The Ma Lingxu 马凌虚

Ma Lingxu (735-756) was a native of Fufeng (now part of Shaanxi Province) during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty.

According to The Epitaph of Ma Lingxu: Her grandfather, Ma Xuanming, served as a Zhechong Xiaowei (a military official title in the Tang Dynasty) of Liangchuan Prefecture; her father, Ma Guangqian, held the position of Xiuning County Wei (a county-level official in charge of public security and judicial affairs) of Shezhou Prefecture. From an early age, Ma Lingxu was fond of hearing about Taoist arts and disliked learning women's needlework. In the 13th year of Tianbao (751), she became a Taoist nun at Kaiyuan Guan (Kaiyuan Taoist Temple), was registered as an immortal official, and later served as a Taoist priest at Shengwu Guan (Shengwu Taoist Temple) of the Great Yan Dynasty.