Ninghai Army

The Ninghai Army, later the 26th Division (National Revolutionary Army) was a Muslim Hui army of the Republic of China commanded by General Ma Qi, who controlled the Xining area of Qinghai, then a special region of Gansu province. It was founded by Ma Qi in 1915.

Ninghai Army (1915–1926) renamed as 26th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
Active1915–1926 1926–1931
CountryRepublic of China
AllegianceRepublic of China
BranchIndependent unit then incorporated into the National Revolutionary Army
SizeDivision
Garrison/HQXining, Qinghai
Equipmentrifles, swords, machine guns
EngagementsKuomintang Pacification of Qinghai
Commanders
Ceremonial chiefMa Qi
Notable
commanders		Ma Qi, Ma Buqing, Ma Bufang
Ninghai Army
Traditional Chinese寧海軍
Simplified Chinese宁海军

Composition and history

The Ninghai Army was made up of Hui Muslims.[1] The name "Ninghai" was applied to the armies of the Republic of China around the region of Ningxia-Qinghai.[2]

Ma Qi led the Ninghai Army in November 1918 to seize and garrison Labrang monastery from the Tibetans.[3] It left in 1927.[4]

The Tibetan Golok people, owing allegiance to Labrang, attacked the Muslim Ninghai Army several times. The Chinese had never been able to control the Goloks before. However, this time, the Muslim Ninghai Army brought their modernized weapons, and exterminated a group of Goloks. The Muslim army then called for negotiations, during which they slaughtered the Goloks, killing "men, women and children", and drowned thousands of them in the Yellow River. A Christian missionary praised the Muslim army for exterminating the Goloks, saying that it was "God", who enabled the Muslim victory. After Tibetans attacked the Ninghai Muslim army in 1922 and 1923, the Ninghai army returned in 1924 and crushed the Tibetans, killing numerous Tibetans.[5]

At Ganjia and Serchentang, General Ma Bufang defeated Tibetans under Gonpo Dondrup on 27 June 1924 and 25–27 April 1925. The Tibetans suffered severe casualties.[6]

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.[7][8]

When Ma Qi joined the Kuomintang, the Ninghai army was reorganized into the National Revolutionary Army 26th Division, under Ma Qi's command.

Wei Fu-chih was born in Kao-lan district in Gansu in 1895, his alma mater was Paoting Military Officers' College, and among the positions he held was battalion commander in artillery corps of the Ninghai Army.[9][10][11]

Notable people

List of people who served in the Ninghai Army

See also

References
  1. Paul Kocot Nietupski (1999). Labrang: a Tibetan Buddhist monastery at the crossroads of four civilizations. Snow Lion Publications. p. 10. ISBN 1-55939-090-5.
  2. Paul Kocot Nietupski (1999). Labrang: a Tibetan Buddhist monastery at the crossroads of four civilizations. Snow Lion Publications. p. 25. ISBN 1-55939-090-5.
  3. Paul Kocot Nietupski (1999). Labrang: a Tibetan Buddhist monastery at the crossroads of four civilizations. Snow Lion Publications. p. 85. ISBN 1-55939-090-5.
  4. Hsiao-ting Lin (2010). Modern China's Ethnic Frontiers: A Journey to the West. Taylor & Francis. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-415-58264-3.
  5. Paul Kocot Nietupski (1999). Labrang: a Tibetan Buddhist monastery at the crossroads of four civilizations. Snow Lion Publications. p. 86. ISBN 1-55939-090-5.
  6. Nietupski, Paul K (2009). "The Fourth Belmang: Bodhisattva, Estate Lord, Tibetan Militia Leader, and Chinese Government Official". John Carroll University, Asian Highlands Perspectives. p. 191.
  7. James Tyson, Ann Tyson (1995). Chinese awakenings: life stories from the unofficial China. Westview Press. p. 123. ISBN 0-8133-2473-4.(Note, the google book link has gone haywire, but you should still be directed to page 123 when you go to the link, where you should see the paragraph the reference is from)
  8. Paul Kocot Nietupski (1999). Labrang: a Tibetan Buddhist monastery at the crossroads of four civilizations. Snow Lion Publications. p. 87. ISBN 1-55939-090-5.
  9. The China monthly review, Volume 57. J.W. Powell. 1931. p. 158.
  10. Jerome Cavanaugh, Chinese Materials Center (1982). Who's who in China, 1918–1950: 1931–1950. Chinese Materials Center. p. 115.
  11. Who's who in China (Biographies of Chinese). 1973. p. 115.
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