Ma Liang

馬良
Courtesy name: Jichang (季常)
Born
187
Died
222
Ancestral home
Yicheng, Xiangyang (Yicheng, Hubei)
Book mentions
32
Roles:
advisor general politician
Factions:
Shu Han (primary)
Relationships:
Ma Su Brother
Links:
Appears in 14 chapters:
  • Chapter 52 — Zhuge Liang Negotiates With Lu Su; Zhao Zilong Captures Guiyang.
    The White Eyebrows of the village couplet: his first counsel maps the next act - keep Liu Qi as nominal Protector to quiet the people, then take Lingling, Wuling, Guiyang, and Changsha for their resources. Appointed Imperial Protector Assistant with Yi Ji as his second.
  • Chapter 63 — Zhuge Liang Mourns For Pang Tong; Zhang Fei Releases Yan Yan.
    Carries Zhuge Liang's star-warning letter to Liu Bei at the front, then is named first of Guan Yu's civil staff for the Jingzhou defense.
  • Chapter 65 — Ma Chao Battles At Jiameng Pass; Liu Bei Takes Over Yizhou.
    Ma Liang; in Liu Bei's circle at Chengdu.
  • Chapter 66 — Armed With Sword, Guan Yu Goes To A Feast Alone; For The State, Empress Fu Offers Her Life.
    At Jingzhou, warns Guan Yu that a hard-pressed Lu Su means him no good — and, told he cannot break his word, gets him at least to arrange Guan Ping's rescue squadron.
  • Chapter 73 — Liu Bei Becomes The Prince Of Hanzhong; Guan Yu Marches To Attack Xiangyang.
    Appointed adviser, with Yi Ji, to Guan Yu's main army for the northern campaign.
  • Chapter 75 — Guan Yu Has A Scraped-Bone Surgery; Lu Meng Crosses The River In White Robe.
    Ma Liang; plays go with Guan Yu during Hua Tuo's surgery - sits steady as the bone is scraped.
  • Chapter 76 — Xu Huang Fights At The River Mian; Guan Yu Retreats To Maicheng.
    Ma Liang; bears Guan Yu's despatches to Chengdu.
  • Chapter 77 — Cao Cao Is Possessed At Luoyang; Guan Yu Manifests At The Jade Spring Mount.
    Reaches Chengdu with Yi Ji, bearing Guan Yu's letters and his plea for instant help — hours ahead of the news that makes them worthless.
  • Chapter 81 — Eager For Vengeance, Zhang Fei Is Assassinated; Athirst Of Retribution, The First Ruler Goes To War.
    Named Secretary to the expedition, and the one who dares say the army cannot spend whole days in wailing while marching on an enemy.
  • Chapter 83 — Fighting At Xiaoting, The First Ruler Captures An Enemy; Defending The Three Gorges, A Student Takes Supreme Command.
    The campaign's ignored conscience: warns that Lu Xun is 'no whit inferior to Zhou Yu,' warns against the forest move, and finally extracts one concession — he rides for Zhuge Liang with a map of the new dispositions, carrying the question his master was too proud to ask.
  • Chapter 84 — Lu Xun Burns All Consecutive Camps; Zhuge Liang Plans The Eight-Array Maze.
    Lays the camp-map before Zhuge Liang and takes the explosion — 'he ought to be put to death, whoever it was!' — plus a promise he cannot believe: ten thousand soldiers hidden at Fishbelly Creek he has ridden past 'three or four times without seeing a soldier.' He races back with the warning; the fires beat him to it.
  • Chapter 85 — The First Ruler Confides His Son To A Guardian; The Prime Minister Calmly Settles Five Attacks.
    Ma Liang; named in passing - Ma Su's elder brother.
  • Chapter 87 — Conquering The South Mang, The Prime Minister Marches The Army; Opposing Heaven Troops, The King Of The Mangs Is Captured.
    Dead — his brother Ma Su arrives at the army clothed in mourning white for him.
  • Chapter 95 — Ma Su's Disobedience Causes The Loss Of Jieting; Zhuge Liang's Lute Repulses The Army Of Sima Yi.
    Appears once, as the identification that tells Sima Yi who is on the hill: 'He is Ma Su, brother of Ma Liang' — which is enough for the verdict that follows.