Ninghsia Province (6.0)

Ninghsia is at the northern edge of Peking’s sphere of influence, where Han civilization meets the Mongol steppe. Ninghsia consists of a large chunk of China’s ‘Quran Belt’ that stretches from the road from Yinchwan to Ho-Chou, named as such due to the codominance of the Muslim Hui ethnic group amongst the population. The Hui are Chinese Muslims, speaking Han (and Arabic), and following Islamic customs not practiced by Han people throughout China such as the rejection of pork as haram. This unique fusion of Han and Islamic culture was born from Silk Road trade, which has led to the majority of Ninghsia converting to Islam (the second largest religion is Buddhism). Historically, Ninghsia’s capital city of Yinchwan served as an important northern stop of the Silk Road, a trading depot for caravans journeying through the Ordos Loop and into Mongolia. A thousand years ago it was the center of the great Western Hsi Empire ruled by the Tangut people, before being conquered by Genghis Khan and being integrated into China proper by the Ming dynasty as the seat of Ninghsia prefecture. Today, it is an important center for the Hui people. The traditional economy of Ninghsia is primarily based on farming and pasturing in the rural areas and handicrafts in the urban areas, although over the last few decades manufacturing and mining has grown as Ninghsia’s most important sectors. For the last decade, the wine sector of Ninghsia has been rapidly growing when traders brought wine grapes to be grown on the Helan mountain foothills, quickly becoming one of Ninghsia’s most popular exports. Ironically, most of the vineyard operators are Muslim and cannot drink the wine that they produce as it is haram. That being said, it is the fastest growing Ninghsian export.

Like the surrounding provinces of China, the administration of Ninghsia is ruled by warlords. They fly the flag of the nationalist government in Peking, but in reality they are self-ruled by military cliques, many of which are officers originating from the prestigious Whampoa Military Academy. The warlords collect their own taxes, control their own taxes and customs, and most importantly handpick their own successors. The Northwest of China is ruled by a dynasty of Hui Muslims known as the Ma clique, Hui generals who served the Republic in both the Xinhai Revolution and the Northern Expedition. The Three Mas of the Northwest, Ma Bufang, Ma Hongkui, and Ma Hongbin, came in control of Northwest China after the Northern Expedition and ruled them as their personal fiefdoms. Tension between the Ma clique and Chiang Kai-shek’s government burst into the National Revolutionary Army ordering Sun Dianying, a bandit leader who controlled an unreliable private army, to march into Ninghsia. The attempt was a failure, and the Ma army pushed them into Shanxi, solidifying their control over the Northwest. Sun Dianying would be moved to another position within the Chinese government, before joining the Chinese army collaborating with the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese War. When the government of the Republic collapsed during the Deluge, Sun Dianying would once again march his army of collaborationists onto Ninghsia in an attempt to dethrone the Ma Clique, this time completely self-funded. He was successful in establishing a rival government in Inner Mongolia, but was pushed out once again by the combined efforts of the Ma army, and this time for good.

Life after the Deluge is hard, but not impossible. The chaos of the Deluge has certainly reached Yinchwan, but it is not the first time that its people have felt the vast ripples of catastrophes from afar. At the end of the day, life continues just as it always has, and the people still live relatively normal lives and still pray facing west, towards the city of the Prophet. The Ma clique continue to rule over the Northwest flying the flag of the Nationalist government in Peking, with the Ninghsia province under the rule of general Ma Xuyuan. Land trade has only become more important in the post-Deluge world, and Yinchwan is once again a growing trade stop along a new growing Silk Road. Just like it always has, the Silk Road brings not just trade and wares from the West, but also travelers and ideas from the very edge of the world. Ninghsia holds the mandate of this privilege, with its most important obligation being the protection of the northern frontier from bandits, raiders, and Communists. As long as the frontier remains at peace, so does the realm. And as long as the Republic and the Mas stand, it will remain that way.