhong finally achieved great success. At that time, the wealthy Wu Xing household Shen Wansan built city walls and rewarded the army. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious that a commoner dared to do so and wanted to kill Shen Wansan. In the end, it was Empress Ma who advised Shen Wansan and he was exiled to Yunnan. Sometimes Zhu Yuanzhang was angered by the palace attendants he served, and Empress Ma pretended to be angry and had them sent to the court for conviction. She said that Your Majesty would be angry and the punishment would be severe, while the Palace Chief Justice could make a more reasonable judgment.
Empress Ma also cares about the people of the world. Whenever there is a disaster, Empress Ma leads the palace staff to eat simple meals and help the people pray. If encountering more severe disasters, Empress Ma would eat wheat rice and wild soup. Zhu Yuanzhang sometimes told Empress Ma about disaster relief, and Empress Ma said, “It’s better to have savings in advance for disaster relief.” In fact, this sentence is very correct. Whenever there is a disaster year, the people are struggling, and the government always provides disaster relief. It seems good, but in reality, it’s better to take precautions in advance for disaster years. Later, the Ming army captured Dadu City and obtained Baoyu. Empress Ma told Zhu Yuanzhang, “The Yuan Dynasty had Baoyu but could not defend the country. Emperors have their own treasures.” Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Empress Ma was persuading him to use more wise people.
Empress Ma lived a very simple life, wearing very plain clothes that she didn’t want to change even if they were worn out. She also set up a loom in the palace to weave some clothes for the lonely elderly to wear. And the remaining fabric was cut into clothes by Queen Ma and given to the princess.
At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang once wanted to search for the people of Empress Ma and grant them some official positions. Empress Ma opposed it, stating that the distribution of titles favored the families of relatives and was not in accordance with the law. But when it comes to her parents, Empress Ma is in tears. Zhu Yuanzhang finally conferred the titles of Duke Xu, the father of Empress Ma, and Lady Zheng, the mother of Empress Ma, and built a tomb chamber to house temple guards.
In 1382 (the 15th year of the Hongwu reign), Empress Ma fell seriously ill. The courtiers requested prayers and sacrifices, and sought the help of a good doctor for treatment. But Empress Ma refused, saying to Zhu Yuanzhang, “Life and death are fate, praying and worshiping are useless, and doctors cannot let people live. If the emperor cannot cure them, he will punish them.” In the end, she passed away due to serious illness. The “History of Ming Dynasty” records that Zhu Yuanzhang wept bitterly and never had an empress again. Sixteen years later, Zhu Yuanzhang passed away.
The emperor wept bitterly and was no longer standing.
