马成 / Ma Cheng (Eastern Han)

Overview

马成 / Ma Cheng is currently synthesized as an Eastern Han military-administrative official whose current evidence spans high-office title context and corrective frontier command. Hanji 715 places him as acting Da Sikong while also serving as Yangwu general in the 37 CE post-unification order; Hanji 717 then identifies him as Yangwu general in a corrective border-defense role after Du Mao’s removal.

Current Profile

Ma Cheng’s current profile is narrow but useful. Hanji 715 first places him in 光武帝刘秀’s post-unification personnel settlement as acting Da Sikong and Yangwu general, showing him as a military figure used inside the rebuilt central office order. Hanji 717 then places him in a personnel-correction sequence: Du Mao is removed because a subordinate commander kills someone, Ma Cheng replaces him, and border defense is made more systematic through beacon infrastructure.

The source presents beacon stations as a practical frontier-warning system using smoke and fire. Ma Cheng therefore belongs to the administrative-military side of Guangwu-era frontier stabilization, where leadership replacement, warning infrastructure, and later Zhang Kan’s Gaoliu/Yuyang branch all reinforce each other.

Key Characteristics

• Eastern Han Yangwu general placed into frontier command after Du Mao’s removal.
• Acting Da Sikong in Liu Xiu’s 37 CE post-unification personnel order.
• Border-defense organizer associated with beacon stations at regular intervals.
• Military-administrative actor in the same 39 CE frontier branch as Lu Fang’s Gaoliu return and Zhang Kan’s later Yuyang tenure.
• Evidence point for the court correcting frontier personnel and infrastructure after command failure.

Evidence

• Office title context: Hanji 715 says Ma Cheng acts as Da Sikong while also holding the Yangwu general role.
• Replacement role: Hanji 717 says Du Mao is removed and Ma Cheng replaces him.
• Beacon defense: Hanji 717 says Ma Cheng strengthens defenses by setting beacon stations roughly every ten li.
• Frontier context: Hanji 717 places the appointment alongside Lu Fang’s Gaoliu return and Zhang Kan’s anti-Xiongnu victory.

Qualifications

The current sources do not give Ma Cheng’s full biography, precise title chronology, or later campaigns. Hanji 715 supplies title context, while Hanji 717 supplies the stronger frontier-defense correction branch.

What Changed

• Added Hanji 715 as Ma Cheng’s 37 CE acting-Da-Sikong and Yangwu-general context.
• Preserved Hanji 717 as the stronger personnel replacement and beacon-infrastructure evidence.

Relationships

• 光武帝刘秀 - ruler whose post-unification office order and frontier personnel system place Ma Cheng in command roles.
• 杜茂 - predecessor removed in the same command-correction sequence.
• 张堪 - parallel frontier actor whose Gaoliu victory follows the same personnel disruption.
• 卢芳 - Xiongnu-linked claimant whose Gaoliu return forms part of the same frontier setting.
• 匈奴 - frontier opponent around whom Ma Cheng’s beacon defense is organized.
• 边郡恢复 - related concept because warning infrastructure supports restored frontier settlement.