In 1940, Professor Ma met Miss Sun Chaiping, also an overseas Chinese student who studied in Japan. They married in Qongqing and bore two children, a girl and a boy, together. Unfortunately, the two separated. When Madam Ma-Sun came over to Taiwan, Professor Ma made arrangements so that she was accommodated in the town of Peitou, and did not invite her to live in Qingtian. Her visit in Taiwan was brief. Later, she returned to Mainland China, and was regretfully separated from her children as the Civil War broke out.

In 1945, Professor Ma came to Taiwan to expropriate the “Imperial Taihoku University, and also headed the Department of Geology. Within one short week following his arrival at the campus, Professor Ma was chairing a symposium on geology on the second floor of Building No. 2 on the campus, displaying his swift and prompt, positive manner in executing things at hand and research works and studies. The government administration had hoped that Professor Ma would agree to fill the position of Chief of Provincial Bureau of Education or assume the position of President of the Taiwan University. However, Professor Ma did not have any desire to be involved for any long period of time in administrative businesses, and only accepted the position of Head of the Geology Department in Taiwan University. He held the title from 1947 to 1951, and was also concurrently Head of the Institute of Oceanography from 1946 to 1950. The Institute of Oceanography was founded during Japanese time. In 1950, due to lack of funding, the institution was dissolved. From that time on, Professor Ma maintained publication of the research journal “Acta Oceanographica Sinica” on money from his own pocket.

Professor Ma Ting Ying was also known by his second name HsuehFeng which means “snowy mountain”, also as one of the tallest mountains in Taiwan. Professor Ma was born in Jin Xian County, Province of Liaoning in 1899. He was an internationally well-known geologist, paleontologist as well as an expert in marine geology.
His family was quite poor when he was young. He was the eldest of 9 siblings, and was gifted, smart and open-minded. He graduated from his hometown middle school, the Jinzhou Middle School. Following his graduation, he secretly wrote the entrance exam and was enrolled by the Tokyo Normal High School. He graduated from the Tokyo Normal High School with first standing honor, and wrote an exam to enter the Imperial Tohoku University in Sendai, Hokaido, Japan,to study geology and paleontology.
He graduated in 1929 and was then engaged in graduate study towards a doctoral degree. Professor Ma was very diligent, and would continue on his studies for several days without taking any break. He thus caught the attention of Professor Hisakatsu Yabe (失部長克).

In 1933, Professor Ma completed his doctoral dissertation. The Japanese government, however, proposed to grant Professor Ma doctoral degree only if he would take up a research position in the Manchurian Science Faculty in the Manchuria region from China (back then the region was colonized by Japan). The Japanese government also demanded that Professor Ma to give up his Chinese nationality, and adopt a Japanese nationality in exchange for the D.Sc. degree. Professor Ma refused both extortions. Professor Yabe by then has found out about his government’s intervention of academic affairs and felt quite despicable. As a result, Professor Yabe sent Professor Ma’s doctoral dissertation to the Berlin University in Germany instead. The university quickly recognized Professor Ma’s achievements and bestowed him the Doctor of Science degree in 1934. The Japanese government, in fear of losing grip on Professor Ma’s works, immediately granted Professor Ma a doctoral degree in science from the Imperial Tohoku University without the need of him accepting their previous demands. Professor Ma was thus possessed with two Doctor of Science degrees from both the German and Japanese governments. During his academic stay in Japan, Professor Ma presented many papers in the Japanese academic conferences. He presented research results on the annual growth rate of rugosa corals and applied his studies on interpreting several important topics in geology, showing new insights. Gradually and firmly, Professor Ma established himself as one of the fore-runners in the field of paleontology.

In the fall of 1936, the relationship between the Japanese and the Chinese governments strained as Japan reeked with intense militarism. Upon invitation from Mr. Ting Wen Jiang, Professor Ma returned to China in secrecy. Before his departure from Japan, Professor Ma made a farewell visit to Professor Yabe. Professor Yabe assured Professor Ma if he needed anything for his research, any and every specimens in the Tohoku University’s collection are available for his taking. In later years, Professor Ma would be highly agitated and grateful when approached about the topic. In Professor Ma’s study at home, as well as in his research room in university, there were always pictures of Professor Yabe, showing a strong feeling of respect and appreciation between these two prominent scientists. Professor Ma held very high respect towards his tutor Professor Yabe, while Professor Yabe was proud and appreciative towards Professor Ma. The relationship and bond between these two distinguished scientists was as much comparable to that between a father and his son.

In July 1937 the Sino-Japanese war broke out, a bitter war that lasted eight long years on Chinese soil. In 1937, upon invitation from Mr. Qi Shiying, who was one of Professor Ma’s dear fellow Liaoning natives, Professor Ma took up the position of school principal in the North-East High School. As the war raged on in their region, Professor Ma led the group of North East High School students to flee the Japanese armies in a long journey, retreating to the safe grounds in the south beyond Japanese influence. The trip saw all of them climbing treacherous high mountains, lodging in run-down temples and broken-down work sheds. Despite the extreme difficulty, all the while during the move to the rear, school works and classes similar to the original school scheduled curriculum calendar were maintained. The group had fallen in siege of robbers in Hunan, and luckily fled from the bandits through gun fires. The rattling of gun shots was accompanied by the clicking of typewriter tapping as Professor Ma carried on his work on his scientific papers. Fortunately, the entire group of staffs and students reached Szechuan safe and sound with not a single person injured or killed. Upon arrival and after the school staffs and students were taken care of and out of harm’s way, Professor Ma resigned from his post of school principal. Professor Ma then assumed the position of Division Head, in the Maritime Division in the Chinese Institute of Geographic Studies. From 1939 to 1945 he was responsible for researches in geomorphology in the off-shore areas along the south eastern provinces as well as strategic resources.