1878 - Zhou Lizun

May 19, 1878

Shantou, Guangdong

One of the first Protestant martyrs in Guangdong Province was 41-year-old Zhou Lizun, who died in 1878 in the Presbyterian diocese of Shantou (formerly Swatow) on the northeast Guangdong coast. Zhou had been a shopkeeper in a small town. Although he had not yet been baptized at the time of his death, all indications point to the fact that he was a sincere believer.

On the morning of Sunday May 19, 1878, Zhou and twelve other Christians met together for worship at a small chapel associated with the English Presbyterian Mission. At noon five of the believers who lived far away and could not stay for the evening service returned home to eat lunch, while the eight others remained in the chapel and prepared their meal there. The local villagers were upset with the believers for a variety of reasons. They believed the presence of the Christians offended the ancestral spirits they had venerated for centuries. While the eight Chinese Christians were cooking their rice, an enraged mob of men and women gathered outside the chapel,

“carrying the knives with which they cut grass, and poles for carrying burdens, hoes, etc…. The believers tried to escape by flight, [but] Lizun took refuge in the village, in the house of his eldest brother. This brother was not a Christian, and had opposed Lizun going to worship, but he did his best now to protect him, by hiding him in a press. The villagers followed; and when they could not find their victim elsewhere, they broke open the press with their hoes, and dragged him out.”[1]

Zhou Lizun’s brother pleaded with the angry mob for his life, offering to pay money to ransom him, but the crowd had their hearts set on cruel murder and could not be reasoned with. Only

“his death would now satisfy them. They then dragged him down to the river, and, after beating him with their hoes, cut his throat. They then called his brothers to bury the body, the intention being thus to hide the proof of their crime, threatening the brothers also with death if they would not consent.”[2]

The seven other Christians who had been in the chapel that morning were captured and beaten, but the next day they were allowed to return home. The murderers managed to evade arrest by paying people to act as false witnesses. They claimed Zhou had died by hanging himself.

1. James Johnston, China and Formosa: The Story of the Mission of the Presbyterian Church of England (London, 1897), 278-279. For another account of this martyrdom see Foster, Christian Progress in China, 92-94.
2. Johnston, China and Formosa, 279.