[1] A Hui Muslim born in 1873, Linxia County, Gansu, he mainly acceded to the posts of his brother, being general of southeastern Gansu province, as well as councillor of the Qinghai provincial government and acting head of the Construction Bureau of Qinghai province.

[9] In autumn of 1936 Ma Bufang made his move to expel his uncle from power and replace him.

In an interview he was described as having "high admiration and unwavering loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek", and was interested in the progress of the Anti-Japanese war.

[13] In 1942 Ma Lin was serving on the 36-seat State Council; the only other Muslim member was the Uyghur Masud Sabri.

[15] Approximately 123 persons accompanied him, including the Imams Ma Debao and Ma Zhengqing, who brought Salafi/Wahhabism ideology back to China, which the Yihewani Imams promptly rejected as heretical.