Why Empress Mingde Became a Model Eastern Han Empress

Empress Ma beside Emperor Ming shaped early Eastern Han palace politics through restraint and clarity.

When Ban Chao returned to Luoyang, the court was no longer the one he had left in youth. The imperial relatives whom Emperor Ming had held down began to rise again under Emperor Zhang. The first family pushed into view was the Ma family.

An Orphaned Daughter of the Ma Family Entered the Palace

The rise and fall of the Ma family begins after the death of Ma Yuan, General Who Calms the Waves.

After Ma Yuan died in the southern campaign, Liang Song and others slandered him. His family did not dare hold a formal funeral and buried him hastily. Once the Ma family lost power, nobles who had resented Ma Yuan took revenge. Even families with existing marriage arrangements began bullying the widows and orphans.

Ma Yuan's third daughter was still young. Tradition says that when she was sick as a child and did not recover for a long time, her mother asked someone to divine and read her face. The man said this girl would one day be beyond noble, though she would have difficulty having her own children. If she raised someone else's child, that child would be closer than a biological one.

At the time, these were only words about fortune. What the Ma family received first was not wealth, but blow after blow.

When Ma Yuan died, this daughter was only ten. Not long after, two sons in the family also died young. Lady Ma was so overwhelmed by grief that her mind became unstable and she could no longer manage household affairs.

The ten-year-old girl began handling the marquis household. She directed servants, managed domestic affairs, and received visitors with order. People who heard of it were astonished that a little girl could hold up the household when the family was collapsing.

The family to which she had been betrothed still often treated the Ma household badly. Her cousin Ma Yan could not bear it and urged Lady Ma to cancel the engagement. Lady Ma also did not want her daughter to marry into such a house, so the marriage was ended.

Ma Yan then memorialized Emperor Guangwu, asking that a Ma daughter be allowed to enter the palace and serve an imperial son. Liu Xiu remembered Ma Yuan's old service and also knew something of the injustice behind his case. He agreed. At thirteen, the Ma girl entered the palace and came to the side of Crown Prince Liu Zhuang.

She Had No Son of Her Own

After entering the palace, Lady Ma first served Empress Yin attentively. Her conduct fit ritual, and she treated people gently. Everyone in the palace was willing to be near her, and Empress Yin liked her.

When Liu Zhuang became emperor, he made her an honored consort. Emperor Ming favored her deeply, but for many years she had no child.

In the inner palace, this was not a small matter. If the emperor lacked stable heirs, the ancestral line could be shaken, and the imperial clan might compete. Consort Ma herself was worried.

She remembered the old prediction and took the initiative to recommend new women to Emperor Ming. One was Lady Jia, whose mother was born of Ma Yuan's first wife and was therefore related to Ma.

Lady Jia later gave birth to the prince Liu Da. Emperor Ming gave Lady Jia the rank of honored consort according to system, then entrusted the child to Consort Ma to raise.

When the emperor placed the infant in her arms, he told her that a child did not have to be born from one's own body. If raised with love, another person's child could still become filial.

Consort Ma was deeply grateful. She personally cared for Liu Da with full attention, often becoming tired and thin. Liu Da also grew close to this foster mother from childhood, with no barrier between them.

In Yongping year three, ministers memorialized that the central palace had long been empty and an empress should be established. Several women in Emperor Ming's palace had already borne sons. There was also a consort from the Yin clan, backed by the empress dowager's maternal family.

For Consort Ma, who had no biological son, becoming empress was not easy.

At the crucial moment, Empress Dowager Yin spoke first. She said Consort Ma's virtue surpassed the harem and she should be empress. Once the empress dowager spoke, other families and ministers could not continue the contest. In the second month of Yongping year three, Consort Ma became empress, and her foster son Liu Da became crown prince.

She would later be known as Empress Mingde.

Plain Clothing in the Inner Palace

After becoming empress, Ma did not let the Ma family immediately expand on her position.

She remained approachable and frugal. The histories describe her as tall, beautiful, and dignified in conduct. As empress, she could have covered herself in jewels and fine silks. In daily palace life, however, she wore coarse cloth and rarely used expensive fabrics outside major ceremonies.

Once, the consorts came to pay respects. From a distance they saw her dress hanging smoothly and thought it was brocade. When they came closer, they discovered it was only thick, plain cloth. They looked at one another and laughed. Empress Ma did not mind. She explained that this fabric dyed easily, lasted long, and was suitable for daily use.

The women of the harem took her as a model, and palace expenses declined.

Empress Ma also loved reading. She could recite the Book of Changes and read the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Songs of Chu, the Rites of Zhou, and other texts. She rarely judged others rashly, but when she did speak, she often saw matters clearly.

Sometimes Emperor Ming faced difficult court decisions and asked her after returning to the palace. Empress Ma analyzed causes and offered solutions, and the emperor often adopted her views.

She participated in political thinking, but never used that position to seek offices or favors for her natal family. This made Emperor Ming respect her deeply.

The Empress Dowager Held Back Her Own Family

In 75 CE, Emperor Ming died. At thirty-eight, Empress Ma became empress dowager, and her foster son Liu Da became Emperor Zhang.

Emperor Zhang felt deep gratitude to his foster mother. After taking the throne, he did not especially elevate the family of his birth mother, Lady Jia. Instead he wanted to repay the Ma family and planned to make his three maternal uncles Ma Liao, Ma Fang, and Ma Guang marquises.

Empress Dowager Ma politely refused.

She understood that the position of imperial relatives was the easiest place for disaster to begin. The catastrophe of Wang Mang was not far in the past. If her natal family rose too high, it might not be good for either the court or the Ma clan.

Emperor Zhang still wished to treat them well. He appointed Ma Liao Chamberlain for the Guards, Ma Fang General of the Gentlemen, and Ma Guang Commandant of the Yue Cavalry. The Ma family suddenly became prominent, and guests, officials, and attendants crowded to their doors.

The minister Diwu Lun soon memorialized against this, warning the emperor not to favor his maternal relatives. The memorial did not stop Emperor Zhang. Later, when drought struck, someone argued that the disaster came because the imperial relatives had not been enfeoffed in time. Emperor Zhang ordered officials to prepare a plan for marquis titles.

At this point, Empress Dowager Ma issued an edict herself opposing it.

She said those urging the enfeoffment of imperial relatives were flattering the emperor for profit, like the people who had once surrounded Wang Mang's family. She also said she had seen people visiting her natal family with carriages flowing like water and horses like dragons. Even the servants' clothing was finer than that of her own carriage drivers. She had reduced her family's expenses to warn them, but they remained careless and indulgent.

The idiom "carriages like water, horses like dragons" is connected to this edict.

She further ordered that if the Ma clan or relatives interfered with commanderies and counties or made private requests, it should be reported according to law. When her mother's burial mound was built slightly too high, she ordered it lowered. When relatives used carriages or clothing too luxurious for their rank, she removed them from the imperial-relative registry and sent them home.

Under her restraint, the Ma family remained honored but did not truly control government.

The Ma Family Left the Stage

The situation later changed.

In 77 CE, the Western Qiang rebellion expanded. Emperor Zhang appointed Ma Fang acting General of Chariots and Cavalry and gave him thirty thousand troops against the Western Qiang. Ma Fang won. Emperor Zhang was delighted and again decided to make the three uncles marquises.

This time Empress Dowager Ma saw that the emperor's mind was fixed and did not forcefully block him. After the Ma brothers received titles, she summoned them and warned them not to display themselves as imperial relatives. The three followed her arrangement, memorialized to resign their offices, and returned home to live as marquises.

While Empress Dowager Ma lived, Ma clan power stayed within a controllable range.

But the next Ma generation had not lived through the old hardships. Many relied on the fact that their aunt had been empress and empress dowager and gradually became extravagant. Someone warned Ma Liao to restrain Ma Fang, Ma Guang, and the younger men and not let them associate with frivolous guests. Ma Liao was personally cautious but did not govern the family strictly.

Ma Fang and Ma Guang gathered large fortunes, built mansions stretching through streets, kept many horses and livestock, and even collected payments from Qiang and Hu groups. At first Emperor Zhang remembered kinship and only rebuked and restricted them.

If the Ma family had pulled back then, it might have preserved its wealth. Instead Ma Liao's son Ma Yu sent letters everywhere complaining and speaking disrespectfully, accusing the court's handling of the Ma family of ingratitude.

Officials impeached Ma Yu and also impeached Ma Fang and Ma Guang for extravagance beyond rank and for damaging ritual order. Emperor Zhang approved punishment. The Ma brothers were dismissed and driven out of Luoyang. Ma Yu was later summoned back and died during interrogation.

Only then did Emperor Zhang truly understand why Empress Dowager Ma had tried so hard to restrain her natal family. The Ma clan's time as powerful relatives was not long. As soon as it rose too visibly, the emperor pressed it back down.

But once the Ma family left the stage, another clan of imperial relatives quickly filled the empty space. That family was harsher and more dangerous. Next, the Dou clan appears.