Ma of Shensi (6.0)

## Legacy of the Sian Convention

### 10 March, 1959

With the crackle of gunfire filling the streets of Sian, Ma Tun-ching needed to reckon with the fact that he had failed to force the delegates of the Convention to come to a consensus. He had attempted to repeat the bold move made by Chiang Kai-shek years prior, and now, with blood in the streets, and delegates running for the hills, he had to double down, and permanently seize Sian for his family.

### 2 January, 1995

On his 85th birthday, and nearly 35 years since the Sian Convention, Ma Tun-ching sat in his estate, overlooking the city of Sian. Reflecting on that day, and his life, Tun-ching sipped a cup of tea. That fateful day had put him in charge of Shensi Province - a post he still held to this day. With the 61st Army at his back, Shensi had been, for the most part, rid of communist incursions, and brought under the KMT banner according to the principles of the Sian Platform. He was not personally against the Platform, but he was disgruntled by the fact that he was not at the forefront. Watching over his city - the city he saw as the rightful capital of a new China, he sipped his tea, and waited.

Many factions had sprouted up in the reeds and thickets of Senshi under his rule - the 61st Army ruled the Province, but day-to-day running of the province occurred under the auspices of local city governments - many of whom held strong political and religious beliefs that Ma Tun-ching himself did not.

Several religious movements sprouted up in the uncertain present. Islamic movements sprouted up among the large Hui population in the region - which Tun-ching and the Ma families were members of - with Sian acting as a stand-in for Mecca in these troubling times. Muslims would travel from all over China - and beyond - leading to a great exchange and metamorphosis of ideas in the mosques and prayer grounds of these pilgrims.

The cities, once hotbeds of Nationalist, Republican, and Socialist movements, continued to produce ideology as ever before. So long as it did not challenge the Ma, it was permitted. Speak soft enough that you can't be heard by the Ma, and you aren't a problem. The largest movement in Sian is the Youth League. Staunch constitutionalists that blame Tun-ching for the failure of the Convention, they want a strict adherence to the Sian Program.

Inspired by their compatriots in Peking, Blue Shirt movements have begun to appear in the streets. Competing for popularity with the Youth League, the Blue Shirts lead what they call the New Life Movement. Drawing from Neo-Confucian beliefs, the Blue Shirts want a revival of Tien-hsia, and the removal of societal ills. To many others, however, the Sian constitutional dream is dead, and many want a complete rebirth of China under an *Islamic* spiritual renewal, counter to the Blue Shirts Confucianist perspective.

Striving for national revival under a new sun, the Eclipse Society are a synthesis of the Islamic movements of the Hui, and the political movement of the KMT. A new sun is emerging from the dark, and with it, a new Chunghua (as opposed to Tien-hsia) will be born. That's what the rhetoric says, in any case. Cracking down on such a movement may prove to be more trouble than it is worth, for they have many supporters, even within the 61st Army.

In the far north of the province, Communist holdouts threaten the peace. Although it has been many decades since the CPC has been chased out of the region, many small cells hide from the 61st Army, and continue raids against their outposts and jurisdictions. It will take a concerted effort to remove these bandits from the north.