Ma Shaowu
Encyclopedia
Ma Shaowu was a Hui
born in Yunnan
, in Qing dynasty
China. He was a member of the Xinjiang clique
during the Republic of China
.
in honour of Ma Shaowu that emphasises the role of tombbuilder for which he was best known within the Jahriyya order. The couplet was written on the occasion of the death anniversary of Ma Mingxin’s wife in whose honour the most important of the tombs was built, on the 1st of the first lunar
month, 1918; the first line of the couplet makes a play on the middle character shao 绍 of Ma Shaowu 马绍武。 The founding ancestor refers to Ma Mingxin, while the ‘departed sage’ probably refers to Ma Yuanzhang’s father Ma Shenglin. The word translated here as ‘worthy descendant’ is also a lineage
term for fourth generation direct descendant, for Ma Shaowu was a fourth generation
direct descendant
of Ma Mingxin.
Ma Yuanzhang was related to the leader of the Dungan revolt, Ma Hualong
, which made him related to Ma Shaowu.
. He served as a mandarin
official. During Yang Zengxin
's reign in Xinjiang
, Ma was appointed military commander of Kucha
, and then Daotai of Kashgar
. His authority extended over all of southern Xinjiang, and he commanded several hundred Hui and Han Chinese
soldiers. Brigadier General Yang and Colonel Chin served under him. He was loyal to the Chinese government, and a Muslim.
Ma Shaowu had replaced the fellow Hui Ma Fuxing
as Daotai, after shooting him on Yang Zengxin
's orders.
Ma enforced anti Soviet measures and preserved Chinese sovereignty in Xinjiang, when the Soviet Union tried to encroach on Chinese territory. He jailed a Uighur called Akbar Ali, who was employed by the Soviet consulate, for setting off a Uighur riot. The Uighurs were suppressed by 400 Hui
troops.
In 1932, Ma crushed a Kirghiz revolt led by Id Mirab
, and jailed several Kirghiz fighters including Osman Ali.
When Ma Zhongying
invaded the province in 1932, Ma Shaowu, himself a Hui Muslim, commanded predominantly Han Chinese troops against the anti provincial Uighur and Hui forces. He steadily lost control over southern Xinjiang, despite Jin Shuren appointing him as commander in Chief of all Chinese forces in the area, and was panicking, Ma Shaowu sent Han Chinese troops to Khotan and Maral Bashi to fight against the anti provincial forces, he withdrew Chinese troops from Sarikol to Kashgar to reinforce the garrison, and raised levies of Kirghiz.
Ma faced an army of Uighurs and Hui from Gansu under the command of Timur Beg
and Ma Zhancang
, when Ma Zhancang defected to Ma Shaowu after conducting negotiations, and shot and beheaded Timur Beg. Ma Shaowu commanded a Han Chinese
garrison, his subordinates included Brigadier General Yang and Colonel Chin. Then all of the Hui Muslim and Han Chinese gathered together and holed up in the yamen
, while the Turkic Muslims, the Kirghiz and Uighurs besieged them. At the Battle of Kashgar (1933)
the Turkic armies were defeated. During this time Ma Shaowu resigned as Tao-yin of Kashgar. When the independence of the First East Turkestan Republic
was declared, the following year, at the Battle of Kashgar (1934)
Ma Zhancang and Ma Fuyuan destroyed the Turkic army, massacring over 2,000 Uighurs and attacking the British consulate. Ma Fuyuan and Ma Zhancang then reinstated Ma Shaowu as Tao-yin of Kashgar. In 1934, Ma Shaowu was seriously injured in an assassination attempt ordered by Sheng Shicai
. Ma was sent to the Soviet Union for treatment, and recovered but on crutches.
He was walking with his son and wife when the assassination attempt happened. The child was unhurt, the wife slightly wounded, and even though Ma was shot in the legs, he dragged himself into a maize] field. He got home on a donkey, a doctor was summoned, and by the end of summer he was convalescing. Nobody was apprehended by the police for the attack. Two of his fingers were lost.
Ma was interviewed by the traveler Peter Fleming in 1936, shortly after the assassination attempt. Peter also visited the site of assassination where bloodstains were present. He wore a long beige silk robe, had a spittoon
and spoke in precise Peking speech. His son's name was Cho-ya. He was then sent to Moscow in the Soviet Union to complete medical treatment. He did not give direct answers, replying through a translator that "I lost my post when, as a result of the troubles, China lost her authority in Kashgar", referring to when he had to resign as taotai. After being sent to Moscow by train, he returned to Ürümqi
in 1936. In 1937, during the Xinjiang War (1937)
, Ma Shaowu was accused by the Soviet puppet Sheng Shicai
of being part of a "Fascist-Trotskyite" network, including Khoja Niyas Hajji, Ma Hushan
, along with other totally ridiculous claims, which Sheng Shicai used as an excuse to conduct his own purge in Xinjiang along with Joseph Stalin
's Great Purge
.
Ma Shaowu was killed on Sheng Shicai
's orders.
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
born in Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
, in Qing dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
China. He was a member of the Xinjiang clique
Xinjiang clique
The Xinjiang clique was a military faction that ruled Xinjiang during China's warlord era. Unlike other cliques, its leaders were from outside the province....
during the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
.
Family history
Ma Yuanzhang wrote a coupletCouplet
A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...
in honour of Ma Shaowu that emphasises the role of tombbuilder for which he was best known within the Jahriyya order. The couplet was written on the occasion of the death anniversary of Ma Mingxin’s wife in whose honour the most important of the tombs was built, on the 1st of the first lunar
Lunar
Lunar may refer to:*Relating to the Moon*Lunar , a series of console video games*Lunar distance *Lunar calendar...
month, 1918; the first line of the couplet makes a play on the middle character shao 绍 of Ma Shaowu 马绍武。 The founding ancestor refers to Ma Mingxin, while the ‘departed sage’ probably refers to Ma Yuanzhang’s father Ma Shenglin. The word translated here as ‘worthy descendant’ is also a lineage
Lineage
Lineage may refer to:- Science :* Lineage or kinship, descent group that can demonstrate their common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of decent from an ancestor....
term for fourth generation direct descendant, for Ma Shaowu was a fourth generation
Generation
Generation , also known as procreation in biological sciences, is the act of producing offspring....
direct descendant
Lineal descendant
A lineal descendant, in legal usage, refers to a blood relative in the direct line of descent. The children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc...
of Ma Mingxin.
Ma Yuanzhang was related to the leader of the Dungan revolt, Ma Hualong
Ma Hualong
Ma Hualong , was the fifth leader of the Jahriyya, a Dungan Sufi order in northwestern China. From the beginning of the Dungan Revolt in 1862, until his surrender and death in 1871, he was one of the main leaders of the revolt.-Biography:Ma Hualong became the leader of the Jahriyya ca...
, which made him related to Ma Shaowu.
Couplet written in Honor of Ma Shaowu by Ma Yuanzhang
Ten thousand li to pay his respects at the isolated tomb and satisfy the wish of the founding ancestor,
Those that satisfy the wishes of their ancestors are truly filialFilialFilial may refer to:* Filial church, a Roman Catholic church to which is annexed the cure of souls, but which remains dependent on another church* Filial piety, one of the virtues in Confucian thought...
.
In the home province he built up the embankment in honour of the departed sage,
Not only by showing respect for the departed but in his countenance he is a true worthy descendant.
万里祭孤坟而绍祖志，能绍先志方称孝子
原籍修河堤而祭前圣，亦能继前亦象乃为贤孙.
Official in Xinjiang
He became a military commander in the Qing dynasty army, and in that of the Republic of ChinaRepublic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
. He served as a mandarin
Mandarin (bureaucrat)
A mandarin was a bureaucrat in imperial China, and also in the monarchist days of Vietnam where the system of Imperial examinations and scholar-bureaucrats was adopted under Chinese influence.-History and use of the term:...
official. During Yang Zengxin
Yang Zengxin
Yang Zengxin , born in Mengzi, Honghe, Yunnan in 1859, was the ruler of Xinjiang after the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 until his assassination in 1928.-Life:...
's reign in Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
, Ma was appointed military commander of Kucha
Kucha
Kuchaor Kuche Uyghur , Chinese Simplified: 库车; Traditional: 庫車; pinyin Kùchē; also romanized as Qiuzi, Qiuci, Chiu-tzu, Kiu-che, Kuei-tzu from the traditional Chinese forms 屈支 屈茨; 龜玆; 龟兹, 丘玆, also Po ; Sanskrit: Kueina, Standard Tibetan: Kutsahiyui was an ancient Buddhist kingdom...
, and then Daotai of Kashgar
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
. His authority extended over all of southern Xinjiang, and he commanded several hundred Hui and Han Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
soldiers. Brigadier General Yang and Colonel Chin served under him. He was loyal to the Chinese government, and a Muslim.
Ma Shaowu had replaced the fellow Hui Ma Fuxing
Ma Fuxing
Ma Fuxing was a Hui born in Yunnan, in Qing dynasty China. He was an ex-convict. During Yang Zengxin's reign in Xinjiang, Ma was appointed as a military commander, and then Titai of Kashgar....
as Daotai, after shooting him on Yang Zengxin
Yang Zengxin
Yang Zengxin , born in Mengzi, Honghe, Yunnan in 1859, was the ruler of Xinjiang after the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 until his assassination in 1928.-Life:...
's orders.
Ma enforced anti Soviet measures and preserved Chinese sovereignty in Xinjiang, when the Soviet Union tried to encroach on Chinese territory. He jailed a Uighur called Akbar Ali, who was employed by the Soviet consulate, for setting off a Uighur riot. The Uighurs were suppressed by 400 Hui
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
troops.
In 1932, Ma crushed a Kirghiz revolt led by Id Mirab
Id Mirab
Id Mirab was a Kirghiz leader who revolted against the government of Xinjiang in 1932 in the Kirghiz rebellion in the Tien Shan mountains. He was defeated....
, and jailed several Kirghiz fighters including Osman Ali.
When Ma Zhongying
Ma Zhongying
Ma Zhongying, also Ma Chung-ying was a Tungan Chinese Muslim warlord during the Warlord era of China. Ma Zhongying's birth name was Ma Buying . Zhongying was a warlord of Gansu province in China during the 1930s. He allied himself with the Kuomintang, which gave his soldiers an official...
invaded the province in 1932, Ma Shaowu, himself a Hui Muslim, commanded predominantly Han Chinese troops against the anti provincial Uighur and Hui forces. He steadily lost control over southern Xinjiang, despite Jin Shuren appointing him as commander in Chief of all Chinese forces in the area, and was panicking, Ma Shaowu sent Han Chinese troops to Khotan and Maral Bashi to fight against the anti provincial forces, he withdrew Chinese troops from Sarikol to Kashgar to reinforce the garrison, and raised levies of Kirghiz.
Ma faced an army of Uighurs and Hui from Gansu under the command of Timur Beg
Timur Beg
Timur Beg , or Timur Sijan was a Uighur rebel military leader in Xinjiang in 1933. He was involved in the 1933 Battle of Kashgar and participated before in Turpan Rebellion . He associated with the Turkic nationalist Young Kashgar Party and appointed himself as 'Timur Shah'. He and other Uighurs...
and Ma Zhancang
Ma Zhancang
Ma Zhancang was a Chinese muslim general of the 36th Division , who served under Generals Ma Zhongying and Ma Hushan. At the Battle of Kashgar , he repulsed an attack of Uighurs led by the Syrian Arab Tawfiq Bay, wounding Tawfiq...
, when Ma Zhancang defected to Ma Shaowu after conducting negotiations, and shot and beheaded Timur Beg. Ma Shaowu commanded a Han Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
garrison, his subordinates included Brigadier General Yang and Colonel Chin. Then all of the Hui Muslim and Han Chinese gathered together and holed up in the yamen
Yamen
A yamen is any local bureaucrat's, or mandarin's, office and residence of the Chinese Empire. The term has been widely used in China for centuries, but appeared in English during the Qing Dynasty....
, while the Turkic Muslims, the Kirghiz and Uighurs besieged them. At the Battle of Kashgar (1933)
Battle of Kashgar (1933)
In the 1933 Battle of Kashgar, General Ma Zhancang signed a secret agreement with the daotai of Kashgar, Ma Shaowu, and his Chinese Muslim troops joined the Han Chinese garrison inside the yamen in Kashgar and helped them repulse Uighur and Kirghiz attacks led by Abdullah Bughra. Timur Beg's Turkic...
the Turkic armies were defeated. During this time Ma Shaowu resigned as Tao-yin of Kashgar. When the independence of the First East Turkestan Republic
First East Turkestan Republic
The First Eastern Turkestan Republic , or Turkish Islamic Republic of East Turkestan , or, Republic of Uyghurstan, was a short-lived breakaway would-be Islamic republic founded in 1933...
was declared, the following year, at the Battle of Kashgar (1934)
Battle of Kashgar (1934)
The Battle of Kashgar was a military confrontation that took place in 1934 during the Xinjiang Wars. Turkic Muslim Uighur and Kirghiz fighters under Emir Abdullah Bughra and the other Turkic separatists began four separate attacks over a six-day period on Hui and Han Chinese soldiers led by General...
Ma Zhancang and Ma Fuyuan destroyed the Turkic army, massacring over 2,000 Uighurs and attacking the British consulate. Ma Fuyuan and Ma Zhancang then reinstated Ma Shaowu as Tao-yin of Kashgar. In 1934, Ma Shaowu was seriously injured in an assassination attempt ordered by Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai was a Chinese warlord who "ruled" Xinjiang province from April 12, 1933 to August 29, 1944....
. Ma was sent to the Soviet Union for treatment, and recovered but on crutches.
He was walking with his son and wife when the assassination attempt happened. The child was unhurt, the wife slightly wounded, and even though Ma was shot in the legs, he dragged himself into a maize] field. He got home on a donkey, a doctor was summoned, and by the end of summer he was convalescing. Nobody was apprehended by the police for the attack. Two of his fingers were lost.
Ma was interviewed by the traveler Peter Fleming in 1936, shortly after the assassination attempt. Peter also visited the site of assassination where bloodstains were present. He wore a long beige silk robe, had a spittoon
Spittoon
A spittoon is a receptacle made for spitting into, especially by users of chewing and dipping tobacco. It is also known as a cuspidor , although that term is also used for a type of spitting sink used in dentistry."Spittoon" can also be slang American English...
and spoke in precise Peking speech. His son's name was Cho-ya. He was then sent to Moscow in the Soviet Union to complete medical treatment. He did not give direct answers, replying through a translator that "I lost my post when, as a result of the troubles, China lost her authority in Kashgar", referring to when he had to resign as taotai. After being sent to Moscow by train, he returned to Ürümqi
Ürümqi
Ürümqi , formerly Tihwa , is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country....
in 1936. In 1937, during the Xinjiang War (1937)
Xinjiang War (1937)
In 1937, an Islamic rebellion broke out in southern Xinjiang. The rebels were 1,500 Uighurs and Tungans led by Kichik Akhund, against the pro-Soviet provincial forces of Sheng Shicai.- Start of rebellion :...
, Ma Shaowu was accused by the Soviet puppet Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai was a Chinese warlord who "ruled" Xinjiang province from April 12, 1933 to August 29, 1944....
of being part of a "Fascist-Trotskyite" network, including Khoja Niyas Hajji, Ma Hushan
Ma Hushan
Ma Hu-shan was the half-brother and follower of Ma Chung-ying, a Ma Clique warlord. He ruled over an area of southern Xinjiang, nicknamed Tunganistan by westerners from 1934 to 1937.-Tunganistan:...
, along with other totally ridiculous claims, which Sheng Shicai used as an excuse to conduct his own purge in Xinjiang along with Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
.
Ma Shaowu was killed on Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai was a Chinese warlord who "ruled" Xinjiang province from April 12, 1933 to August 29, 1944....
's orders.
Legacy
Ma Shaowu’s son and daughter-in-law currently reside in Ürümchi, and his son stated that in 2006 that a biography of Ma Shaowu was currently being compiled in Kashgar.See also
- Xinjiang cliqueXinjiang cliqueThe Xinjiang clique was a military faction that ruled Xinjiang during China's warlord era. Unlike other cliques, its leaders were from outside the province....
- Ma cliqueMa cliqueThe Ma clique or Ma family warlords is a collective name for a group of Muslim warlords in Northwestern China who ruled the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia from the 1910s until 1949. There were 3 families in the Ma clique , each of them respectively controlled 3 areas, Gansu,...
- Yang ZengxinYang ZengxinYang Zengxin , born in Mengzi, Honghe, Yunnan in 1859, was the ruler of Xinjiang after the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 until his assassination in 1928.-Life:...
- KashgarKashgarKashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
- YunnanYunnanYunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
- JahriyyaJahriyyaJahriyya is a Sufi order in China that once existed in Persia and the Turkish World. Founded by Hadrat Abu Yaqub Yusuf Hamdani, it was brought to China in the 1760s by Ma Mingxin...