Ma Rong (Chinese: 馬融; 79–166[1]), courtesy nameJichang (季长), was a Chinese poet and politician of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was born in Youfufeng (右扶風) in the former Han capital region, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi Province. His father Ma Yan (马严) was a son of Ma Yu (马余), an elder brother of the famed general Ma Yuan.[2] He was known for his commentaries on the books on the Five Classics, and the first scholar known to have done this. He also developed the double column commentary while doing it. His notable students were Lu Zhi and Zheng Xuan.[3]
He was suspended for ten years due to critical comments. Eventually he was restored to the Governor of Nan Commandery (modern Hubei). His biography appears in the Book of Later Han (volume 60, part 1). He wrote the Rhapsody on Long Flute (長笛賦); the Song dynasty Classic of Loyalty (忠經), patterned after the Classic of Filial Piety, bears attribution to his name.[4]
^According to Ma Rong's biography in Book of the Later Han, he died aged 88 (by East Asian reckoning) in the 9th year of the Yanxi era of Emperor Huan's reign. (年八十八，延熹九年卒于家。) Houhanshu, vol.60 part 1
^(...将作大匠严之子。....严，援兄余之子。 Houhanshu, vol.60 part 1)
^(融才高博洽，为世通儒，教养诸生，常有千数。涿郡卢植，北海郑玄，皆其徒也。) Houhanshu, vol.60 part 1
^Liu Kwang-ching (1990). "Socioethics as Orthodoxy". In Liu Kwang-ching (ed.). Orthodoxy In Late Imperial China. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 69. ISBN9780520065420.
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