Ma Hu-shan (
Xiao'erjing
Xiao'erjing or Xiao'erjin or Xiaor jin or in its shortened form, Xiaojing, literally meaning "children's script" or "minor script" (cf. "original script" referring to the original Perso-Arabic script; zh, s=本经, t=本經, p=Běnjīng, Xiao ...
: , zh, t=馬虎山, s=马虎山, first=t, p=Mǎ Hushān; 1910 – 1954) was a
Hui
The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...
(Chinese Muslim) warlord and the brother-in-law and follower of
Ma Chung-ying, a Dungan/Hui
Ma Clique
The Ma clique or Ma family warlords is a collective name for a group of Hui (Muslim Chinese) warlords in Northwestern China who ruled the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia for 10 years from 1919 until 1928. Following the collapse o ...
warlord. He ruled over an area of Southern
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
, nicknamed
Tunganistan
Tunganistan (, dng, Хуэситан), also called Dunganistan (named after the Dungan people), was an independently administered region in the southern part of the Chinese province Xinjiang from 1934 to 1937, contemporaneous to the Chinese Civi ...
(named after the
Dungans
Dungan, Xiao'erjing: ; zh, s=东干族, t=東干族, p=Dōnggān zú, w=Tung1kan1-tsu2, , Xiao'erjing: ; russian: Дунгане, ''Dungane''; ky, Дуңгандар, ''Duñgandar'', دۇنغاندار; kk, Дүңгендер, ''Düñgende ...
) by Westerners, from 1934 to 1937.
He was sometimes known as the "King of Tunganistan".
Tunganistan
Ma Hushan fought against the Russian
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
and
White Russian forces during the
Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang and defeated them in battle.
“''The Russ brought the fiji'' (airplane) ''and bombed and gassed us''“ he said about the war.
He also took part in the war to destroy the
First East Turkestan Republic
The Turkic Islamic Republic of East Turkestan (TIRET; ug, شەرقىي تۈركىستان تۈرك ئىسلام جۇمھۇرىيىتى, , Шәрқий Түркистан Түрк-Ислам Җумхурийити; ) was a short-lived breakaway ...
, commanding the new 36th division at the
Battle of Kashgar and
Battle of Khotan
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
.
Ma's 36th Division crushed the
Charkhlik Revolt by the
Uighurs
The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghu ...
in the
Charkhlik oasis. It controlled southern Xinjiang's oasis and the area was nicknamed "Tunganistan" by
Peter Fleming. Ma Hushan and the new 36th Division declared their loyalty to the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
government in
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
and sent emissaries there requesting aid to fight against
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai (; 3 December 189513 July 1970) was a Chinese warlord who ruled Xinjiang from 1933 to 1944. Sheng's rise to power started with a coup d'état in 1933 when he was appointed the ''duban'' or Military Governor of Xinjiang. His rule o ...
's provincial forces and the Soviet Union.
Khotan
Hotan (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Western China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become ...
was the base of Ma Hushan during his rule over the southern oases. His troops were said to be "strongly anti-Japanese", and the territory they ruled was covered with "most of the stock anti-Japanese slogans from
China proper
China proper, Inner China, or the Eighteen Provinces is a term used by some Western writers in reference to the "core" regions of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China. This term is used to express a distinction between the "core" regions popu ...
," and Ma made "Resistance to Japanese Imperialism" part of his governing doctrine. Ma Hushan himself was described by
Ella Maillart
Ella Maillart (or Ella K. Maillart; 20 February 1903, Geneva – 27 March 1997, Chandolin) was a Swiss adventurer, travel writer and photographer, as well as a sportswoman.
Early life
Ella Maillart was the second child, born to a wealthy fur t ...
as a "well-set-up long-legged man".
Carpet Factory
Ma's regime forced the switch from the old style to the manufacture of Chinese-style carpets by the government-owned factory. He ordered the creation of "small blue carpets", "woven in Khotan". They were of Chinese design, with Chinese writing on them.
Peter Birchler mistakenly said that Ma Hushan's brother-in-law
Ma Zhongying was the client of the carpet factory.
Xinjiang War (1937)
Ma Hushan formulated a plan for an anti-Soviet "
jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...
" to conquer the Kremlin, Russian Turkestan and Siberia.
He promised a devastated Europe and the conquering of Russia and India.
The anti-Soviet client uprising by Ma Hsi Jung (Ma Ho San) was reported by United Press International (UPI) 3 June 1937.
Ma's troops were defeated by
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai (; 3 December 189513 July 1970) was a Chinese warlord who ruled Xinjiang from 1933 to 1944. Sheng's rise to power started with a coup d'état in 1933 when he was appointed the ''duban'' or Military Governor of Xinjiang. His rule o ...
and the Soviets, and many of them deserted or defected. Ma fled to British India. He brought with him thousands of ounces of gold, which was confiscated by the British. The British kept that money to pay for the alleged "looting" of British property in
Kashgar
Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...
by Ma's troops, but eventually sent the money "back" to
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai (; 3 December 189513 July 1970) was a Chinese warlord who ruled Xinjiang from 1933 to 1944. Sheng's rise to power started with a coup d'état in 1933 when he was appointed the ''duban'' or Military Governor of Xinjiang. His rule o ...
's regime. He was briefly detained by the British, then took a steamer from
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
back to China—specifically
Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
province—in 1938.
British telegrams from India in 1937 said that Tungans like
Ma Zhongying and Ma Hushan had reached an agreement with the Soviets, whom they had previously fought, that since the
Japanese had begun full-scale warfare with China, that Tungans led by Ma Hushan would help Chinese forces battle Japan, and that he would return to
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
.
Sven Hedin
Sven Anders Hedin, KNO1kl RVO,Wennerholm, Eric (1978) ''Sven Hedin – En biografi'', Bonniers, Stockholm (19 February 1865 – 26 November 1952) was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator ...
wrote that Ma Hushan would "certainly obey the summons" to join the Chinese side against Japan in the war.
Kuomintang Islamic insurgency in China (1950–58)
Ma led the
Kuomintang Islamic insurgency
The Kuomintang Islamic insurgency () was a continuation of the Chinese Civil War by Chinese Muslim nationalist Kuomintang Republic of China Army forces mainly in Northwest China, in the provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang, an ...
in China from 1950 to 1954 against the
PLA
PLA may refer to:
Organizations Politics and military
* People's Liberation Army, the armed forces of China and of the ruling Chinese Communist Party
* People's Liberation Army (disambiguation)
** Irish National Liberation Army, formerly called ...
using
guerrilla tactics
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics ...
. He was captured in 1954 and executed at
Lanzhou
Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
.
References
External links
Flags of IndependenceMemorial to men who died in battle against Ma Hushan, includes Russian Orthodox crosses
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma Hushan
History of Xinjiang
Hui people
Republic of China warlords from Gansu
National Revolutionary Army generals from Gansu
Ma clique
Chinese Nationalist military figures
Members of the Kuomintang
Chinese anti-communists
20th-century executions by China
1910 births
1958 deaths
Executed Republic of China people
Executed people from Gansu