Ma Xinyi

{{Infobox officeholder

|name=Ma Xinyi

|image=

|birth_date={{birth date|1821|11|3}}

|death_date={{death date and age|1870|8|23|1821|11|3}}

|birth_place=Heze, Shandong, Qing China

|death_place=Jiangning, Jiangsu, Qing China

|education=Jinshi degree in the Imperial Examination

|office=Viceroy of Liangjiang

|term_start=6 September 1868

|term_end=23 August 1870

|predecessor=Zeng Guofan

|successor=Zeng Guofan

|office1=Viceroy of Min-Zhe

|term_start1=12 January 1868

|term_end1=6 September 1868

|predecessor1=Wu Tang

|successor1=Yin Gui

}}

Ma Xinyi (Xiao'erjing: {{lang|zh-Arab|ﻣَﺎ سٍ ىِ}}, {{zh|s=马新贻|t=馬新貽|p=Mǎ Xīnyí|w=Ma Hsin-I|first=t}}; November 3, 1821–August 23, 1870), courtesy name Gushan (穀山), art names Yanmen (燕門) and Tiefang (鐵舫), posthumous name Duanmin (端敏), was an ethnic Hui{{cite book|author=Hosea Ballou Morse|title=The International Relations of the Chinese Empire|url=https://archive.org/details/internationalre00morsgoog|quote=tseng kwo-fan supersession by the mohammedan ma sin yi.|year=1918|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Company|pages=[https://archive.org/details/internationalre00morsgoog/page/n317 249]–}}{{cite book|author=Hosea Ballou Morse|title=The period of submission, 1861-1893|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DGrTAAAAMAAJ&q=tseng+kwo-fan+supersession+by+the+mohammedan+ma+sin+yi|year=1966|publisher=Wen xing shu dian|page=249}} official and military general of the Qing dynasty of China.

Along with other prominent figures, including Hu Linyi and Guanwen, Ma raised the Green Standard Army to fight against the Taiping Rebellion and restore the stability of Qing dynasty. This set the scene for the era later known as the Tongzhi Restoration. His assassination symbolized the serious conflict between the Xiang Army and the Green Standard Army, both of which fought for the Qing dynasty.

Early life

Born as a native of Heze, Shandong ({{lang|zh|荷澤}}) in 1821, he had successfully passed the imperial examinations at the age of 26 (1847), a prestigious achievement in China. He earned the Jinshi degree, the highest level in the civil service examinations, which led to his appointment to the Hanlin Academy, a body of outstanding Chinese literary scholars who performed literary tasks for the imperial court.

Assassination

Ma Xinyi was later appointed as the governor-general of Liangjiang, a region comprising the provinces of Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu in 1868. He proved to be an able administrator, distinguishing himself with his capability to manage tensions with foreigners. This was demonstrated when Ma Xinyi addressed the problem of kidnapping in his area, which effectively averted anti-foreign riots, particularly in the area of the Yangzi delta.{{Cite book|title=Sold People: Traffickers and Family Life in North China|last=Ransmeier|first=Johanna|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2017|isbn=9780674971974|location=Cambridge, MA|pages=68}}

Two years later, in 1870, Ma Xinyi was assassinated and his killer was immediately caught. The assassin was identified as Wan Qingxuan (Zhang Wenxiang), who was executed in the marketplace after a trial presided by Wan Qingxuan of Nanchang.{{Cite book|title=The World of a Tiny Insect: A Memoir of the Taiping Rebellion and Its Aftermath|last=Daye|first=Zhang|publisher=University of Washington Press|year=2013|isbn=9780295993171|location=Seattle, WA|pages=115}} Some sources state that he was the governor's former companion.{{Cite book|title=East Asian Cinema and Cultural Heritage: From China, Hong Kong, Taiwan to Japan and South Korea|last=Yau Shuk-ting|first=Kinnia|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2011|isbn=9780230116955|location=New York|pages=13}} Many historical rumours implicated the Empress Dowager Cixi in Ma Xinyi's death. This is aligned with the speculation that Ma Xinyi's assassination was due to the conflict between the imperial army and the Xiang militia, the group that played an important role in the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion.

References

{{cite ECCP|title=Ma Hsin-i}}
Porter, Jonathan. Tseng Kuo-Fan's Private Bureaucracy. Berkeley: University of California, 1972.
Wright, Mary Clabaugh. The Last Stand of Chinese Conservatism: The T'ung-Chih Restoration, 1862 -1874. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1957.

{{succession box|title=Viceroy of MinZhe|before=Wu Tang|after=Yinggui|years=1867–1868}}

{{succession box|title=Viceroy of Liangjiang|before=Zeng Guofan|after=Zeng Guofan|years=1868–1870}}

Category:1821 births

Category:1870 deaths

Category:19th-century Chinese people

Category:Assassinated Chinese military personnel

Category:Assassinated Chinese politicians

Category:Chinese Muslims

Category:Generals from Shandong

Category:Hui people

Category:Members of the Green Standard Army

Category:People murdered in China