1900 - Guo Weihua

July 31, 1900

Taigu, Shanxi

Guo Weihua was a blessed teenage boy who tasted death for the sake of the gospel. Aged 18 at the time of his martyrdom, Guo’s father worked for missionary Rowena Bird in Taigu, Shanxi Province. Guo’s mother was not a Christian and lived in a nearby village. Guo Weihua was one of the best students in the mission school. When the school closed early for the summer because of the Boxer threat, he was determined to remain at the mission station and support his foreign friends regardless of the outcome.

The missionaries pleaded with Guo to go home and preserve his life, but he would have nothing to do with it. In fact, he persuaded his own father to flee, promising to remain and take care of Miss Bird in his place. Guo told a friend, “Though it is so dangerous here, I cannot think of leaving. How these teachers have loved us! Can I leave them now in their extremity? This is our opportunity for showing them that they have not loved us in vain.”[1]

On July 31st the Boxers stormed the mission compound. Rowena Bird finally persuaded the stubborn Guo to flee. She gave him some money and helped him over the wall. Unwilling to venture too far from his friends, he climbed onto the roof of a neighbouring temple to see what would happen. Somebody saw him,

“and ran to tell the Boxers. A soldier stepped into the temple with his rifle, and slowly aiming at the boy, brought him crashing, wounded, to the floor. The Boxers gathered around…. A dozen swords hacked the wounded body, and Weihua followed the teachers whom he loved through the gates which had just swung open for them.”[2]