The Ninghai Army, later the 26th Division (National Revolutionary Army) was a Muslim

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 ...

army of the Republic of China commanded by General

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 an ...

, who controlled the

Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and w ...

area 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 ...

, then a special region of Gansu province. It was founded by Ma Qi in 1915.

Composition and history

The Ninghai Army was made up of Hui Muslims. The name "Ninghai" was applied to the armies of the Republic of China around the region of Ningxia-Qinghai. Ma Qi led the Ninghai Army in November 1918 to seize and garrison Labrang monastery from the Tibetans. It left in 1927. The Tibetan

Golok people The Golok or Ngolok (; ) peoples live in Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai, China around the upper reaches of the Yellow River () and the sacred mountain Amne Machin (). The Golok were renowned in both Tibet and China as ferocious fi ...

, owing allegiance to Labrang, attacked the Muslim Ninghai Army several times. The Chinese had never been able to control the Goloks before. However, this time, the Muslim Ninghai Army brought their modernized weapons, and exterminated a group of Goloks. The Muslim army then called for negotiations, during which they slaughtered the Goloks, killing "men, women and children", and drowned thousands of them in the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...

. A Christian missionary praised the Muslim army for exterminating the Goloks, saying that it was "God", who enabled the Muslim victory. After Tibetans attacked the Ninghai Muslim army in 1922 and 1923, the Ninghai army returned in 1924 and crushed the Tibetans, killing numerous Tibetans. At Ganjia and Serchentang, General

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 ...

defeated Tibetans under Gonpo Dondrup on 27 June 1924 and 25–27 April 1925. The Tibetans suffered severe casualties. In 1925, a Tibetan rebellion broke out, with thousands of Tibetans driving out the Muslims. Ma Qi responded with 3,000 Chinese Muslim troops, who retook Labrang and machine gunned thousands of Tibetan monks as they tried to flee. When

joined 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 ...

, the Ninghai army was reorganized into the National Revolutionary Army 26th Division, under Ma Qi's command. Wei Fu-chih was born in Kao-lan district in Gansu in 1895, his alma mater was Paoting Military Officers' College, and among the positions he held was battalion commander in artillery corps of the Ninghai Army.

Notable people

List of people who served in the Ninghai Army *

Ma Buqing Ma Buqing (1901–1977) (, Xiao'erjing: ) was a prominent Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, controlling armies in the province of Qinghai. Life Ma Buqing and his younger brother Ma Bufang (1903–1975) were born in Mo ...

* Ma Xizhen

References

{{Reflist Military units and formations of China Military units and formations of the Republic of China (1912–1949) Divisions of the National Revolutionary Army Ma clique Military units and formations established in 1915 1915 establishments in China

Composition and history

Notable people

See also

References