Ma Jiyuan
{{Short description|Chinese warlord (1921–2012)}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Ma Jiyuan
馬繼援
مَا ڭِیُوًا
| birth_date = {{birth date|1921|1|18|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|2|27|1921|1|18|df=y}}
| birth_place = Linxia County, Gansu, Republic of China
| death_place = Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| image = Ma Jiyuan.jpg
| caption = Ma Jiyuan
| nickname =
| allegiance = {{flag|Republic of China (1912–1949)|name=Republic of China}}
| serviceyears = 1939–1981
| rank = 25px Major General
| commands = General Officer Commanding 82nd Army
| battles = {{tree list}}
{{tree list/end}}
| laterwork =
}}
{{Chinese
| t = 馬繼援
| s = 马继援
| p = Mǎ Jìyuán
| w = Ma Chi-yuan
| xej = مَا ڭِیُوًا
}}
{{family name hatnote|Ma|lang=Chinese}}
File:F985680007.jpg flag in the background.]]
Ma Jiyuan (Xiao'erjing: {{lang|zh-Arab|مَا ڭِیُوًا}}, 18 January 1921 – 27 February 2012) was a Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the northwestern province of Qinghai. He was the son and only child of general Ma Bufang[http://nccur.lib.nccu.edu.tw/bitstream/140.119/33588/11/15301511.pdf 甘、寧、青三馬家族世系簡表] and commanded nationalist forces against the communists at the Heshui Campaign, Meridian Ridge Campaign, and the Lanzhou Campaign during the Chinese Civil War. Ma was 28 years old when he defeated 30,000 PLA soldiers in the Heshui campaign in 1948. He led the 82nd Cavalry Division, of which 30 percent of whom were Muslims, to charge the Communists with swords. Ma complained that the Kuomintang government was not resupplying him enough and that there was no more "revolutionary spirit". On the opposing side General Zhao Shoushan led the Communists, Zhao formerly attended the same school as Ma.{{cite news |title=MOSLEM GENERAL IS HERO IN CHINA; Young Leader Turned Back Red Threat to Sian and West -- Changchun Under Fire|newspaper=The New York Times|date=27 May 1948|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/05/27/archives/moslem-general-is-hero-in-china-young-leader-turned-back-red-threat.html|access-date=2010-11-28}}{{cite news |title=Chinese General Scores a Victory|first=Henry R.|last=Lieberman|newspaper=The Montreal Gazette|date=31 May 1948|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SewiAAAAIBAJ&pg=2034,5624105&dq=ma+pu-fang&hl=en|access-date=2010-11-28}}
He became a colonel at the age of 16 and was promoted to major general at the age of 20. He had attended the Whampoa Military Academy. Ma was given a silver cup by the Divine Word Missionaries after he came back from the northwestern front.{{cite journal|url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5858164|title=The Divine Word Missionaries in Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang, 1922–1953: A Bibliographic Note|last=Horlemann|first=Bianca |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland|year=2009|volume=19|pages=59–82|doi=10.1017/S135618630800905X|s2cid=162397522|access-date=2010-06-28|url-access=subscription}}
In May 1949, General Hu Zongnan and Ma set up a planned trap. Hu faked a retreat, then Communist General Peng Dehuai advanced with 120,000 men from Xi'an to Sichuan, but at 75 miles Hu started a pitched battle and then Ma personally led 20,000 of his cavalry forces to defeat the Communist forces and send them fleeing, and he continued to battle the Communist forces throughout July around Xi'an.{{cite news |title=Foreign News: Ma v. Marx|newspaper=Time|date=June 27, 1949|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,800450,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131040954/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,800450,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 31, 2011|access-date=April 11, 2011}}
In August 1949, Ma Bufang personally traveled by plane to the KMT government in Guangzhou in order to request supplies via airdrop, while his son Ma Jiyuan assumed command over the KMT forces at Lanzhou, who promised to defend the city from the Communists, saying "那是一定的 (Na shih yi ting ti)", meaning "That is definite" and, "Lanchow [sic] will never fall to the Communists". However, the government denied Ma Bufang's request, and he flew back to Lanzhou before abandoning the city, retreating all the way back to Xining on trucks.{{cite news |title=CHINA: The Open Door|newspaper=Time|date=Aug 29, 1949|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,854966,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131022257/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,854966,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 31, 2011|access-date=April 11, 2011}} He defended Gansu during the Lanzhou Campaign from the Communists.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iOflAAAAIAAJ&q=kazakhs+ma+pu-fang|title=China's forty millions: minority nationalities and national integration in the People's Republic of China|first=June Teufel|last=Dreyer|year=1976|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0-674-11964-9|page=84|access-date=2010-06-28}}
Ma was also married to two women and enjoyed watching American movies. His upbringing was under strict discipline; Chinese proverbs could be found posted around his HQ.{{cite news |title=Foreign News: Ma v. Marx|newspaper=Time|date=June 27, 1949|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,800450-2,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107060932/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,800450-2,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 7, 2012|access-date=April 11, 2011}}
He moved with his father to Egypt then to Saudi Arabia when his father was appointed as ambassador of the Republic of China to Saudi Arabia. In between the move he also traveled to Taiwan to advise the Ministry of National Defense and the Kuomintang.
Ma Jiyuan's passing in Mecca, on 27 February, 2012, was met with sorrow by the People's Republic of China consulate.{{cite web |url=http://jeddah.china-consulate.org/chn/xgxw/t909188.htm |title=驻吉达总领事对逝世台胞亲属表示慰问 |date= 2012-02-28 |website=Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Jeddah }}
Career
1944 General Officer Commanding 82nd Army[http://www.generals.dk/general/Ma_Jiyuan/_/China.html Ma Jiyuan]
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Ma Jiyuan}}
- 民国军阀派系谈 (The Republic of China warlord cliques discussed ) http://www.2499cn.com/junfamulu.htm
- [http://www.generals.dk/general/Ma_Jiyuan/_/China.html Ma Jiyuan]
- [http://jeddah.china-consulate.org/chn/xgxw/t909188.htm Notice of Ma Jiyuan's death] {{in lang|zh}}
{{Warlord era}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Jiyuan}}
Category:Republic of China warlords from Gansu
Category:National Revolutionary Army generals from Gansu
Category:Chinese Nationalist military figures
Category:Members of the Kuomintang