Ma Qi - Republican Times

Republican Times

Ma Qi formed the Ninghai Army in Qinghai in 1915.

Ma Qi occupied Labrang monastery in 1917, the first time non Tibetans had seized it.

After ethnic rioting between Muslims and Tibetans emerged in 1918, Ma Qi defeated the Tibetans. He heavily taxed the town for 8 years. In 1925, a Tibetan rebellion broke out, with thousands of Tibetans driving out the Muslims. Ma Qi responded with 3,000 Chinese Muslim troops, who retook Labrang and machine gunned thousands of Tibetan monks as they tried to flee. Ma Qi besieged Labrang numerous times, the Tibetans and Mongols fought against his Muslim forces for control of Labrang, until Ma Qi gave it up in 1927.

Ma Qi defeated the Tibetan forces with his Muslim troops. His forces were praised by foreigners who traveled through Qinghai for their fighting abilities.

However, that was not the last Labrang saw of General Ma. Ma Qi launched a genocidal war against the Tibetan Ngoloks, in 1928, inflicting a defeat upon them and seizing the Labrang Buddhist monastery.

After the founding of the Republic he was governor of Qinghai from 1915 to 1928 and the first chairman of the government of Qinghai from 1929 to 1931. After Chiang Kai-shek gained control nationwide, he became a brigade commander, and then was promoted to commander of the 26th Division of the National Revolutionary Army in the northwestern region. His civil posts also included director of the Gansu Bureau of Construction. Ma Qi is the father of Ma Bufang and Ma Buqing, uncle of Ma Zhongying and he died on 5 August 1931, in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.