Ma Yu (Han)

Biography & Historical Record

Ma Yu (马宇, Mã Vũ) was an Eastern Han Palace Attendant (侍中; one notice in Hou Hanshu 种暠传 calls him a remonstrating grandee). He is not Ma Yu (马玉, Mã Ngọc) of Shu, who has a separate post at /ma-yu/. In 194 (Xingping 1), when Li Jue (李傕, Lý Thôi) and Guo Si (郭汜, Quách Dĩ) held Chang’an after Dong Zhuo’s fall, Ma Teng (马腾, Mã Đằng) and Han Sui (韩遂, Hàn Toại) marched on the capital. Ma Yu joined the inside plot with Chong Shao (种邵, Chõng Thiệu) and Liu Fan (刘范, Lưu Phạm), son of the Yi founder Liu Yan (刘焉, Lưu Yên).

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms Chapter 10 (Gathering Loyal Arms, Ma Teng Raises Righteous Troops; Avenging His Father, Cao Cao Raises an Army), Ma Teng and Han Sui first send agents into Chang’an. They bind Ma Yu, Chong Shao, and Liu Fan as inner allies. The three secretly memorialize Emperor Xian (刘协, Hán Hiến Đế), who issues hidden edicts naming Ma Teng General Who Conquers the West and Han Sui General Who Guards the West. Li Jue’s camp debates: Jia Xu (贾诩, Giả Hủ) urges a deep defence; Li Meng (李蒙, Lý Mông) and Wang Fang (王方, Vương Phương) ride out and are killed by young Ma Chao (马超, Mã Siêu). The Liang army then starves before the walls.

A servant of Ma Yu’s household then denounces his master, Liu Fan, and Chong Shao for linking the city to the Liang army. Li Jue and Guo Si seize all three households and behead them in the marketplace, hanging the three heads at the gate. With the inside plot dead and grain gone, Ma Teng and Han Sui retreat; Fan Chou (樊稠, Phàn Trù) and Zhang Ji (张济, Trương Tế) pursue.

History agrees on the plot and the deaths but adds geography the novel compresses: Ma Yu and his fellows fled to Huaili (槐里) after exposure; Fan Chou and Li Li (李利, Lý Lợi) took the town and killed them (Xingping 1 / 194). Birth year and native commandery are unrecorded. Courtesy name is unrecorded.

Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 10 (Gathering Loyal Arms, Ma Teng Raises Righteous Troops): Ma Yu (马宇, Mã Vũ) is named as Palace Attendant who, with Chong Shao (种邵, Chõng Thiệu) and Liu Fan (刘范, Lưu Phạm), accepts Ma Teng and Han Sui’s invitation to serve as Chang’an’s inner response. They obtain the secret edicts. After Li Meng and Wang Fang fall to Ma Chao and Jia Xu’s waiting strategy empties the Liang granaries, Ma Yu’s own servant informs on the three families. Li Jue and Guo Si execute every member of the three houses and parade the three heads. The novel then turns to Cao Cao’s mourning for Cao Song (曹嵩, Tào Tung) and the march on Xu — Ma Yu does not reappear.

Ma Yu (马宇, Mã Vũ) — Historical & Literary Timeline

Not the Shu officer Ma Yu (马玉) at /ma-yu/.

Key Relationships

Family

• No father, mother, spouse, or named children survive in the novel or the Han chronicles. Chapter 10 says his entire household was seized and killed with him after the servant’s denunciation — kin unnamed.

Friends

• Chong Shao (种邵, Chõng Thiệu): Remonstrating grandee; fellow inner ally and fellow victim of the 194 exposure.
• Liu Fan (刘范, Lưu Phạm): Left General of the Gentlemen of the Household; son of Liu Yan (刘焉, Lưu Yên); third man of the inner plot. (Do not use /liu-fang/ — that post is Liu Fang 刘放.)
• Ma Teng (马腾, Mã Đằng) and Han Sui (韩遂, Hàn Toại): Liang commanders for whom Ma Yu held Chang’an open.

Enemies

• Li Jue (李傕, Lý Thôi) and Guo Si (郭汜, Quách Dĩ): Ordered the arrest and execution of Ma Yu’s house.
• Fan Chou (樊稠, Phàn Trù) (history): Took Huaili and killed the fleeing conspirators.

Other

• Jia Xu (贾诩, Giả Hủ): Advises Li Jue to sit behind walls until the Liang army starves — the strategy that leaves Ma Yu’s plot isolated.
• Ma Chao (马超, Mã Siêu): Kills Li Meng and Wang Fang in the same chapter; his success cannot save the inner allies.
• Emperor Xian (刘协, Hán Hiến Đế): Issues the secret edicts the three officials obtain.
• Ma Yu (马玉, Mã Ngọc) of Shu at /ma-yu/: different 汉字 and era — do not interchange the slugs.