Ma Sicong

Ma Sicong (马思聪; courtesy name Maowen 懋闻, style name Cuifeng 翠峰) was an official of the Ming dynasty (明) who served as a district magistrate and as a secretary in the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, and who died in 1519.¹ He was a native of Putian County (莆田县) in Xinghua Prefecture (兴化府), Fujian.² According to the China Biographical Database, after his death the court granted him the posthumous office of Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments (光禄寺少卿), recorded in the Veritable Records of Emperor Shizong.¹

Origins and family

The China Biographical Database (CBDB) row for Ma Sicong records his immediate family in four generations. His great-grandfather was Ma Guisun (马贵孙), his grandfather Ma Wei (马亹), and his father Ma Chun'er (马纯二); his mother was a daughter of the Fang Shi (方氏) family. He had at least two younger brothers, Ma Siwen (马思温) and Ma Sizhong (马思忠), and his wife was a daughter of the Zheng Shi (郑氏) family.¹

Career

Ma Sicong served as a district magistrate (知县). He then served as Secretary of a Bureau in the Ministry of Revenue (户部主事) at the Nanjing branch of the central government, a post the record associates with the year 1519, the year of his death.¹ A literary dictionary account adds that he first held the magistracy of Xiangshan, left office on the death of a parent, returned as magistrate of Pingxiang, and was promoted to the Nanjing revenue post with duty supervising grain shipments in Jiangxi.³

Political influence

His traceable effect on the state is posthumous: when Emperor Shizong took the throne, the court granted him the title of Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments (光禄寺少卿), an act recorded in the Veritable Records of Shizong.¹ A posthumous grant of this kind marked official recognition of his service and death.

Death, honors, and heirs

Ma Sicong died in 1519, while holding the Nanjing revenue secretaryship.¹ The literary dictionary account states that he died in the sixth month of 1519, in the rebellion of the Prince of Ning in Jiangxi, that he was taken prisoner and refused to submit, and that on Emperor Shizong's accession he was granted the posthumous title of Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments.³

Assessment and uncertainties

The CBDB row cites the Ming History chapter (列传 卷二八九) for his Nanjing post.¹ His early biography rests on now-scarce documents: the literary dictionary lists the tomb epitaph by Lin Jun (林俊《马君翠峰墓志铭》), the account of conduct by Huang Gong (黄巩《翠峰先生行状》), the collected biographies of Jiao Hong (焦竑《国朝献征录》 卷三九), the Fujian gazetteer of He Qiaoyuan (何乔远《闽书》 卷一一一), and the Ming History chapter itself.³

Legacy

Ma Sicong's own writings are described as scattered and lost, but his poetry survives through Qing-dynasty collection. The anthology Pufeng Qinglai (《莆风清籁集》), compiled by Zheng Wangchen (郑王臣), preserves eleven of his poems in its fifteenth juan. In 1898, Liu Shangwen (刘尚文) of Putian gathered twenty-three of his poems into a single-volume edition, Yishi of Master Ma Guanglu the Loyal (《忠节马光禄先生轶诗》), published together with the poems of his son Ma Mingheng (马明衡) and others as the Combined Collection of the Father and Son Ma of Loyal Integrity (《马忠节父子合集》).³

References

1. China Biographical Database (CBDB), person 67896, 马思聪. https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0067896
2. Shanghai Library authority file, 马思聪. https://data.library.sh.cn/entity/person/9i7ffc3hfofe9x58.html
3. 《马思聪》的简介, 文学辞典. http://ld.newdu.com/w3701.html

Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › China › Early Ming (1368 to 1521) › Government institutions and law

Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026

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