13 Facts About Ma Su

Ma Su, courtesy name Youchang, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China.

Ma Su had conspicuous talent in military theories and was admired by the Shu chancellor Zhuge Liang.

Ma Su was born in Yicheng, Xiangyang Commandery, which is present-day Yicheng, Hubei.

Ma Su was one of the five brothers in the Ma family, all of whom were renowned for their intellects and commonly known as the "Five Changs" as their style names all contained "Chang".

Together with Ma Liang, Ma Su began his service as an Assistant Officer under Liu Bei around 209, when Liu Bei succeeded Liu Qi as Governor of Jing Province.

Later, when conflict broke out between Liu Bei and Liu Zhang, Ma Su followed him with the army and served as a military advisor alongside Pang Tong and Fa Zheng.

Ma Su was appointed as Prefect of Mianzhu and Chengdu.

Thereafter, Ma Su was transferred to serve as Administrator of Yuexi, a troubled commandery in the south.

Still, Zhuge Liang did not heed the warning, and Ma Su was made a personal military Advisor soon after Liu Bei's death.

Ma Su disobeyed Zhuge Liang's order to garrison his army inside the city of Jieting and had his troops camped on top of a hill, believing the vantage point would provide him with a more advantageous position in terms of observation and a place of attack.

Ma Su succeeded in cutting off the enemy's water supply.

Ma Su's judgement was wrong and he ignored his lord's brilliant advice.

Regardless, Ma Su was deemed by Zhuge Liang and later by Liu Shan in an imperial memorial following the Battle of Jianwei to hold major responsibility for the failure of the first Northern Expedition.