1897 - Frédéric Mazel

April 1, 1897

Tianlin, Guangxi

Frédéric Victor Emile Benjamin Irénée Mazel was born on September 22, 1871, in Rodelle, France. As a young man he put his faith in Christ’s saving power, and by the time he reached his teenage years, Mazel wanted nothing more than to serve his King as a missionary.

After graduating from the seminary of the Missions Etrangères de Paris, Mazel was appointed to join the work in south China’s Guangxi Province. Guangxi was, and remains today, one of the poorest regions of China. Mazel departed for China on July 29, 1896. After months of difficult sea and land travel he arrived at Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, on November 19th. After a few days rest he made his way to Xilin in the northwest of the province, in order to study Chinese while awaiting news of what part of Guangxi he would be assigned to.

Xilin was a special place for the young Frenchman. He was familiar with the name because many foreign and Chinese Catholics had been slaughtered there for Christ in 1856, the most prominent of whom was French priest Auguste Chapdelaine. Mazel wondered if he too might one day have the opportunity to glorify Christ through martyrdom.

In March of the following year, 1897, Mazel returned to Nanning suffering from a burning fever. After receiving medical treatment he improved, and started on the journey back to Xilin, riding in a sedan chair. Mazel and his fellow travellers stopped at the town of Tianlin (then called Leli) on March 22nd.

The Chinese men who had been hired to take supplies to the Xilin mission went on ahead, but a short distance out of Tianlin they were robbed by bandits who also stole their horses and mules. Mazel decided it was prudent to remain in Tianlin until the local magistrate had caught the thieves. After waiting nine days, Mazel decided to continue his journey to Xilin on April 1st.

During the stay in Tianlin, crowds of local people had come to stare at the ‘big nose’ foreigner. A number of men had threatened him, as the French military had recently seized land inside Guangxi from their colonial base across the border in Vietnam. One man had told Mazel, “It is you French who have attacked us, stealing our land. Now that we have met a man from that country, it will bring us much satisfaction to spill your blood in revenge.”[1]

A request for protection was lodged with the local magistrate, who simply ignored Mazel’s petition. At four o’clock in the morning of April 1, 1897, a mob numbering between 30 and 40 men swooped on the house were Mazel was sleeping. Armed with rifles and revolvers,

“The main door soon flew open under the blows of an enormous iron bludgeon. The bandits ran through the house, ransacking it and carrying away everything of value. While some men carried the spoils, others stood outside to make sure Mazel and his servants did not escape. Many shots were fired into the windows of the bedrooms. Mazel was later found dead in his bed. Three bullets had penetrated his body; one in his forehead, one in the chest, and one in his heart. His death had been instantaneous.”[2]

One of the Catholic servants travelling with Mazel was also killed in the attack. Frédéric Mazel’s missionary career in China had come to an abrupt end after just eight months.

1. My translation of the Frédéric Mazel Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris, China Biographies and Obituaries, 1800-1899.
2. Frédéric Mazel Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris.