Ma Hongbin

Ma Hongbin (September 14, 1884 – October 21, 1960), was a prominent Chinese Muslim warlord active mainly during the Republican era, and was part of the Ma clique. He was the acting Chairman of Gansu and Ningxia Provinces for a short period.

Life

Ma was born in the village of Hanchiachi, in Linxia County, Gansu. He was the son of Ma Fulu who died in 1900 when fighting against the foreigners in the Battle of Peking (1900) in the Boxer Rebellion. As a nephew of Ma Fuxiang, he followed him and later Feng Yuxiang into the army. He and Ma Fuxiang protected a Catholic mission in Sandaohe from attacks by the Gelaohui, and he received the Order of Leopold (Belgium) ("King Leopold decoration") Upon his cooperation with Chiang Kai-shek, he was named commander of the 22nd Division, 24th Army, within the National Revolutionary Army. He was governor of Ningxia from 1921 to 1928 and chairman of the government of Ningxia in 1930. However, Ma Hongbin developed and consequently lost a power struggle with his cousin Ma Hongkui, a fact that was exploited by Chiang Kai-shek to his own advantage by preventing Ma Hongbin from total defeat. In 1930, Chiang named Ma Hongbin as the Chairman of the Provincial Council of Gansu, a post he held until 1931. However, Ma Hongbin only had very limited control, as the actual control of Gansu was mostly under the control of another rival Muslim warlord Ma Zhongying's. Even after Ma Zhongying's departure to former-USSR in July, 1934, most local troops remaining and population was still loyal to Ma Zhongying. During Ma Hongbin's rise to power, together with his cousin Ma Hongkui and other Muslim Generals and warlords like Ma Bufang and Ma Buqing, they were instrumental in helping Ma Bufang's cousin, Ma Zhongying, to prevail in Gansu, because they did not want Ma Zhongying to compete with them in their own turfs, so they encouraged and supported Ma Zhongying to develop his own power base in other regions such as Gansu and Xinjiang.