Ma Zhong 馬忠

Ma Zhong, courtesy name Dexin, was a man of Langzhong in Baxi. Raised in his mother's family as a child, he bore the surname Hu and the given name Du, but later recovered his original surname and changed his given name to Zhong. He became an officer of the commandery, and at the end of Jian'an he was nominated as Filial and Incorrupt and appointed Chief of Hanchang. Records, Shu 13 §29

When the First Sovereign (Liu Bei) suffered a great defeat at Xiaoting during his eastern campaign, Yan Zhi, Administrator of Baxi, raised five thousand men from the counties to fill the gaps and sent Ma Zhong to lead them. Liu Bei had already returned to Yong'an; on meeting Ma Zhong and talking with him, he said to Liu Ba, the Director of the Imperial Secretariat, 'Though I have lost Huang Quan, I have gained Hu Du in his place. The world does not lack worthy men.' Records, Shu 13 §29

In the 1st year of Jianxing (223), when the Chancellor Zhuge Liang opened his office, he made Ma Zhong Gate Commander. In the 3rd year of Jianxing (225), as Zhuge Liang went south, he appointed Ma Zhong Administrator of Zangke. This was after the commandery's Assistant Zhu Bao had rebelled, and Ma Zhong cared for and governed the people with great authority and kindness. Records, Shu 13 §30

In the 8th year of Jianxing (230) he was summoned to become Army Adviser to the Chancellor, assisting the Chief Clerk Jiang Wan in handling the affairs of the Chancellor's office left behind, and also served concurrently as Headquarters Officer of the province. The next year, when Zhuge Liang marched out to Qishan, he went there to manage military affairs, and when the army returned he supervised the general Zhang Ni and others in suppressing the rebellious Qiang of Wenshan Commandery. Zhang Ni's biography likewise records that Zhang Ni, as Gate General, was attached to Ma Zhong, and that each time they attacked the Qiang of Wenshan in the north or pacified the Man and Yi of the four commanderies in the south, he had merit in planning and winning battles. Records, Shu 13 §30–31 · 47

In the 11th year of Jianxing (233), when Liu Zhou (劉胄), a chieftain of the Southern Yi, rebelled and threw several commanderies into disorder, the court recalled Zhang Yi (張翼), the Area Commander of Laixiang, and had Ma Zhong replace him. Ma Zhong at length beheaded Liu Zhou and pacified the southern lands; he was given the additional posts of Army Supervisor and General Who Displays Might and enfeoffed as Marquis of Boyang Village. The Biography of the Later Sovereign also records that in this year the general Ma Zhong defeated and subdued Liu Zhou. According to Zhang Yi's biography, even after being recalled, Zhang Yi kept gathering provisions and did not slacken his command until his successor arrived, and Ma Zhong built on that foundation to crush and destroy Liu Zhou. Records, Shu 13 §31Records, Shu 3 §14Records, Shu 15 §12–13

Earlier, in Jianning Commandery, the Administrator Zheng Ang had been killed and the Administrator Zhang Yi (張裔) had been bound and sent to Wu, so the Area Commander had always been stationed at Pingyi County. Only with Ma Zhong was the seat moved to Wei County (味縣), placing it among both the people and the tribes. He also led the Administrator Zhang Ni to recover Yuexi Commandery, whose territory had long been lost, and for this he was given the additional post of General Who Brings Peace to the South and raised in rank to Marquis of Pengxiang Village. Records, Shu 13 §31–32

In the 5th year of Yanxi (242), on his way back to court, he met the Grand Marshal Jiang Wan at Hanzhong and conveyed the imperial edict to him, and was appointed General-in-Chief Who Guards the South. In the spring of the 7th year of Yanxi (244), when the General-in-Chief Fei Yi went north to resist Wei, Ma Zhong stayed in Chengdu and handled the affairs of the Imperial Secretariat, returning south only after Fei Yi came back. Wang Ping's biography records that at this time Deng Zhi was in the east, Ma Zhong in the south and Wang Ping on the northern frontier, and that all of them left famous records. Records, Shu 13 §32–33 · 40

He died in the 12th year of Yanxi (249), and his son Ma Xiu succeeded him. Ma Zhong was generous and magnanimous by nature; he would only joke and laugh heartily and never let anger show on his face, yet in handling affairs he knew how to make decisions and established both authority and kindness, so the tribes both feared and loved him. When he died, all of them came in person to his mourning hall, shed tears and expressed their utmost grief, and they built a shrine and sacrificed to him, which still existed in Chen Shou's time. Zhang Biao and Yan Yu, who succeeded him, fell short of Ma Zhong in both prestige and achievements. Records, Shu 13 §33

In his assessment Chen Shou named him together with Huang Quan, Li Hui, Lü Kai, Wang Ping and Zhang Ni, saying that Ma Zhong was gentle yet capable of firmness. He wrote that all of them made their names and rose through their particular strengths because they met their time. Records, Shu 13 §65