Ma Qixi

Ma Qixi (1857–1914; simplified Chinese: 马启西; traditional Chinese: 馬啟西; pinyin: Mǎ Qǐxī; Wade–Giles: Ma Chi-hsi， Xiao'erjing: ﻣَﺎ چِ ثِ), a Hui from Gansu, was the founder of the Xidaotang, a Chinese-Islamic school of thought.

Ma was born into the family of a Táozhōu ahong of the Beizhuang menhuan, a Sufi order. At 11 years of age, he studied with a non-Muslim who was an examination graduate at the private academy he attended. He was introduced to the senior licentiate, Fan Shengwu, whose school was at New Taozhou. Ma placed second in the Táozhōu examination and fourth in the prefectural examination in Gongchang, achieving the rank of xiucai.

He studied Neo-Confucian texts and the Han Kitab. Wang Daiyu, Ma Zhu, Liu Zhi, and others had synthesized Confucianism with Islam. Ma believed Muslims should use Chinese culture to understand Islam. He opened his own school, Gold Star Hall (Jinxing Tang) at a gongbei of his menhuan. He taught Islam, Chinese curriculum, and the Han Kitab. Ma became an independent instructor; the Khafiya Sufis called him heterodox or an infidel for his success and unconventional curriculum.

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