1883 - Jean Terrasse & Seven Chinese Christians

March 29, 1883

Changning, Yunnan

Jean Antoine Louis Terrasse was born at Lantriac, France, on March 23, 1848. After graduating from seminary in 1871 he entered the Missions Etrangères de Paris for mission training. Ordained a priest on May 30, 1874, Terrasse sailed for China the following July 29th. He was appointed to join the work at Yangbi in China’s Yunnan Province. Yangbi is situated near the ancient town of Dali, home of the Bai ethnic minority group. Terrasse travelled widely throughout the region during his eight years of ministry, preaching the gospel and establishing new converts in the faith. In 1881 the happy missionary wrote to his parents,

“The year the good God blessed my weak efforts. Several hundred heathen men and women have become Christians. By the grace of God they will persevere in the faith and bring others into the fold as well. I am the only apostle of the Lord in this whole region. There are great sacrifices to be made!….

My dear parents, without suffering, there would be no advance of the kingdom of God on this earth. God knows all our struggles and tears, and his angel has recorded all in the Book of Life!”[1]

One of the towns under Jean Terrasse’s care was Changning, located about 75 miles (122 km) southwest of Yangbi. He was there in the evening of March 28, 1883 when all of a sudden, a mob of angry villagers suddenly attacked the house where Terrasse was staying. The Frenchman was bashed about the head and body but managed to go back inside the residence and help defend it from the mob until the next morning. At daybreak the attack recommenced. The missionary was vomiting blood and his health was deteriorating, so to save the young converts who were holed up with him inside the house, Terrasse decided to surrender to the mob. He opened the door of the house and declared, “Do not kill these children and women who have done you no harm. I give myself as a sacrifice for everyone here.”[2]

Immediately the cruel men struck the missionary with swords and sticks. The main persecutor, a one-eyed man named Wu Dafa, plunged a sword into Terrasse’s stomach. The other men bashed the helpless Frenchman to death, and then dismembered his body. The pagans rejoiced at their success, eating his heart and liver before returning to their homes. They then attacked the defenceless Chinese believers inside the house, slaughtering seven of them in cold blood. Terrasse’s mutilated body was not recovered for six weeks. A tear-filled fellow missionary reported:

“The wolves and wild boars had respected it, but the men had put it in a deplorable state. His eyes had been torn out, his head cut off, and the chest empty because the pagans had torn out and eaten his heart and liver. The naked corpse had suffered from other ignominies as well, but I do not have words adequate to describe them.”[3]

In the days following the martyrdom of Jean Terrasse, the enemies of Christ destroyed the mission station at Changning and then moved to surrounding towns and villagers where the gospel had begun to take root. Several locations were plundered all the way back to Yangbi. Buildings were destroyed and many Catholics lost their lives.

In the aftermath of the tragedy the Vicar Apostolic of Yunnan, Jean Fenouil, summarized Terrasse’s life and ministry in the following way:

“This dear co-worker always worked with the utmost zeal and devotion; almost everywhere his efforts were crowned with brilliant success. For the first years of his ministry he was called to work with Christians who had already been established. Everywhere he brought inner life and zeal to the believers. He later changed focus and engaged in evangelism to the pagans. Many repented and put their faith in Christ. In 1881 and 1882 he consolidated the work at Yangbi. Many new believers resulted, and when I visited, I found them full of faith with a great zeal to share the gospel with others.”[4]

1. My translation of the Jean Terrasse Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris, China Biographies and Obituaries, 1800-1899.
2. Jean Terrasse Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris.
3. Jean Terrasse Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris.
4. Jean Terrasse Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris.