Chin Hou-hsiu

Qin Houxiu was born on the first day of the tenth lunar month in 1922, at the Qin family mansion in Shuangjing Village, Fengmuqiao Township, Ningxiang County, Changsha, Hunan. The Qin family is a prominent local aristocratic lineage, with ancestors who were jinshi ( presented at imperial examinations) during the Qing Dynasty. Qin Houxiu’s father was Qin Zhuo, who studied at Yuelu Academy and later enrolled in the Department of Railway Engineering at Shanghai Nanyang University (now Shanghai Jiao Tong University). He joined the Kuomintang. His family background was distinguished, with relatives including the niece of noble military family member Liu Dian. Qin Houxiu had three siblings, totaling four children in the family: eldest brother Qin Canshi, an expert in cotton breeding at Shandong Cotton Research Center and a delegate to the 7th, 8th, and 9th National People's Congress; younger sister Qin Bingxi, a teacher at Changsha No. 10 Middle School; and younger brother Qin Xiaopei, who worked in the non-ferrous metals industry at the Inner Mongolia Department of Metallurgical Industry.

Although family members were scattered across different regions, they often expressed their feelings through poetry, calligraphy, and painting. In 2005, these were compiled into the "Huaihai Echoes Calligraphy and Painting Collection." From a young age, Qin Houxiu received a good education. In 1930, she moved with her father to Changsha, initially attending Zhounan Girls’ School in Hunan and later passing the entrance exam to Changsha Provincial Girls’ Middle School. After graduating from high school, she returned to Ningxiang and served as an instructor in the Anti-Japanese Civilian Training Regiment organized by the famous Anti-Japanese general Zhang Zizhong.

During the Anti-Japanese War, in 1941, Qin Houxiu went to Chongqing to study at the National Chengchi University’s Department of Economics. In Chongqing, she met fellow Hunanese Ma Heling, and the two were married on August 20, 1944. One year after their wedding, both completed their university studies, and her husband Ma Heling quickly gained family approval. Between 1945 and 1952, amid wartime turmoil, Qin Houxiu accompanied her husband three times to Taiwan, traveling through various routes, eventually settling there. She lived in Taipei, enduring some hardships initially, but as her family’s situation improved, they moved to an apartment on Fuxing Bridge in Taipei.

While in Taiwan, Qin Houxiu worked at the General Political Department of the Ministry of National Defense. She was later promoted to a member and officer of the Shimen Reservoir Construction Committee. She managed her household affairs independently. She gave up political ambitions to focus entirely on her children’s education, especially nurturing Ma Ying-jeou, adopting a strict but meticulous approach. In family education, she emphasized classical Chinese culture, often teaching her children using classical texts such as the "Zuo Zhuan" to demonstrate moral character.

Throughout her life, Qin Houxiu upheld values of thrift and pragmatism as family principles. She loved household chores and maintained a simple lifestyle. In recent years, even over 70, she continued to rise early daily to organize family chores. On April 2, 2014, she passed away at Wanfang Hospital in Taipei due to acute infection caused by chronic pulmonary tumors, at the age of 92. Her aftercare was simple and modest, without any formal funeral or public memorial, reflecting her consistent life attitude.