Ma Guohan

Life

His father, Ma Jin (also recorded as Ma Mingjin), held the post of jingli in Fenzhou Prefecture, Shanxi, and served successively as magistrate of Ningxiang, Wuxiang, and Tianzhen counties; his in-laws included Li Baochi and Li Baoying. As a child, Ma followed his father to Shanxi postings and studied under Jia Xuan. His father died of illness in Taiyuan when Ma was sixteen; at nineteen he passed the xiucai examination.

In the eleventh year of the Daoguang reign, he placed third in the provincial examination; in the twelfth year (1832), he earned the jinshi degree in the special examination at the age of thirty-nine. He recalled the examination years in the verse, “風簷辛苦憶從前，七度鄉科二十年。”

Afterward he served as magistrate of Luochuan, Shiquan, and Jingyang counties in Shaanxi. In the nineteenth year of the Daoguang reign, his outstanding performance led to his recommendation for appointment as cishi; because he had been away from home for a long time and needed to repair the family graves and residences, he requested leave to return home. In the twenty-fourth year (1844), he was promoted to zhizhou of Longzhou, Shaanxi (modern Long County). In the third year of the Xianfeng reign (1853), he resigned because of illness. He died four years later, was buried on the southern slope of Jiulishan, and died at the age of sixty-four.

Scholarship and works

From childhood he was devoted to learning and copied unusual books by hand; the preface to 《玉函山房藏書簿錄》 described his book-collecting process. 《玉函山房輯佚書》 comprised more than six hundred items.

His poetry and prose included 《玉函山房詩鈔》 and 《文集》; the title 《玉函山房詩集》 is also found. Other titles included 《玉函山房目耕帖》 in thirty-one juan, 《玉函山房詩文集》 in eighteen juan, and 《紅藕花軒泉品》 in eight juan. His compilations included 《夢雋》, 《春秋折衷論》, 《春秋通例》, 《禮記外傳》, and 《陰陽書》. The compilation list also includes 《周易子夏傳二卷》, 《周易古五子傳一卷》, 《今文尚書一卷》, 《古文尚書三卷》, and 《毛詩馬氏注一卷》.