Policies Ma Bufang

1 policies

1.1 military
1.2 nationalism
1.3 socialism , industrialization
1.4 environment , infrastructure
1.5 education , women s rights
1.6 patron of arts
1.7 treatment of minorities

1.7.1 tibetans
1.7.2 religion

policies
military

ma bufang recruited many salar officers, such han yimu , general han youwen army; came xunhua county.

ma bufang s regime centered on support of fanatically disciplined , obedient chinese muslims . after took on governor, turned civilian governing. son handed ma bufang s former role authority on army.

nationalism

ma bufang presented himself chinese nationalist people of china, fighting against british imperialism, deflect criticism opponents government feudal , oppressed minorities tibetans , buddhist mongols. used chinese nationalist card advantage keep himself in power noted author erden. kuomintang party officially anti-feudal, , kuomintang claimed revolutionary party of people, being accused of feudalism serious insult. chiang kai-shek, leader of kuomintang, spoke out publicly against feudalism , feudal warlords. ma bufang forced defend himself against accusations, , stated news media army part of national army, people s power .

socialism , industrialization

ma bufang described socialist american journalist john roderick , friendly compared other ma clique warlords. ma bufang reported humoured , jovial in contrast brutal reign of ma hongkui.

most of eastern china ravaged second sino-japanese war. in contrast, during chinese civil war qinghai relatively untouched.

an american scholar, a. doak barnett, praised ma bufang s government as: 1 of efficient in china, , 1 of energetic. while of china bogged down, inevitably, civil war, chinghai attempting carry our small-scale, nevertheless ambitious, development , reconstruction schemes on own initiative .

general ma started state run , controlled industrialization project, directly creating educational, medical, agricultural, , sanitation projects, run or assisted state. state provided money food , uniforms in schools, state run or private. roads , theater constructed. state controlled press; no freedom allowed independent journalists. regime dictatoiral in political system. barnett admitted regime had sterm authoritarianism , little room personal freedom .

in 1947 america sold ma bufang piped water (sewage) system installed in xining.

like other kuomintang members, ma bufang anti-communist.

ma regarded modernizer , reformer during rule on qinghai.

environment , infrastructure

ma enforced strict reforestation program environment. villagers required meet quota tree planting after being supplied saplings , instructions; cutting down tree without permission led execution. millions of trees planted in qinghai during rule, , built irrigation system in addition roads. around 1.5 million people lived in qinghai under ma bufang. obsessed preventing soil erosion , tree planting, saying: salvation of our desert in tree . had education teams teach entire population role of trees in protecting environment.

education , women s rights

ma bufang promoted education. made businessmen methodically clean xining, capital of qinghai, serving insect exterminators, killing flies, , neatly disposing of them.

ma bufang , wife built school muslim girls in linxia provided modern secular education.

patron of arts

ma bufang sent chinese artist zhang daqian sku bum seek helpers analyze , copy dunhuang buddhist art. ma bufang patronized folk songwriter wang luobin, wrote famous folk song in place wholly faraway in qinghai while shooting film @ ma s invitation. ma bufang later rescued wang luobin prison , employed him on staff. wang composed war horse song cavalry division ma bufang sent fight japanese invaders march of chinese muslims.

treatment of minorities

republic of china chinese muslim generals ma bufang (left) , brother ma buqing (right). both members of kuomintang.

author kevin stuart claimed mongour reported have been abused kmt officials under ma bufang. however, there no evidence support these claims.

ma cooperated panchen lama against dalai lama s regime in tibet. panchen lama stayed in qinghai. ma tried persuade him come kuomintang government taiwan when communist victory imminent, panchen lama decided defect communists instead. panchen lama, unlike dalai lama, sought exert control in decision making. in addition, kuomintang expanded lhasa regime of dalai lama.

closer communist takeover, ma bufang tried rally tibetan , mongol militia @ kokonuur lake. mongol official, wang benba, derailed attempt, urging them not fight, saying communist victory inevitable.

tibetans

tibetan independence groups allege , accuse ma bufang of carrying out sinicization policies in tibetan areas: said have forced tibetans intermarry, , change religious beliefs. spread , popularized holidays such chinese new year.

since qinghai (amdo) under ma s rule, 14th dalai lama , family spoke chinese native language, not knowing tibetan until 1939 when relocated home lhasa.

ma bufang eliminated slavery , lordship among mongols , tibetans. book mongols @ china s edge: history , politics of national unity, author, uradyn erden bulag wrote: “in past, mongols , tibetans divided lords , slaves, 2 chairmen [ma qi , ma bufang], insisting on principle of equality of nationalities in our country, corrected absurdity , astutely reformed it.”

religion

the new yihewani (ikhwan) sect patronized , backed ma lin , ma bufang modernize society, education, , reform old traditions. ma bufang kept religious affairs , clerics separate state , civil affairs; religion concerned education, morality, , other non-administrative matters.

the yihewani sect modernist, identifying chinese culture , politics, whereas salafi muslims stressed non-political, and, termed original form of islam. in 1937, when salafi formally split yihewani muslim brotherhood, ma bufang persecuted them heterodox , foreign . salafis not allowed move or worship openly. general ma suppressed non-yihewani groups, including traditional sunni gedimu, oldest sect of islam in china, enforcing yihewani imams on them. however, when communist party took over, gedimu used communist party s rules on freedom of religion ward off yihewani practices , imams.

in contrast treatment of salafis, general ma allowed polytheists worship openly, , christian missionaries station in qinghai. general ma, , other high-ranking muslim generals, attended kokonuur lake ceremony god of lake worshipped. during ritual, chinese national anthem sung. participants bowed portrait of kuomintang party founder dr. sun zhongshan, , god of lake, , offerings given him participants, included muslims. ma bufang invited kazakh muslims attend ceremony honoring god. received audiences of christian missionaries, gave him gospel. son ma jiyuan received silver cup christian missionaries.