Ma Yüan (active ca. 1190-ca. 1229) was a Chinese painter. With Hsia Kuei, he was one of the creators of the Ma-Hsia school of landscape painting and one of the great masters of the Southern Sung period.

Ma Yüan, also called Ch'in-shan, was born around the middle of the 12th century in Ch'ien-t'ang (modern Hangzhou), Chekiang Province. He represented the fourth generation in a tradition of painters spanning five generations, beginning with his great-grandfather, Ma Fen, and ending with his son, Ma Lin, all of whom served the Sung emperors as court painters-in-attendance. The family seat was in Ho-chung, Shansi Province, but the occupation of North China in 1126 by the Chin Tatars forced the family, and the government, to flee to the south.

Although the family tradition doubtless had strong influence on Ma Yüan's development as a painter, he was also indebted to...