Ma Shouhua

Ma Shouhua (1893 - December 28, 1977), also known by the courtesy name Muxuan, the pen name Xiaojing, and self-proclaimed as the owner of Xiaojing Studio. He was a native of Guoyang, Anhui Province, and was a Chinese painter,calligrapher, jurist, and one of the initiators of the China Democratic Promotion Association (CDPA) in the Republic of China.孙继武编纂，马寿华先生年谱 一八九三－一九七七，载 马寿华先生藏书暨文献捐赠目录，国家图书馆，1986年
==Life and Political career==
Ma Shouhua was born in 1893 in Guoyang County, Anhui Province. In 1898, he enrolled in a private school. In 1906, along with his cousin Ma Shounan, he traveled to Beijing for further studies and gained admission to the Anhui Provincial School at Houshun Park in Beijing. In the third year of the Xuantong reign (1911), he graduated from the Henan School of Law and Politics. In 1915, he was appointed as a prosecutor in the Henan Higher Procuratorate. In 1921, he became a supervising prosecutor in the First Higher Procuratorial Division of Henan. In 1922, he was appointed as the chief presiding officer (equivalent to the head) of the First Higher Trial Division of Shanxi, later transferring to become the chief of the Han Kou Local Inspection Bureau. In the winter of 1926, Ma Shouhua resigned from his position after the Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army captured Wuchang and Han Kou.
In 1927, Ma Shouhua assumed the position of Director of the General Affairs Department in the Judicial Administration Bureau of the National Government in Nanjing, with Wei Daoming serving as the Minister. In 1930, when Wei Daoming was appointed as the mayor of Nanjing, Ma Shouhua became the Secretary-General of the Special Municipality Government of Nanjing. Starting from 1932, Ma Shouhua worked as a practicing lawyer in Shanghai. During this period, he had frequent interactions with literati proficient in calligraphy, painting, poetry, and lyrics, such as Xu Qiufan, Xia Jingguan, and Li Shizeng. 
In 1943, when Japanese forces occupied Shanghai, Ma Shouhua rarely left his home. He maintained contact only with Shanghai-based calligraphers, painters, and old friends like Xia Jingguan, Feng Chaoran, Shen Qiquan, and Huang Bin Hong, dedicating himself to the study of calligraphy and painting. On December 30, 1945, Ma Shouhua participated in the founding of the China Democratic Promotion Association (CDPA), which was formally established at the China Scientific Society on Aimayu Xian Road in Shanghai. From then on, the CDPA emerged on the political stage in China and played a significant role. The inaugural assembly of the CDPA was attended by 26 individuals, including Ma Xulun, Wang Shaogou, Zhou Jianren, Lin Handa, Xu Boxin, Lei Jieqiong, Zhao Puchu, Ke Ling, Chen Sisheng, Xie Renbing, Li Pingxin, Zhang Jiyuan, Yan Jingyao, Mei Dajun, Chen Hui, Mi Yiqun, Xu Xiangren, Xu Che, Cao Liangxia, Feng Shaoshan, Liu Dajie, Wan Jingguang, Hu Guocheng, Zhang Chanhua, Li Xuanbo, and Ma Muxuan (Ma Shouhua).
==Life in taiwan==
Ma Shouhua arrived in Taiwan in 1947. In the same year, Wei Daoming became the Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government and appointed Ma Shouhua as a member of the Taiwan Provincial Government. In 1948, Chen Cheng succeeded as the Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government, and Ma Shouhua continued to serve as a member of the Taiwan Provincial Government. He also temporarily acted as the Director of the Finance Department of the Taiwan Provincial Government when the incumbent, Yan Jiagan, went to the central government for US aid. Subsequently, Chen Cheng urged Ma Shouhua to take over as the Chairman of the Taiwan Land Bank, a position which he accepted. In 1951, Ma Shouhua became the Secretary-General of the Judicial Yuan. From 1952 to 1965, he served as the President of the Administrative Litigation Court. In 1965, he assumed the role of the Chairman of the Civil Service Disciplinary Committee.
In 1973, in response to the government's policy of allowing elderly civil servants to retire as usual, Ma Shouhua voluntarily resigned from his position as Chairman of the Civil Service Disciplinary Committee. On July 19, 1973, his resignation was approved, and he applied for retirement. On December 28, 1977, Ma Shouhua passed away suddenly due to a heart attack in Taipei at the age of 85.
==Artistic career==
Ma Shouhua was born into a scholarly family and was immersed in traditional culture from a young age. He had a fondness for Chinese painting, calligraphy, Peking opera, and excelled in landscape, bird-and-flower painting, and finger-painting. He was particularly skilled in ink bamboo, and many of his works are now held in the collections of the National Palace Museum and the National Museum of History. Even while holding official positions, Ma Shouhua continued to create art and personally participated in and promoted artistic activities. 
Upon his arrival in Taiwan in 1947, Ma Shouhua actively participated in various art exhibitions across the province from 1948 to 1965. He also served as a juror for the Chinese painting section of these exhibitions. In 1950, he held a solo exhibition at the Zhongshan Hall in Taipei. 
In early 1954, the American Steuben Glass Company selected Ma Shouhua's ink bamboo painting A Standout Among the Rest and engraved it onto a crystal vase. When it was exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., it received praise from former U.S. President Eisenhower. The U.S. government presented this crystal artwork to the government of the Republic of China, and it is now housed in the National Museum of History. On July 2 of the same year, Ma Shouhua held a solo exhibition of his paintings and calligraphy at the Art Institute of Chicago in the United States.
In 1955, Ma Shouhua, along with fellow artists Chen Fang, Tao Yunlou, Zheng Manqing, Liu Yantao, Gao Yihong, and Zhang Gunian, founded the "Seven Friends Painting Society" and held their inaugural exhibition in 1958. These seven artists had all come to Taiwan in the post-1940s period, forming a gathering of renowned traditional Chinese literati painters at the time. Some of them even served as painting and calligraphy teachers for figures like Soong Mei-ling and Chiang Kai-shek. Ma Shouhua was also the teacher of Xu Wenbo, the wife of Zhang Daqian. In 1957, Ma Shouhua participated in the World Amateur Artists Exhibition organized by the Asahi Shimbun in Japan. That same year, he was appointed as a member of the Committee on Aesthetic Education of the Ministry of Education and elected as a member of the Second Session of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO.
In 1959, upon the invitation of the National Palace Museum, Ma Shouhua participated in the 5th The São Paulo Art Biennial irnational Art Exhibition held at the Modern Art Museum of São Paulo in Brazil. He also served as a judge for the exhibited works in that session. In 1964, he was appointed as a director of the Joint Board of the National Central Museum. In 1965, he became a member of the Management Committee of the National Palace Museum. In 1966, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Institute of Calligraphy Studies at the Academia Sinica and, the following year, he was invited to participate in a Chinese and Japanese celebrity calligraphy exhibition. In 1970, he was elected as the Chairman of the Chinese Artists Association and served in that capacity until 1977.
Category:1893 births
Category:Chinese people
Category:Painters
Category:Calligraphers
Category:Jurists
Category:1977 deaths