Ma Shi (马氏, Mã thị; Lady Ma), is a legendary and culturally celebrated figure in classical Chinese folklore and Ming-dynasty epic Fengshen Yanyi (封神演义, Investiture of the Gods), infamous as the impatient first wife of the great strategist Jiang Ziya (姜子牙, Khương Tử Nha).
When Jiang Ziya was sixty-eight years old, living in destitution and struggling as an unsuccessful flour hawker and fortune-teller in Chaoge, Lady Ma was wed to him through the matchmaking of Aunt Song. Imbued with sharp pragmatism and lacking faith in Jiang Ziya’s cosmic destiny, she constantly mocked his inability to earn coin. When Jiang Ziya refused to serve the decadent King Zhou of Shang and prepared to flee west to Mount Qi, Lady Ma demanded an immediate letter of divorce, declaring: ‘I would rather die an honest beggar woman in Chaoge than starve in the mountains with a useless fool like you!’
Years later, after Jiang Ziya met King Wen of Zhou and led the victorious Zhou armies as Supreme Commander and Prime Minister, he entered Chaoge in magnificent triumph. Watching her former husband riding in a golden chariot adorned with banners, Lady Ma was overcome with suffocating shame and regret, hanging herself in her humble hut. In a poignant twist during the investiture of spirits, Jiang Ziya mercifully appointed her soul as the Saozhou Xing (扫帚星 — Broom Star / Star of Misfortune), cementing her place in Chinese mythology as the archetype of shallow vanity.
Contents
Role in Fengshen Yanyi (Investiture of the Gods)
Chapter 15 (Jiang Ziya Descends the Mountain; Lady Ma Demands Divorce): Jiang Ziya pleads: ‘Wait but a few years, wife, and I shall clad you in phoenix robes and gold!’ Lady Ma spits: ‘Empty words! Give me the divorce slip so I may remarry and find a bowl of rice!’
Chapter 99 (Jiang Ziya Invests the Gods): Bestowing the divine mandate upon Lady Ma’s ghost: ‘Though you were impatient in poverty, our marriage was ordained by Heaven. I hereby appoint you the Saozhou Xing (Broom Star) to sweep away ill fortune!’
Ma Shi — Historical & Literary Timeline
Shang Dynasty
Marriage in Chaoge
Marries the sixty-eight-year-old Jiang Ziya through neighbor Song Yiren’s matchmaking.
Shang Dynasty
Discord & Scorn
Constantly berates Jiang Ziya for his failed business ventures hawking flour and cattle.
Shang Dynasty
Demanding Divorce
Forces Jiang Ziya to write a formal deed of divorce as he flees to Mount Qi.
Zhou Dynasty
Remorse & Demise
Sees Jiang Ziya’s glory as Grand Preceptor of Zhou; commits suicide in despair and is deified as the Broom Star.
Key Relationships
Family
- Former Husband Jiang Ziya (Jiang Ziya / 姜子牙, Khương Tử Nha): Paramount strategist and founder of Zhou Dynasty whom she abandoned in poverty.
- Second Husband Zhang San (张三): Humdrum Chaoge peasant whom she remarried after abandoning Jiang Ziya.
Friends
- Matchmaker Aunt Song (Song Yiren’s wife / 宋异人妻): Kind neighbor who arranged the initial match.
Enemies
- Her Own Pride & Impatience Poverty and humiliation: Driven to self-destruction by comparison with Zhou’s glory.
Other
- Shang Tyrant King Zhou of Shang (商纣王): Ruler whose court Jiang Ziya refused to serve.
- Zhou Monarch King Wen of Zhou (周文王): Sage ruler who recognized Jiang Ziya at the Panxi stream.
In Fengshen Yanyi
Chapter 15: The Severing of Marriage
“Jiang Ziya wept: ‘Once water is spilled upon the ground, it cannot be gathered into the bowl. Go then, and may you never regret this hour.’”
Mythological Nuance
Lady Ma’s deification as the Broom Star (扫帚星) entered common Chinese idioms, where ‘Broom Star’ refers to an omen of bad luck or a quarrelsome spouse.