Empress Ma

Empress Ma, born in Su-chou 宿州 (Anhwei), became the wife of Chu Yüan-chang and eventually his empress. Her father, whose personal name is not even given in the records, left home because of a murder, taking his family to Ting-yüan 定遠 in the same province. As the political situation worsened towards the close of the Yüan dynasty, several areas in the region became the locale of rebellious bands; so her father and her mother née Cheng 鄭, were obliged to move again. This time their baby daughter was entrusted to her father's close friend, Kuo Tzu-hsing, who accepted her in his household and brought her up as a foster child. In 1369 her parents were granted the posthumous titles of prince and princess of Hsü (徐王 and 徐王夫人) and were honored in Su-chou by the erection of tombs and a shrine. The empress mourned her parents and welcomed the honores accorded them, but she dissuaded the emperor from extending the honor of official posts to surviving members of her clan.

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