1900 - Doctor Wang

June 1900

Doctor Wang

Beijing

As the Boxer Rebellion gathered momentum, no follower of Christ was safe from the insurgents’ fury. In Beijing a Chinese doctor, Wang, had been one of the first graduates of the Peking University Medical School. The Boxers arrested Wang and his young son. They told him,

“‘Dr. Wang, you are an educated man. We do not want to kill you, but we have no choice unless you burn incense to the gods.’

‘No, I cannot do that,’ he replied.

‘We’ll make it easy for you,’ the Boxers offered. ‘Get someone to burn incense in your place.’

When he again refused, they offered to find him a substitute. ‘You will only have to go to the temple with us,’ they said.

‘No, I will not,’ he persisted. ‘You may kill me, but I will not worship your gods in any way. There are four generations of Christians in my family. Do you think I would let this child see his father deny his Saviour? Kill me if you must, but I will not betray my Lord.’”[I]

The Boxers almost reluctantly ran Dr. Wang through with a sword, lamenting, “What a pity to kill such a man.”