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 Ma Qi (, Xiao'erjing: ; 23 September 1869 – 5 August 1931) was a Chinese Muslim General in early 20th-century China. Early life A Hui, Ma was born on 23 September 1869 in Daohe, now part of Linxia, Gansu, China. His father was Ma Haiyan and ...

. A Muslim born in 1873,

Linxia County Linxia County (, Xiao'erjing: ) is a county in the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, province of Gansu of the People's Republic of China. Geography Linxia County is located in central and south-western parts of the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefect ...

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 ...

, 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 Ma Haiyan (1837–1900) was a Chinese Muslim General of the Qing Dynasty. Originally a rebel, he defected to Qing during the Dungan revolt and helped crush rebel Muslims. He was the father of Ma Qi and Ma Lin and of Ma Feng. Dong Fuxiang, Ma ...

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, by ...

at the

Battle of Langfang The Battle of Langfang was a battle in the Seymour Expedition during the Boxer Rebellion, in June 1900, involving Chinese imperial troops, the Chinese Muslim Kansu Braves and Boxers ambushing and defeating the Eight-Nation Alliance expeditionary ...

and died of natural causes in 1900. Ma Lin assisted the

Xidaotang Xidaotang (, "Hall of the Western ''Dao''," i.e. Islam)--originally called Jinxingtang , the "Gold Star Hall"; also called the ''Hanxue pai'' , the "Han Studies Sect" —is a Sino-Islamic religious body / special economic community centered in Gans ...

in filing a lawsuit against

Ma Anliang Ma Anliang (, French romanization: Ma-ngan-leang, Xiao'erjing: ; 1855 – November 24, 1918) was a Hui born in Hezhou, Gansu, China. He became a general in the Qing dynasty army, and of the Republic of China. His father was Ma Zhan'ao, and ...

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 east. ...

in the 1920s in a battle during the

Muslim conflict in Gansu (1927–1930) Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abra ...

, 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

as Governor of Qinghai following his death in 1931, but real military power remained in the hands of his nephew, Gen.

Ma Bufang Ma Bufang (1903 – 31 July 1975) (, Xiao'erjing: ) was a prominent Muslim Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the province of Qinghai. His rank was Lieutenant-general. General Ma started an industrialization pro ...

, who succeeded his father Ma Qi as military commander. In 1932, during his administration of Qinghai, the

Sino–Tibetan War Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...

broke out. Ma Lin's personal representative was Chao Pei-lei. Ma Lin held the position of Civil Governor, while

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 A ''yamen'' (''ya-men''; ; Manchu: ''yamun'') was the administrative office or residence of a local bureaucrat or mandarin in imperial China. A ''yamen'' can also be any governmental office or body headed by a mandarin, at any level of govern ...

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 The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

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 sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

. 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 The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Thea ...

. He was reported to be pious and his family mosque was in good shape. The new

Yihewani Yihewani (), or Ikhwan ( ar, الإخوان, d=al-Iḫwān), (also known as Al Ikhwan al Muslimun, which means Muslim Brotherhood, not to be confused with the Middle Eastern Muslim Brotherhood) is an Islamic sect in China. Its adherents are calle ...

(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 Masud Sabri, also known as Masʿūd Ṣabrī ( ug, مەسئۇت سابرى, مسعود صبري; zh, s=麦斯武德·沙比尔, t=麥斯武德·沙比爾, p=Màisīwǔdé·Shābì'ěr; 1886–1952), was an ethnic Uyghur politician of the Republi ...

. He went on a

. 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

Imams promptly rejected as heretical. Ma Lin's nephew,

, 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 , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. 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