Ma Xiuying in She Who Became the Sun: Character Analysis
Overview
Ma Xiuying enters She Who Became the Sun as the daughter of a deceased Red Turban general, betrothed to the ambitious commander Guo Tianxu (Little Guo). Over the course of the novel she moves from a figure resigned to the constraints of a woman's life to Zhu's wife, confidante, and ultimately the woman who pledges herself as the future Empress of a new dynasty. Her arc is defined by a central tension: she is drawn to Zhu's promise of difference and self-determination, yet she must repeatedly confront the cost of that difference in Zhu's escalating ruthlessness.
Plot Role
Ma first appears in Anfeng in the Eleventh Month of 1354, walking to Prime Minister Liu's palace for the selection of a new general. She suspects Liu of causing her father's death, and she is accompanied by her betrothed, Guo Tianxu. When they encounter a monk who has fallen from a horse, Ma recognizes his chanting as the Heart Sutra, which persuades Guo to spare him—an early demonstration of her perceptiveness and her moral influence.
From that point, Ma functions as Zhu's ethical counterweight. She teaches Zhu to ride and deduces that Zhu caused the landslide at the Yao River. She confronts Zhu about her ambition, asking pointed questions that force Zhu to articulate her desires. After Little Guo's execution, Ma becomes Zhu's wife, and their marriage becomes a partnership in which Ma repeatedly challenges Zhu's choices—urging her to oppose Chen Youliang, warning her about the morale of her troops, and finally confronting her over the murder of the Prince of Radiance.
Motivations and Traits
Ma's defining trait is empathy. Zhu explicitly names this as the quality she values most in Ma, telling her that she opens her heart even though it means she will get hurt. The narration describes Ma's compassion as unyielding, comparing it to an iron statue of the Goddess of Mercy.
Her empathy manifests in action. She asks Zhu to protect Little Guo even though Little Guo never spared her a thought. She weeps for him at his execution. She urges Zhu to find another way than turning her own men against fellow Red Turbans, warning that forcing them to fight their own would destroy their loyalty.
Ma is also defined by her fatalism about her position as a woman. When Zhu tells her to learn to want something for herself, Ma responds bitterly that her suffering would not be worth whatever she might want to achieve. She describes her life as being passed from her father's hands to Little Guo's to someone else's. This fatalism is not passive weakness—it is a clear-eyed assessment of the constraints placed on women in her world.
Chronological Arc
Ma's arc can be traced through several key phases:
The Betrothed (Anfeng, Eleventh Month 1354 – Summer 1355): Ma appears as Guo Tianxu's betrothed, resigned to a marriage she did not choose. She meets Zhu, teaches her to ride, and begins to see something different in the monk. When Zhu tells her to want something for herself, Ma rejects the advice as impossible for a woman.
The Supplicant (Summer 1355): Learning she will marry Little Guo after the Jiankang campaign, Ma fears Chen Youliang's motives and asks Zhu for help protecting Little Guo. Zhu agrees to try, though she makes no promise.
The Witness (Summer 1355): Little Guo is executed by five horses on the Prime Minister's orders. Ma, who has never seen life taken with intent, is shattered. She confronts Zhu, who explains that Chen used the Prime Minister's paranoia as his weapon. Zhu warns Ma she may become a reward for whichever commander pleases Chen best.
The Bride (Eighth Month 1355): Zhu proposes marriage, revealing her body. Ma sees in Zhu the promise of difference made real and accepts. At the wedding, Chen Youliang takes Xu Da hostage, and Ma urges Zhu to oppose Chen—a plea Zhu ultimately ignores. Ma falls ill during the plague Zhu unleashes on her own men.
The Confidante (Eleventh Month 1355 – Third Month 1356): Ma treats Zhu's wounds after Ouyang severs her hand, and they become intimate. Ma receives Zhu's letter reporting the victory at Bianliang and prepares for the Prince of Radiance's arrival.
The Ultimatum (Third Month 1356): Ma arrives in Jiankang and learns Zhu killed the Prince of Radiance. She confronts Zhu, accusing her of lying about being different. Zhu gives her an ultimatum: rise with her or leave.
The Empress (Third Month 1356): At Zhu's coronation as the Radiant King, Ma appears in red—the color of what had been ended so that Zhu could build the new—and pledges to stand beside her husband and become his Empress.
Relationships
Zhu: The central relationship of Ma's arc. Ma initially sees Zhu as a monk who understands her in ways others don't. Zhu's proposal offers Ma an escape from the pattern of a woman's life. But the marriage is also a bargain: Ma provides the empathy and moral perspective Zhu lacks, while Zhu provides the freedom Ma craves. The relationship is tested most severely by the Prince of Radiance's murder, when Ma accuses Zhu of lying about being different.
Guo Tianxu (Little Guo): Ma's betrothed, who never truly sees her. She asks Zhu to protect him despite his neglect, and his execution is the event that shatters her faith in the world's patterns.
Chen Youliang: The antagonist of Ma's political fears. She recognizes his cruelty and warns Zhu against aligning with him.
Key Decisions and Consequences
Asking Zhu for help (Summer 1355): Ma's plea to protect Little Guo fails—Zhu cannot or will not prevent his execution. But the request establishes the trust that leads to their marriage.
Accepting Zhu's proposal (Summer 1355): Ma chooses desire over duty, freedom over the pattern. The consequence is a life of compromise and heartache, and the gradual erosion of her belief that there was always a kinder way.
Urging Zhu to oppose Chen (Eighth Month 1355): Ma's warning about troop morale is prescient, but Zhu ignores it, unleashing plague on her own men and allowing Chen to consolidate power.
Staying after the ultimatum (Third Month 1356): Ma chooses Zhu despite the murder of the Prince of Radiance. The narration makes clear this is a choice with a price: every moment of Zhu's ascent will be compromise and heartache for Ma.
Themes and Symbols
Ma's arc connects directly to the novel's central themes. Her journey from fatalism to desire traces the fate vs. self-determination theme: Zhu tells her to want, and she eventually learns to want—but the wanting comes at a cost. Her relationship with Zhu embodies desire as a consuming force: Ma is consumed by her love for Zhu, and the narration describes her heart twisting into a thousand loops at Zhu's cruelty.
Ma's red dress at the coronation is a powerful symbol. The narration describes it as the color of what had been ended so that Zhu could build the new—a reminder of the bloodshed that made Zhu's rise possible. Ma's pledge in red is both a castigation and a commitment: she will not let Zhu forget the cost.
Ma's role also connects to identity as performance. She performs the roles assigned to her—daughter, betrothed, wife, Empress—while gradually discovering that she can choose which role to inhabit. And her perception of Zhu's body as neither male nor female, but something wholly of its own kind, ties into the body as a site of identity and power.
Questions and Answers
Why does Ma initially resist Zhu's encouragement to want something for herself?
Ma's resistance stems from her clear-eyed assessment of her position. As she tells Zhu, her life was in her father's hands, then in Little Guo's, and now in someone else's. She sees desire as a luxury available only to men, who have a chance, no matter how small, of achieving what they want. For a woman in her world, wanting is pointless because everything is equally impossible.
What does Ma see in Zhu that makes her accept the marriage proposal?
Ma sees the promise of difference made real. Zhu's revealed body—neither male nor female, but something wholly and powerfully of its own kind—represents a break from the rigid patterns that have governed Ma's life. Zhu offers freedom, desire, and a life Ma can make her own. Ma accepts because, as she reasons, if the price of that was suffering, she would suffer no matter what she chose.
Why does Ma urge Zhu to oppose Chen Youliang at their wedding?
Ma recognizes that Chen's consolidation of power will destroy the Guo faction and create a world of terror and cruelty. She warns Zhu that forcing her men to fight fellow Red Turbans will destroy their loyalty: they follow Zhu because she earned their trust, but turning them against their own would reveal her as someone using them. Her warning is both political and moral.
How does Ma's confrontation with Zhu after the Prince's death change their relationship?
The confrontation marks the end of Ma's belief that Zhu is fundamentally different from Chen Youliang. Ma accuses Zhu of lying about being different. Zhu's response—that she will not stop until she rules and will not let anyone stop her—forces Ma to choose between her moral convictions and her love. The relationship survives, but the narration makes clear it will be defined by compromise and heartache.
What does Ma's final pledge in red signify?
Ma's red dress is the color of what had been ended so that Zhu could build the new. It is a castigation—a reminder of the bloodshed that made Zhu's rise possible—but also a commitment. By pledging to become Empress, Ma chooses to remain at Zhu's side, bearing witness to the cost of Zhu's desire. The pledge is also Ma's own act of self-determination: she is choosing her role, not having it imposed on her.
For a deeper look at how Ma's choices shape the novel's ending, see the ending explained page, or browse common questions about the book.