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

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

commanded by General Ma Qi, who controlled the Xining area of Qinghai, then a special region of

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 ...

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, 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. 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 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 Ma Qi joined the Kuomintang, the Ninghai army was reorganized into the

National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China ...

26th Division, under Ma Qi's command. Wei Fu-chih was born in Kao-lan district in

in 1895, his alma mater was

Paoting Military Officers' College Baoding Military Academy or Paoting Military Academy () was a military academy based in Baoding, during the late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China, in the first two decades of the 20th century. For a time, it was the most important military ...

, 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 Qi * Ma Buqing * Ma Bufang *

Ma Xizhen Ma Xizhen (馬希珍, Xiao'erjing: ) was a Chinese Hui Muslim General, born in Bahuzhuang village (八戶庄村) in Guanghe County, Gansu province. He joined the Ninghai Army in Qinghai and became part of its Fifth Cavalry Army. He then became ...

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