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in southern China. Although he is particularly remembered in the south of China as the General who conquered the Yue people [Tonkinese] in about AD 39, the Hainanese in South-east Asia regard him as one of their special heroes with his image on side altars in several Hainanese community temples in Malaysia and Sumatra. Support of such a powerful spirit of a general who symbolised courage and confidence in the comparatively newly conquered south was vital to bolster the spirits of the Chinese settlers and to counter threats from aborigines, the climate and the general misgivings of the migrants so far from the Han homelands of central and northern China. Although this was the original reason for the worship of this deity, in recent centuries it has been lost and, in general, replaced by worship for his magical efficacy in providing satisfactory solutions to daily problems.
He began his career under the Xin dynasty ruler, the usurper Wang Mang but stimulated by ambition he later took up arms against him. During one campaign when briefing his generals he produced a "cloth model" by tracing out the lie of the land in a large tray of rice pointing out the routes and lines of advance his assembled generals should take. He aided Liu Xiu in re-establishing the Han dynasty by defeating the forces loyal to Wang Mang. Ma was then appointed Governor of what is now Gansu province, in the north-west, from where he led an army down to Tonkin to put down the revolt against the Chinese overlords.
Ma Yuan, well known in Guangzhou for his great height and bravery as a general, was particularly renowned for his campaign in Annam where he had pacified the country and brought back to Guangzhou city a number of Tonkinese bronze drums which he had melted and cast into statues of horses. Apart from the award of the title 'The Conquering Wave' he had the honour of having his daughter joined in marriage with the heir apparent.
A certain Lady Zhu headed the insurrection against the Chinese in Annam and was captured and sentenced to death. She had been stripped of her finery before execution and was dressed in her barest clothes. Ma Yuan took pity on her and gave her one of his robes to cover her bare limbs which is said to have led to the Tonkinese ladies' custom of wearing trousers and a long covering dress with wide sleeves.
Despite his age he volunteered with his ardour and ferocity