Ma Xiangbo

{{Short description|Chinese Jesuit priest, educator, founder of several universities}}

{{Infobox Christian leader

| type = priest

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Ma Xiangbo

| honorific-suffix = SJ

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| image = Ma Xiangbo.jpg

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| native_name = Ma Liang

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| ordination = 1870

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| rank = Priest

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1840|04|07|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Dantu, Jiangsu, Qing dynasty

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1939|11|04|1840|04|07|df=yes}}

| death_place = Lang Son, Tonkin, Indochinese Union

| buried = Lang Son 1939-1952, Shanghai 1952

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| nationality = Chinese

| religion = Roman Catholic

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| alma_mater = Collège Saint-Ignace, Shanghai

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{{Chinese

| order = ts

| t = 馬相伯

| s = 马相伯

| p = Mǎ Xiàngbó

| w = Ma3 Hsiang4-po2

}}

File:Statue of Ma Xiang Bo, former principal of Xuhui High School.JPG]]

Ma Xiangbo ({{Zh|first=t|t=馬相伯|s=马相伯|p=Mǎ Xiàngbó|w=Ma3 Hsiang4-po2}}; April 7, 1840 – November 4, 1939) was a Chinese former Jesuit priest, scholar and educator in late-Qing and early-Republican China. He was one of the founders of Aurora University, Fu Jen Catholic University and Fudan University.{{cite book|last=Wiest|first=Jean-Paul|editor=Carol Lee Hamrin|title=Salt and Light, Volume 2: More Lives of Faith That Shaped Modern China|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ikpMAwAAQBAJ|year=2010|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=978-1-60608-955-2|pages=41–60|chapter=Ma Xiangbo: Pioneer of Educational Reform}}{{cite book|last=Weist|first=Jean-Paul|editor=Gerald H. Anderson|title=Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ8BFk9K0ToC&pg=PA443|year=1999|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-4680-8|pages=443–444|chapter=Ma Xiangbo}}

Ma Xiangbo's original given name was Jianchang ({{lang|zh|建常}}) but was changed to Liang ({{lang|zh|良}}). "Xiangbo" was his courtesy name. He also adopted the Catholic name Joseph.

Biography

Ma Xiangbo was born in Dantu, Jiangsu province to a prominent Catholic family. At the age of 11, he enrolled in a French Jesuit school in Shanghai, Collège Saint-Ignace (now Xuhui High School),{{cite book |last= |first= |author-link= |date=1936 |title=Who's who in China; biographies of Chinese leaders|url=https://archive.org/details/5edwhoswhoinchina00shanuoft/page/184/mode/2up |location= |publisher=Publisher Shanghai China Weekly Review |page=185 |isbn=}} where he remained first as student and later as teacher until 1870. In 1870, he was ordained priest in the Jesuit order.

Due to the French aggressions towards China, Ma would leave the priesthood in 1876 and eventually be married and have a family. In 1886/87, he visited France and eventually devoted his life to higher education.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVwaAAAAYAAJ|title=Ma Xiangbo and the Mind of Modern China 1840-1939|last=Zhu Weizheng|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|year=1996|isbn=978-1-56324-831-3|editor-last=Hayhoe|editor-first=Ruth|location=Armonk, NY|pages=13–88|chapter=Standing Between Two Worlds: Ma Xiangbo's Educational Thought and Practice|editor2=Yongling Lu}} Ma founded the following institutions of higher learning:

Aurora Academy (1903)
Fudan Public School (1905)
Fu Jen Catholic University (1925), in co-operation with Ying Lianzhi

His idea of establishing a highest body of learning was eventually realized in 1928 by his close friend, the educator Cai Yuanpei, who established the Academia Sinica.

Ma Xiangbo and his brother, Ma Jianzhong, also led significant political lives. Ma Jiangzhong was a prominent official in the Qing government and Ma Xiangbo served as a diplomat from 1881 to 1897 in various postings in Asia including Japan (Tokyo 1881, Yokohama 1892), Korea (1882-1885?), Europe (Britain and France 1886–1887) and the United States.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVwaAAAAYAAJ|title=Ma Xiangbo and the Mind of Modern China 1840-1939|last=Lu Yongling|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|year=1996|isbn=978-1-56324-831-3|editor-last=Hayhoe|editor-first=Ruth|location=Armonk, NY|pages=143–203|chapter=Statesman and Centenarian: Ma Xiangbo as Witness of China's Early Modernity|editor2=Yongling Lu}}