Ma Yize introduced the twelve constellations to China.

According to the records in Huaining Ma's Huizu Genealogy, in the second year of Northern China (96 1), Yize, a Huizu who was proficient in the calendar of the Western Regions, was called to China to study astronomy. Participated in the compilation of Tian Li. After Ying Tian Li was compiled and promulgated by imperial edicts, Ma Yi and his sons Ma E and Ma Huai stayed in China and held important positions in the "Si" (Observatory) in the Song Dynasty for a long time.

Ma Yize and his son introduced the calculation method of the position of the zodiac and the date when the sun entered the palace into China astronomy. His third son, Ma Yi, served in the army, and used astrology in the army, which was associated with the twelve qi in the twenty-four solar terms, as the basis for Liu Ren's divination. The zodiac signs, namely Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Lion, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn and Aquarius, were used in the general compendium of martial arts classics in the Northern Song Dynasty (104 1048).