Ma Ho-ling

Ma Heling was born in November 1919, with ancestral roots in Majialong Village, Dezhen Township, Hengdong County, Hunan. His family experienced multiple migrations and upheavals. In childhood, he lost his father, Ma Li'an, and later the family relocated to Baishi Lane in Hengshan City, Hengdong County. With the help of government military and political departments, the family’s living conditions improved.

From 1935 to 1940, Ma Heling attended Yueyun Middle School in Hengshan, excelling academically and demonstrating a keen interest in sports. He served as captain of the school’s basketball, volleyball, and track teams, winning numerous championships. In his early years, he favored mathematics, physics, and chemistry, but influenced by Sun Yat-sen’s ideology, he gradually shifted toward politics.

In 1941, Ma Heling was admitted to the Central Political University in Nanjing, Chongqing, entering its eleventh session. Before graduation, in response to the call of “100,000 youth and 100,000 soldiers,” he joined the military. In 1948, he moved with his family to Taiwan, then briefly resided in Hong Kong, where he was born on July 13, 1950. In 1951, his entire family moved back to Taiwan.

In Taiwan, Ma Heling served as a bodyguard to Chiang Kai-shek and held positions in the “Save the Nation Corps” led by Chiang Ching-kuo, including Secretary of the Yangmingshan Party Committee of the Kuomintang, leaders of the Second and Third Groups of Taipei City Party Branches, design committee member, Secretary of the Central Committee, Secretary of the Youth Party Branch, and Director of Group Four of the Executive Yuan Youth Counseling Committee.

From 1981 to 1986, he served as Deputy Director of the Taipei City Party Committee of the Kuomintang, later becoming Vice Chairman of the Central Discipline and Inspection Committee, retiring in 1992. After retirement, he actively engaged in civil society activities, organizing the “中华四海同心会” (Chinese Unity Society of the Four Seas) as its director, and serving as Chairman of the Taiwan International Business and Cultural Exchange Association. He promoted the Chinese People’s Peace Conference, the safeguarding of Chinese culture, and organized multiple sessions of the World Peace Conference, advocating the theme of “Seeking everlasting world peace and true human happiness.”

Ma Heling dedicated himself to promoting the reunification of the motherland and the inheritance of Chinese culture. He repeatedly advised and provided suggestions to top leaders in mainland China, advocating for peaceful development of cross-strait relations. In 1992, he convened the first “World Chinese Peace and Construction Conference” in Taipei, which was followed by nine more conferences, creating a global Chinese exchange platform. Through correspondence and visits, he actively promoted cross-strait peace, economic cooperation, and cultural interaction.

Ma Heling passed away in Taipei on November 1, 2005, at the age of 86. Family-wise, he was married to Qin Housiu, with whom he had five children. His eldest son, Ma Ying-jeou, was born on July 13, 1950, in Hong Kong, later moving to Taiwan with the family. Despite living abroad, Ma Heling remained deeply concerned about his hometown, committed to inheriting Chinese culture, and emphasized the great potential and responsibility of the Chinese nation.