1900 - Protestant Martyrs in Tianjin

June – August 1900

Tianjin

The ruins of the Majiagou Chapel in Tianjin after it had been destroyed by the Boxers.

On account of being a ‘Treaty city,’ the large city of Tianjin suffered little compared with many other parts of north China. Most of the Christian deaths came when the military and the Boxers laid siege to the city. Those holed up inside the mission compound survived for almost a month, while Christians remaining in the suburbs and in villages surrounding the city were rounded up and persecuted. The siege of Tianjin ended when 20,000 foreign soldiers arrived in the city. The Boxers were put to the sword or took flight. After Tianjin was secured the foreign force marched to Beijing and liberated the nation’s capital from the hands of the Boxers.

Still, in Tianjin 12 Chinese Christians from the main Protestant church in the city were killed, as well as several members of the Majiagou Chapel.[1] One of those killed was a teenage Christian boy named Zhou. He had worked in the mission dispensary and gained employment with the Imperial Railway. When the Boxer attacks reached their full fury, Zhou was more concerned about the welfare of his elderly Christian mother than for his own safety. He rushed to Tianjin and found her taking refuge with a group of other elderly church members. Before Zhou had a chance to help them,

“a band of Boxers seized the little group of Christians and hurried them away to execution. Some of the old women were thrown into a state of great terror and could hardly walk along the narrow streets, but a bystander relates that young Zhou tried to comfort and cheer them. ‘One sharp stroke of a sword,’ he said, ‘and all will be over, for we shall be forever in the presence of the Lord.’”[2]

A few moments later the heartless Boxers cut them all to pieces.

Deacon Wang standing next to the tomb of seven family members who were killed by the Boxers.

A church deacon named Wang was wonderfully spared from death. He was a successful businessman who owned five shops in the city. Three of them were burned to the ground by the Boxers. One day, while he was out of the shop, Wang’s aged father and five of his employees were bound and carried off to a temple to be executed. The Boxers started to argue among themselves about some matter and the disagreement became so heated that they simply forgot about their captives!

Before the summer of carnage had ended, however, Deacon Wang could count seven Christian family members who had been martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ. In 1901 the Chinese authorities agreed to pay compensation to all Christians who had suffered loss of life or property during the Boxer Rebellion. Deacon Wang was undecided as to whether it was right to be paid for such ill-treatment, and in the end, he decided not to submit any claim for compensation, even though he knew the names of the men who had killed his family and burned down three of his shops. Wang said, “They are all poor men. I could not do that. And if I accuse them and they are put to death, what shall I have gained? I could not bear it. I want to do them good, not harm. I would rather save them, and see them repent and become good men.”[3]

Among the Christian martyrs of Tianjin were several family members of a man named Zhou Wanchuan. The entire family was arrested and imprisoned by the Boxers. Zhou was released after the earnest pleadings of one of his daughters-in-law, who bravely followed the captives to the Boxer headquarters. The rest of the family were put to death.

Liu Bi was a druggist by profession. He had been so dramatically changed by his conversion to Christ that everyone in that part of the city recognized him as a true disciple. The Boxers captured him and were about to throw him into a fire when Liu asked, “‘Why do you bind me? It is easy to die for the Lord,’ and with this he jumped into the flames, to the astonishment of the crowd, and thus perished.”[4]

Wang Xi was a Christian from the countryside. He possessed such tremendous physical strength that it was rumoured ten men could not hold him. When Wang heard that a pastor had been captured by the Boxers he went to see if he could do anything to gain his release. The pastor was freed, but Wang Xi “allowed himself to be arrested by two Boxer children, whom he could easily have cast aside, and without being bound he put his hands behind him and willingly went to his death.”[5]

Hou Wang was a Christian farmer who was offered his freedom if he would deny Christ. He replied, “I have believed in the Lord these many years, and he knows I believe in Him. Can I now say I do not believe in Him? You can deceive men but you cannot deceive God. No! I will not deny him.”[6] A similarly heroic testimony was that of Jia Fushan and his wife. Jia was a carpenter by trade but at the time of the Boxer Rebellion he operated a small shop selling water pails. Jia and his wife were captured by the Boxers and led through the streets of the city on their way to be executed. As bystanders laughed and mocked them, Jia called out in a loud voice,

“‘We, because of our belief in Jesus Christ, go bound to our death, which is to us an honour; when you come to die, I fear that your lot will be much more pitiable than ours. Do you then dare to scoff at us?’ They bent their heads to the swords of their murderers without fear, leaving but one child, a little girl, to mourn the loss of her parents.”[7]

Wang Dewen was considered a good man by all who knew him, but some troublemakers turned him in and had him arrested. The magistrate was not willing to kill Wang and allowed him to return home, but some of the Boxers would not give up their bloodthirsty pursuit and decided to bury him alive. After they had dug the grave, Wang “threw himself into the hole, to show that he was not afraid to die, and thus they buried him.”[8] Wang’s property was taken from him, and his wife and child were left destitute.

Liu Shufan was of such noble character that when he was captured by the Boxers the people from his home village came and demanded his release. The Boxer chief refused to do so, but offered to release Liu’s parents and wife instead. The Liu family refused, fearing that if they were to go free the people would think they had denounced their faith. They “refused to be liberated, preferring rather to suffer with their son. When they were being executed the people wept bitterly, their wailing being heard for many miles.”[9]

Zhang Ruichun and his wife were burned at the stake because of their commitment to Jesus Christ, and a restaurant owner named Wang Qingwen was hacked to pieces by the irate Boxers, who were infuriated by his preaching. As they dismembered him, they mockingly declared, “You say that hereafter you will ascend to heaven. We will send your fingers and toes there first, and after that your hands and feet, and see how you can stand pain.”[10] Strangely, Wang Qingwen displayed no fear or pain during his diabolical ordeal.

The family of Cao Yongfu ran a leather shop in a village near Tianjin. His wife and children were all arrested and taken outside the East Gate of the city, where “they were first shot with shot guns; their clothing was then removed and wounds were made in their chests; some had their ears, noses or lips cut off; others were cut into eight or more pieces, and all were left for dead.”[11] During the night, Cao’s wife gained consciousness and crawled to the home of relatives, where she lived out the rest of her life severely crippled. Her husband, four sons, and two daughters died as martyrs.

The list of martyrs at Tianjin was completed by Ren Pangxiang. Converted to Christ at the age of 19, Ren’s father had studied the Bible to try to understand how his son had been so dramatically transformed. The Boxers captured Ren and burned him at the stake.

Overall, at least 50 Protestant Christians were killed by the Boxers in Tianjin. Today there is a Boxer Museum in the city, which portrays the rebels as national heroes and makes no mention of any Christians who were killed.

1. Bryson, Cross and Crown, 120.
2. Bryson, Cross and Crown, 124-125.
3. Bryson, Cross and Crown, 126.
4. Headland, Chinese Heroes, 179.
5. Headland, Chinese Heroes, 180.
6. Headland, Chinese Heroes, 180.
7. Headland, Chinese Heroes, 181.
8. Headland, Chinese Heroes, 182-183.
9. Headland, Chinese Heroes, 183.
10. Headland, Chinese Heroes, 184.
11. Headland, Chinese Heroes, 184.