Ma Buqing and his younger brother
Ma Bufang (1903–1975) were born in Monigou Township (漠泥沟乡) in what is today
Linxia County, some west of
Linxia City. Their father
Ma Qi formed the
Ninghai Army in Qinghai in 1915, and received civilian and military posts from the
Beiyang Government in Beijing in that same year confirming his military and civilian authority in Qinghai. Ma Buqing received a Confucian Classical Chinese education, while his brother
Ma Bufang received education in Islam to become an Imam. (right) meets with the Muslim Generals
Ma Bufang (second from left), and Ma Buqing (first from left) at
Xining in August 1942. Ma Buqing sided with
Feng Yuxiang's
Guominjun until the
Central Plains War, when he switched to the winning side of
Chiang Kai-shek. Ma Qi died in 1931 and his power was assumed by his brother
Ma Lin, who was appointed governor of Qinghai. Ma Buqing watched
Chinese Opera, and met the later American Professor
John DeFrancis during an opera performance. His troops defeated the
CCP during the
Long March in 1936. Ma Buqing and Ma Bufang discussed battle plans against the Japanese over the telephone with Chiang Kai-shek. Ma Buqing's Hexi 5th Army entered the war against the Japanese. In 1940 at the
Battle of Wuyuan, Ma Buqing led the 5th Cavalry Corps against the Japanese. The Japanese were defeated by the Chinese Muslim cavalry and
Wuyuan was retaken from the Japanese. Ma Buqing was in virtual control of the
Gansu corridor at this time. In 1942 Generalissimo
Chiang Kai-shek, head of the Chinese government personally went on tour in Northwestern China in Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Qinghai, where he met both Ma Buqing and Ma Bufang. Ma Buqing's troops were involved in road construction, for the movement of war supplies to Chinese forces fighting against Japan, having built a route to the
Soviet Union and was planning another route via
Tibet. In July 1942 Chiang Kai-shek instructed Ma Buqing to move 30,000 of his troops to the Tsaidam marsh in the
Qaidam Basin of
Qinghai. Chiang named Ma Reclamation Commissioner, to threaten
Sheng Shicai's southern flank in
Xinjiang, which bordered Tsaidam. Liangzhou District in
Wuwei was previously his headquarters in Gansu, where he controlled 15 million Muslims. In 1949, Ma Buqing evacuated with his family to
Taiwan along with the
Kuomintang Republic of China government becoming advisor to the Ministry of Defense. His brother, Ma Bufang, fled to Egypt. Ma Buqing died on 9 February 1977, in
Taipei. A daughter of Ma Buqing married Ma Buqing's nephew
Ma Chengxiang who was born in 1914. Ma Chengxiang commanded the 5th cavalry army and joined Ma Buqing on Taiwan. Ma Buqing's eldest son was Ma Xuyuan (), and his other son was Ma Weiguo (). ==Career==