1900 - Doctor Ma

June 1900

Doctor Ma

Beijing

An outstanding young Christian woman, Wen Li, had been educated at a missionary school run by Miss Newton. Before graduating she was engaged to a young doctor named Ma, from one of the leading families in Beijing. The wedding day was set for exactly the same time that the Boxers were infesting Beijing. Wen Li’s family, who were not Christians, insisted the ceremony should continue, which included an elaborate ride in a bridal chair through the streets. The bride’s Christian friends, however, said this was unwise, as the streets were already filled with chaos.

Just after the wedding, which had been low-key so as to not attract attention, Ma received an eviction notice from his landlord, who was fearful that housing Christians might result in his home being burned by the Boxers. The newlyweds moved into a spare room on the mission compound. That very same night the Boxers set the buildings alight. A group of Christians hid in a corner of the compound among some trees and shrubs, but the light from the blaze revealed their presence. They were chased by the Boxers and cut down with axes and knives. Wen Li, along with her sister-in-law, hid in a ruined temple, which was partially on fire. The next morning Wen Li’s sister-in-law was discovered and put to death, but Wen Li escaped. The same day, Dr. Ma was captured and cut in half by the Boxers. Wen Li was now a widow, just hours after her wedding. She had “two severe wounds on her neck from the Boxer knife, and in pain and terror made her way to her mother, but her mother could not keep her.”[I] Wen Li gradually recovered from her wounds, and later married a young man whose fiancé had been killed by the Boxers.