1967 - Dong Shuying

January 4, 1967

Dong Shuying

Beijing Prison

Dong Shuying (extreme right) and other cadets in training for the Salvation Army in the 1920s.

The Salvation Army had experienced severe opposition from the Communists ever since the 1930s, with Wang Guanglong martyred for his faith in 1937, and Major James Dempster the following year. The 1950s were the worst time for the Salvation Army in China, with dozens of leaders thrown into prison and the organization finding itself unable to carry on operations. The leader of the Army in North China at the time was Yin Hongshun. He survived the Red onslaught after many years in prison, but his wife, Dong Shuying, died at the Beijing East Commune prison labour camp in 1967.

Yin and Dong met in 1927 during a difficult time in China. Famine was widespread, and Yin did not know if his prospective wife could accept a life of hardship with him. He was a rough diamond, from a poor farming family. Shuying’s given name means ‘Jasmine and Chrysanthemum,’ and to Yin she was indeed a sweet aroma. It was said of Dong Shuying,

“She displayed a beauty of spirit as well as of appearance. She had the elegance of a young woman whose refined capabilities were attractively clothed in modesty. Shuying had accepted the message of Christianity with both mind and heart; in her conduct piety and profession were in gracious balance…. Physically, she had the colour and beauty of the chrysanthemum. Spiritually, her influence had the fragrance of jasmine.”[I]

After seeing the spiritual consistency of Yin’s life, Shuying agreed to his marriage proposal. They were married on New Year’s Day, 1929. An insight into the kind of hearts the newlyweds had could be seen by the fact they invited as many non-Christian friends and relatives to the service as possible, and gave the wedding ceremony an evangelistic bent so that the lost souls in attendance would hear the gospel. Life throughout the 1930s was a mixture of blissful joy and struggle for the couple, who were based at Beijing for most of the decade. A new threat, that of Communism, was growing in the countryside and Salvation Army officers frequently found themselves in danger. Despite the intense pressure, the work of the mission flourished throughout China. Two daughters were born to Yin and Shuying, and two more flowers were added to the family. Guiqi (Lily) was born in 1931 and Guiru (Violet) in 1933. In 1936 a little boy, James, entered the world.

Yin was now a Major in the Salvation Army, and when he was appointed to lead the work for North China, his family became a prime target for Communist persecution. The Salvation Army was outlawed, and Yin and Shuying were arrested in 1958. Dong Shuying was told to report to the Beijing East Commune. After 29 years of happy marriage, the forced separation caused great despair for Yin and Shuying. The

“…tenderest feelings of the heart could not be suppressed. Shuying’s tears wet the lapels of Yin’s jacket as they clung to each other. Without her husband she was afraid, and the thought of separation from their children was unbearable…. But if they were to suffer for Christ’s sake, they must do so bravely.”[II]

At the prison, Dong underwent constant brainwashing sessions in a bid to drive Christianity from her soul. One of the other inmates at the prison was Pu Yi, the Last Emperor of China. After two years of backbreaking work in the labour camp, Shuying’s health started to deteriorate. The prison authorities sent her back to the city to work at a paper mill. She was later transferred to a farm where she worked for another 18 months. In all this time she neither saw nor heard from her beloved husband. When her health continued to decline, Shuying was sent to work in a toy-making factory. The government was determined to make her into a “productive” member of society.

The blazing summer days gave way to freezing winter winds, and still the incarceration of Yin and Shuying continued. Yin was able to receive occasional news about his wife’s condition from his children. He heard news of an incident in the women’s prison that caused him great concern. The Red Guards

“…had attacked a Christian woman where Shuying laboured. Taunts had turned into unthinkable torture and, finally, the woman had been beaten to death in front of Shuying’s eyes. She was frightened out of her senses, and could not rid herself of the sight of a good woman’s battered body crumpling in death like a mound of unwanted blood-stained rags. For Shuying it led to serious illness, and Yin was distraught.”[III]

Finally, as 1966 drew to a close, news was received that Shuying was close to death. Yin was allowed to see her, the first time in more than eight years. He tried to get her medical help, but it was too late. He saw that “Yin’s cherished ‘chrysanthemum’ was fading. His lovely ‘lotus’ was slowly, but inevitably, wilting. Death was near, and on January 4th, 1967, Shuying’s spirit quietly left the earth with its frights and its foes for the Land of Everlasting Peace.”[IV]

Yin Hongshun, the last leader of the Salvation Army in China, meets with an American friend after his release from 23 years imprisonment.

Despite his deep loss,

“Yin felt he had been treated lightly in the holocaust. His children had been spared the unspeakable fate that had befallen so many. Wall posters in Beijing listed the names of thousands of persons who had been killed and by what awful means. Beatings were common. Gang rapes were followed by the horrendous procedure of cutting off the women’s nipples. As the sexually assaulted victims lay dying in the street their bodies were mutilated beyond recognition. For insignificant or even imagined offences people were buried alive. Other happenings were so repulsive that Yin, feeling that his mind was being soiled, tried to shut his ears to their telling. The year of Shuying’s death by illness was the year of fiendish death for more than 10,000 persons in the city of Beijing alone.”[V]

Yin Hongshun remained in prison for a total of 23 long years, finally being released in 1981. He was by then 77-years-old, but he was not forgotten. Friends who had quietly sought his release invited Yin to the United States. He boarded an airplane for the first time in his life, and everywhere he went in America his fellow believers were touched and inspired by his testimony of God’s faithfulness.