Muslim Conflict in Gansu (1927–1930)

Kuomintang Jihad in Gansu (1927-1930)
Part of Chinese Civil War
Date 1927–1930 Location Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia Status Kuomintang Victory, Guominjun Defeat
Belligerents
Republic of China Kuomintang Nationalist Party	Guominjun
Commanders and leaders
Chiang Kai-shek Ma Tingrang Ma Zhongying	Feng Yuxiang Ma Lin (warlord) Ma Bufang
Strength
National Revolutionary Army Chinese Muslims	Guominjun army, including Muslim forces

Muslim Conflict in Gansu was when a coalition of Muslim Generals broke out in revolt against the Guominjun in 1927, in favor of the Kuomintang. Prominent among the rebels was Ma Tingrang, the son of the General Ma Anliang, who received aid in the form of arms from Zhang Zuolin in Manchuria.

Causes

Famine, natural disaster, and usage of land for planting opium broke the final straw for the people of Gansu under Guominjun rule.

Two Muslim Hui Generals, Ma Tingrang and Ma Zhongying raised the flag of revolt, and attacked Guominjun forces throughout Gansu, participating in sieges of Hezhou.^[1]

The fighting was often brutal.

Throughout the revolt, some Muslim Generals like Ma Fuxiang did not join in the revolt, reminaing officially as a part of the Guominjun, and appealing for peace. At the end, Ma Fuxiang and his son Ma Hongkui defected to the Kuomintang without doing any fighting.

The Revolt

A revolt led by Ma Tingrang in the spring of 1928 broke out among the Hui people in Gansu province against the Guominjun of Feng Yuxiang.

Linxia (Hezhou) was often wracked by these frequent rebellions. The entire southern suburbs of the city (ba fang) "eight blocks" was ruined in 1928 by savage fighting between the muslims and Guominjun forces.^[2][3]

Ma Zhongying, a Hui commander led three separate attacks against Feng's forces in Hezhou, and the following year, traveled to Nanjing and pledged his allegiance to the Kuomintang, attending the Whampoa Military Academy and promoted to General.^[4] Ma Zhongying also fought against his great uncle Ma Lin (warlord), who was a Muslim General in Feng Yuxiang's army, defeating him when Ma Lin attempted to retake Hezhou.^[5]

The Kuomintang incited anti Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang sentiments among Chinese Muslims and Mongols, encouraging for them to topple their rule.^[6]

The revolt ended with all the Muslim Generals and Warlords, like Ma Qi, Ma Lin, and Ma Bufang reaffirming their allegiance to the Kuomintang government after defeating the Guominjun.

Ma Zhongying and Ma Fuxiang travelled to Nanjing to pledge alleigance to the Kuomintang and Chiang Kaishek. Ma Fuxiang was promoted, and Ma Zhongying was trained at the Whampoa Military Academy under Chiang, making secret agreements for a future invasion of Xinjiang.

By 1931 the rebellion stopped totally.^[7]

See also

• Chinese Civil War
• Central Plains War

References

1. ^ Jonathan Neaman Lipman (2004). Familiar strangers: a history of Muslims in Northwest China. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 174. ISBN 0-295-97644-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=90CN0vtxdY0C&pg=PA175&dq=ma+fuxiang+broke+with+feng&hl=en&ei=2ZGOTIfdDYHGlQeCvvDKAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=ma%20tingrang%20zhang%20guominjun%20feng&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-28. 
2. ^ American Asiatic Association (1940). Asia: journal of the American Asiatic Association, Volume 40. Asia Pub. Co.. p. 659. http://books.google.com/books?ei=0G_HTev4OoXs0gHcqomhCA&ct=result&id=y3oeAAAAMAAJ&dq=told+us+that+he+began+learning+spoken%2C+as+well+as+written%2C+Chinese+in+school+when+he+was+twelve&q=ruins+in+the+south+suburb+. Retrieved 2011-5-08. 
3. ^ Hartford Seminary Foundation (1941). The Moslem World, Volumes 31-34. Hartford Seminary Foundation. p. 180. http://books.google.com/books?ei=uBjHTbPmJ4Hz0gH96JSyCA&ct=result&id=gIBCAAAAYAAJ&dq=Indians+and+neither+are+followers+of+Jesus+considered+Jews+anywhere+in+the+world%2C+why+should+Chinese+Muslims+become+any+the+less+Chinese+%3F&q=kuominchun. Retrieved 2011-5-08. 
4. ^ Andrew D. W. Forbes (1986). Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: a political history of Republican Sinkiang 1911-1949. Cambridge, England: CUP Archive. p. 334. ISBN 0521255147. http://books.google.com/books?id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=ma+shao-wu+assassination+attempt&source=bl&ots=KzhN9YfklT&sig=A6nrgRPlzocpkI4jiKD6LLCCuhw&hl=en&ei=xL0iTKriBoSClAf-3dyHBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=ma%20lin%20ma%20chung-ying%20great-uncle&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-28. 
5. ^ Andrew D. W. Forbes (1986). Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: a political history of Republican Sinkiang 1911-1949. Cambridge, England: CUP Archive. p. 334. ISBN 0521255147. http://books.google.com/books?id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=ma+shao-wu+assassination+attempt&source=bl&ots=KzhN9YfklT&sig=A6nrgRPlzocpkI4jiKD6LLCCuhw&hl=en&ei=xL0iTKriBoSClAf-3dyHBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=ma%20lin%20ma%20chung-ying%20great-uncle&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-28. 
6. ^ Hsiao-ting Lin (2010). Modern China's Ethnic Frontiers: A Journey to the West. Taylor & Francis. p. 22. ISBN 0415582644. http://books.google.com/books?id=rsLQdBUgyMUC&dq=ma+hongkui+japanese+abolish+prince&q=hui#v=onepage&q=hui%20muslims%20outer%20mongols%20shaanxi%20shanxi&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-28. 
7. ^ Frederick Roelker Wulsin, Joseph Fletcher, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, National Geographic Society (U.S.), Peabody Museum of Salem (1979). Mary Ellen Alonso. ed. China's inner Asian frontier: photographs of the Wulsin expedition to northwest China in 1923 : from the archives of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, and the National Geographic Society (illustrated ed.). The Museum : distributed by Harvard University Press. p. 49. ISBN 0674119681. http://books.google.com/books?id=WltwAAAAMAAJ&q=Like+his+father+before+him,+Ma+Bufang+maintained+as+tight+a+control+as+possible+over+the+entire+area+of+Qinghai,+keeping+the+Tibetan+and+Mongolian+tribes+in+line.+In+1932+he+joined+forces+with+the+governor+of+Sichuan+to+reassert+Chinese&dq=Like+his+father+before+him,+Ma+Bufang+maintained+as+tight+a+control+as+possible+over+the+entire+area+of+Qinghai,+keeping+the+Tibetan+and+Mongolian+tribes+in+line.+In+1932+he+joined+forces+with+the+governor+of+Sichuan+to+reassert+Chinese&hl=en&ei=_8_lTffGIMrq0gGQw6iZCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA. Retrieved 2010-6-28.