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Ma Xifan (馬希範) (899〔-May 30, 947〔〔), courtesy name Baogui (寶規), formally Prince Wenzhao of Chu (楚文昭王), was the third ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Chu. == Background == Ma Xifan was born in 899, during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, as the fourth son of the warlord Ma Yin. At that time, Ma Yin had just taken control of Tan Prefecture (in modern Changsha, Hunan) following the assassination of Ma Yin's predecessor Liu Jianfeng, and was not yet fully in control of Wu'an Circuit (武安, headquartered at Tan Prefecture), which would eventually become the central circuit for the Chu state, but was in the process of gradually consolidating his control.〔 Ma Xifan's mother was a Lady Chen, who was Ma Yin's concubine, not his wife — as Ma Yin's first son, Ma Xizhen (馬希振), was said to be born of his wife, who was not named in historical sources. (Lady Chen later bore at least one younger son among Ma Yin's at least 35 sons, Ma Xiguang.)〔''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', (vol. 68 ).〕〔''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', (vol. 69 ).〕〔''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', (vol. 71 ).〕 Ma Xifan and his brother, Ma Yin's second son Ma Xisheng, were born on the same day, but Ma Xisheng was born earlier on that day. (Another brother, unnamed in historical sources, was therefore likely born on the same day of a different mother, between Ma Xisheng's and Ma Xifan's births.)〔 In 909 — by which time Tang had fallen, and Ma was ruling his own domain as the Prince of Chu, as a vassal to Tang's successor state Later Liang — there was a time when forces of Chu's northeastern neighbor Wu were battling the forces of the warlord Wei Quanfeng, who controlled four prefectures centered around Fu Prefecture (撫州, in modern Fuzhou, Jiangxi). The Wu general Zhou Ben was able to defeat and capture Wei, and when Wu forces then approached one of Wei's four prefectures, Ji Prefecture (吉州, in modern Ji'an, Jiangxi), Ji's prefect Peng Gan (彭玕) fled to Chu and submitted to Ma. Ma made Peng the prefect of one of his own prefectures, Chen Prefecture (郴州, in modern Chenzhou, Hunan), and, either at that time or later, had Ma Xifan marry Peng's daughter as his wife.〔''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 267.〕 In 923, Later Liang was conquered by Later Tang.〔''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 272.〕 Ma Yin submitted to Later Tang as a vassal, and sent Ma Xifan to the Later Tang capital Luoyang to offer tributes. The Later Tang emperor Li Cunxu, both because he was impressed by Ma Xifan's alertness and intelligence, and because he wanted to try to alienate Ma Yin's trust in his chief strategist Gao Yu, made the comment, "I had long heard that the Ma state would be seized by Gao Yu. With a son like you, how could Gao steal the state?" (Ma Yin, however, was not swayed by this comment, and continued to trust Gao, although Gao would eventually be killed by Ma Xisheng in 929.)〔''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 276.〕 In 928, Ma's erstwhile fellow vassal of Later Tang, Gao Jixing the ruler of Jingnan, had turned against Later Tang over territorial and material disputes, and Gao Jixing submitted instead to Wu as a vassal. Later Tang's emperor Li Siyuan (Li Cunxu's adoptive brother and successor) ordered Ma to attack Jingnan. Ma sent his major general Xu Dexun to do so, with Ma Xifan serving as Xu's army monitor. When the Chu army reached Shatou (沙頭, in modern Jingzhou, Hubei), it encountered the Jingnan army. Gao Jixing's nephew and officer Gao Congsi (高從嗣) personally went on the frontline and challenged Ma Xifan to a duel, offering to let their personal duel serve as a substitute for the battle between the armies. Ma Xifan apparently did not respond, but the Chu officer Liao Kuangqi (廖匡齊) stepped out and battled Gao Congsi, killing him. In fear, Gao Jixing sued for peace, and Xu withdrew.〔 By this point, Ma Yuan's sons were struggling among each other to become his successor.〔 While Ma Xizhen would have been considered the legitimate heir under the traditional Chinese principles (as his mother was Ma Yin's wife and he was the oldest), Ma Yin eventually chose Ma Xisheng on the basis that Ma Xisheng's mother, Consort Yuan, was his favorite, and Ma Xisheng accepted the designation without at least showing some signs of willingness to yield. This drew resentment from both Ma Xifan and his mother Lady Chen, as Ma Xifan was born on the same day as Ma Xifan.〔''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 278.〕〔〔 Ma Yin would die in 930, and Ma Xisheng succeeded him.〔''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 277.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ma Xifan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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