馬良

Profile

The hero of the idiom "white eyebrows" — finest of the five Ma brothers. The white-flecked brows marked the family’s standout talent, a civil official who steadied Liu Bei’s rule over Jing Province. Close enough to Zhuge Liang to address him as a brother, he won Sun Quan’s respect as an envoy and rallied the southern tribes during the Yiling campaign — where he died in the great defeat. Unlike his brother Ma Su, his substance always outran his words.

Key events

1. 222

   Battle of Yiling

   Marching east to avenge Guan Yu, Liu Bei is annihilated by the young commander Lu Xun’s single fire attack. Ma Liang also perished in the campaign.

   Liu BeiLu XunSun QuanZhao Yun

History vs. the novelHistoryvsNovel

One of the rare figures novel and history portray identically — a quiet administrator with nothing to dramatize, remembered forever through the idiom he inspired.