Ma Hongkui - Reign Over Ningxia

Reign Over Ningxia

Ma Hongkui was extremely brutal in his reign, executions average one a day, he started his reign by decapitating 300 bandits when he was appointed Governor in 1932. The other Muslim Governor Ma Bufang was reported to be good humoured and jovial in contrast to the brutal reign of Ma Hongkui. He was called a warlord by westerners.

Ma Hongkui stood out from the other provincial Governors in the degree of his strong rule over Ningxia.

Ma Hongkui, like the President of China, Chiang Kaishek, was virurently anti communist. Whenever communists turned up in his territory they invariably ended up dead.

Ma was also credited with many achievements during his reign. His brutal method of governing managed to stamp out corruption among officials, and he was never pleased with results. He constantly drilled his peasant Muslim army in combat, who were armed with swords, spears, and rifles. His standing army consisted of 100,000, countries provided reserves of each 10,000, and he also set the draft age from 15 to 55 years old, up from 18 to 25 years old.

The Tibetans and Ma were unfriendly to each other. When the communists were closing in on Ma Hongkui, he risked being trapped between the Tibetan and Communist enemies.

Ma Hongkui's government had a company, Fu Ning Company, which had a monopoly over commercial and industry in Ningxia.