Ma Hongbin and Ma Hongkui were cousins. Their respective fathers, Ma Fulu (马福绿) (1854–1900) and Ma Fuxiang (马福祥) (1876–1932) came from Yangzhushan (阳注山) village in Hanji Town (presently, the county seat of Linxia County), and were half-brothers. Ma Fulu and Ma Fuxiang's father Ma Qianling, originally a small merchant and farmer from Hezhou, had been an associate of Ma Zhan'ao – the ruler of Hezhou region during the Great Muslim Rebellion of the 1860s – and went over to the Qing government's side in 1872 along with Ma Zhan'ao himself; rewarded by the government and successful in his business, he had four sons with his three wives.[5] Ma Zhanao was the father of another 2 Ma clique warlords, Ma Anliang and Ma Guoliang.[6][7] Ma Qianling also had several nephews who died along with Ma Fulu in the Boxer Rebellion.