Ma Yinsun (Chinese: 馬胤孫) (died 953), courtesy name Qingxian (慶先), was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period Later Tang state, serving briefly as a chancellor during the reign of its last emperor Li Congke.
It is not known when Ma Yinsun was born, and all that is known about his family background was that he was from Shanghe (商河, in modern Jinan, Shandong).
Later (after An's fall from grace and Li Congke's restoration to grace), Ma continued to follow Li Congke to his posts as the mayor of Jingzhao Municipality (京兆, in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi) and then as the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi).
Dominating his court were his chiefs of staff, Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun, who suspected both Li Congke and his brother-in-law (Li Siyuan's son-in-law) Shi Jingtang the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi).
They decided to dislodge both Li Congke and Shi by issuing a number of orders, transferring Li Congke from Fengxiang to Hedong, Shi from Hedong to Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), and Chengde's military governor Fan Yanguang to Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei).
Within the span of a year, he continued to promote Ma — first to Zhongshu Sheren (中書舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng); then to deputy minister of rites (禮部侍郎, Libu Shilang); Ma also continued to serve as imperial scholar.
The forces that Li Congke sent against him, commanded by Zhang Jingda, was defeated by the joint army of Shi and Emperor Taizong of Later Tang's northern rival Khitan Empire, and soon became surrounded by Khitan/Hedong troops at Jin'an Base (晉安寨, near Hedong's capital Taiyuan).
Li Congke, finding the situation hopeless, returned to Luoyang and committed suicide with his family, ending Later Tang.
[5] In an edict that Shi Jingtang issued after entering Luoyang that declared a general pardon, he, excepting them from the general pardon, ordered the deaths of Li Congke's close associates Zhang Yanlang, Liu Yanhao, and Liu Yanlang (劉延朗).
[5] In 939, Shi, apparently viewed his punishment of Ma, Fang, Han, and Li Zhuanmei to be too harsh (as he pitied them for being in poverty), commissioned them various offices — in Ma's case, Taizi Binke (太子賓客) — but then immediately ordered them into retirement (i.e., to allow them to draw pensions without allowing them to return to the government).
After Guo Wei founded Later Zhou, he gave Ma, in addition to the title of Taizi Binke, also the title of acting minister of rites (禮部尚書, Libu Shangshu), but with his office at Luoyang rather than then-capital Kaifeng — in other words, keeping him in de facto retirement.