1992 - Mary Zhu Yabao

August 15, 1992

Danshan, Anhui

Mary Zhu Yabao.

New Year’s Day, 1908, saw little Zhu Yabao come into the world. Born into a devout Catholic family that had believed in Jesus for four generations, she was to later dedicate her whole life to God. After a stint as a primary school teacher in Shanghai, Zhu Yabao, who was given the Christian name Mary, joined the Legion of Mary at St. Francis Church in Shanghai in 1948, taking the position of Deputy Director. The Legion of Mary was perhaps the one Catholic institution in China most hated by the Communists. Their practical love and selfless commitment to the cause of Christ made them a threat in the eyes of the authorities, and the Legion were persecuted vehemently. Zhu was arrested on September 8, 1958, and sent to prison as a counter-revolutionary. She was forced to labour in a variety of jobs including at a weaving factory, a tea plantation, and in a paddy field.

In the early years of her incarceration, rumours abounded that Zhu would soon be released, but even though many others were allowed to go home, she was to serve the remainder of her life—more than 30 years—in prison because of her faith. One writer has reflected on Mary Zhu Yabao’s life by saying: “The fact that she could serve her sentence of imprisonment right up until the day of her death, in peace and joy, with no regrets and no complaints, deserved the admiration and respect of all who knew her.”[1] From September 1958 to July 1962 Mary underwent back-breaking hard labour. Many of the other women died from exhaustion and illness, but God sustained his servant and strengthened her. Many were attracted by the brightness of her personality and found Christ because of her loving witness. From December 1973 to May 1979, she was forced to wear a dunce cap—a large conical hat that identified her as a counter-revolutionary and listed her ‘crimes’ for all to see.

Mary realized it was because of her faith in Christ that she was forced to endure these humiliations, and considered them pure joy because she had been counted worthy to suffer for the Name of Christ. The prison authorities could do nothing to take her faith from her, as even the hat they intended to humiliate her with became a source of great joy in her life.

The prison strictly forbade all religious expression such as prayer, yet Mary Zhu Yabao kept a consistent pattern for many years. Every morning at around three o’clock she woke up while everyone else was sleeping, and quietly prayed to the Lord God, dedicating herself into his hands and asking for his blessings for the day ahead. One of her cellmates asked her what kind of prayers she said during her devotions. Mary replied, “Every day, I recite different prayers for my enemies, for my friends, and for my relatives and family.”

Even after her prison term expired, Mary Zhu Yabao was not released but was forced to remain a permanent employee of the prison. She was offered a paltry salary of nine Yuan per month, barely enough to survive on, and was not allowed to travel. Despite her extreme poverty, “all the money and food she saved was spent on charitable purposes. She was very generous in her dealings with others and because of her love and generosity, her relations with other people were excellent.”[2]

In the late 1970s, after twenty years in prison, China implanted more liberal policies and many long-term prisoners were freed. Zhu had a younger sister in Shanghai who wanted to sue the People’s Court to receive compensation for the years her sister had unjustly suffered in prison. Mary immediately intervened, prohibiting her sister from doing this, believing it was God who had allowed her to be imprisoned for all those years, not the government. She knew there would be a great reward stored up in heaven for those years of faithful endurance, and did not want to spoil that blessed inheritance by receiving temporal reward in this life through a lawsuit.

In the early 1990s Zhu was still being held as a “permanent employee” of the prison labour camp at Dan Mountain in Anhui Province. News leaked out that she was critically ill with tuberculosis-like symptoms. On August 13, 1992, an inexperienced nurse gave her an injection containing twice the allowed dosage. Immediately her condition worsened she bled profusely. The 83-year-old Zhu was transferred to the General Hospital; where at 7:38 pm on August 15, 1992, Mary Zhu Yabao departed to be with her Lord and Master.