Ma is 102. And as she slipped into her desk in a row of five-year-olds she became the world's oldest first-year pupil.
Ma,who looks 40 years younger than her age, never got a chance to go to school as a child.
She started work in a cotton mill at the age of 13. She was married at 18 and gave birth to nine children. Seven of them went on to university.
But she had always longed for a propereducation which was how she came to be seated in the front row of Grade One of Weshan Road Elementary School.
The new pupil wears a hearing aid and carries a big magnifying glass to help her during spelling lessons. She was supported by her son Yi Fengxin, a sprightly 58, as she came into class.
"I feel very happy that I can finally realise my dream of going to school at this age," said Ma.
The school offered her a place after reading about her long-held ambition when she was interviewed by a local newspaper.
She had sacrificed a lot to give her children a proper education.
Her son, Yi, said.: "My mother even sold her jewellery to help put us through school and her biggest dream was to go to school one day herself."
At the end of her first day at school Ma gave the class a stirring address: "Thank you teacher! Thank you my classmates! I'll study hard and make my contribution to the country."
