Ma Lin (

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 ...

: , ; 1873 – 26 January 1945) was the governor of

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 ...

1931–38 and the brother of Ma Qi. A Muslim born in 1873, Linxia County, Gansu, he mainly acceded to the posts of his brother, being general of southeastern Gansu province, as well as councillor of the Qinghai provincial government and acting head of the Construction Bureau of Qinghai province. His father was Ma Haiyan.

Career

Ma Lin's father Ma Haiyan fought in the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, b ...

at the Battle of Langfang and died of natural causes in 1900. Ma Lin assisted the Xidaotang in filing a lawsuit against Ma Anliang after his death in 1919, to gain recognition for them as a legitimate Muslim sect. His great-nephew Ma Zhongying seized the city of

Hezhou Hezhou () is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. Geography and climate Hezhou is located in northeastern Guangxi. It borders Hunan to the north and Guangdong to the ea ...

in the 1920s in a battle during the Muslim conflict in Gansu (1927–1930), and vanquished Ma Lin's army, which was sent to retake the city. Ma Lin defeated Ma Ting-hsiang (Ma Tingxiang). Ma Lin succeeded his brother Ma Qi as Governor of Qinghai following his death in 1931, but real military power remained in the hands of his nephew, Gen. Ma Bufang, who succeeded his father Ma Qi as military commander. In 1932, during his administration of Qinghai, the Sino–Tibetan War broke out. Ma Lin's personal representative was Chao Pei-lei. Ma Lin held the position of Civil Governor, while Ma Bufang was Military Governor. They feuded with and disliked each other. People did not admire Ma Bufang as much as his uncle Ma Lin, who was adored by the people. Ma Lin worked in the governor's yamen during his reign. His secretary was named Feng. In autumn of 1936 Ma Bufang made his move to expel his uncle from power and replace him. Ma Bufang made his position unstable and unbearable until Ma Lin resigned from power by making the Hajj to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow val ...

. Ma Lin's next position was to be part of the National Government Committee. In an interview he was described as having "high admiration and unwavering loyalty to

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

", and was interested in the progress of the Anti-Japanese war. He was reported to be pious and his family mosque was in good shape. The new Yihewani (Ikhwan) sect was patronized and backed by Ma Lin and Ma Bufang to help modernize society, education, and reform old traditions. In 1942 Ma Lin was serving on the 36-seat State Council; the only other Muslim member was the Uyghur Masud Sabri. He went on a Hajj to

. Approximately 123 persons accompanied him, including the Imams Ma Debao and Ma Zhengqing, who brought

Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...

/Wahhabi ideology back to China, which the Yihewani Imams promptly rejected as heretical. Ma Lin's nephew, Ma Bufang, the governor of Qinghai, persecuted the new Salafi Wahhabis. He died on 26 January 1945. Ma Lin's eldest son Ma Burong (Ma Pu-jung) 馬步榮 defected to the Communists after 1949 and donated 10,000 Yuan to support Chinese troops in the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

. He had another son, Ma Buyuan (Ma Pu-yüan) 馬步援.甘、寧、青三馬家族世系簡表
/ref>

References

External links

Rulers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma Lin 1873 births 1945 deaths Hui people Chinese Muslim generals Qing dynasty generals National Revolutionary Army generals from Gansu Republic of China warlords from Gansu Chinese Nationalist military figures Members of the Kuomintang Governors of Qinghai People from Linxia

Career

See also

References

External links