Ma Qi

Ma Qi (1869 – 5 August 1931) (simplified Chinese: 马麒; traditional Chinese: 馬麒; pinyin: Mǎ Qí; Wade–Giles: Ma Ch'i) was a Chinese Muslim warlord in early 20th century China.

Early life

A Hui, Ma was born in 1869 in Daohe, now part of Linxia, Gansu, China. His father was Ma Haiyan, and his brother was Ma Lin. He was a senior commander in the Qinghai-Gansu region during the late Qing dynasty.

Ma Qi lead loyalist Muslim troops to crush Muslim rebels during the Dungan Revolt (1895).

During the Boxer Rebellion, Ma Haiyan defeated the foreign army at the Battle of Langfang in 1900, and died while protecting the Imperial Family from the western forces. Ma Qi succeeded him in all his posts and capacities. Ma Qi was 6 feet (183 cm) tall, and maintained the mintuan militia in Xining as his personal army, called the Ninghaijun.

Ma Qi also directly defied his commanding officer, the Muslim General Ma Anliang, when Ma Wanfu, the Muslim brotherhood leader, was being shipped to Gansu from Xinjiang by Yang Zengxin, to Ma Anliang, so Ma Anliang could execute Ma Wanfu, Ma Qi rescued Ma Wanfu by attacking the escort and brought him to Qinghai. Ma Anliang hated Muslim brotherhood, which he banned earlier, and sentenced all its members to death, and wanted to personally execute Ma Wanfu because he was its leader.