1857 - Jerome Lu Tingmei

December 14, 1857

Guiyang, Guizhou

Jerome Lu Tingmei. [CRBC]

Lu Tingmei, a member of the ethnic Bouyei minority group,[1] was born at Langtai in Guizhou Province in 1811. He was the eldest of four children in the Lu family, and his father was a school principal. As a young man Lu Tingmei was well liked and respected by his community. He was trained in the Chinese classics and in Confucian philosophy and culture. One source says,

“Physically strong and robust, he was mentally also very bright. While still a child, he studied the classics and poetry. When his father retired, he took over his teaching duties and was well received and respected. Because of his broad knowledge and wisdom, even the local magistrate came to seek advice from him.”[2]

Nobody would have guessed this popular young man would one day end up being put to death as a despised Christian. By the time he was 38 Lu was a wealthy man with a wife, two sons and a daughter. He joined the Qingshui religious sect, a branch of the outlawed White Lotus Society, whose adherents “practiced abstinence, honoured the Buddha and recited Buddhist sutras. These formal practices did not satisfy Lu Tingmei’s spiritual quest.”[3] In 1852 Lu borrowed some books from a Catholic named Paul Yang. The words had a profound impact on his heart and mind, and he realized he had made a wrong choice by joining the sect. He renounced his involvement and decided Christianity was the truth. Soon he

“became one of the most zealous disciples, bringing also his father, sister and some good friends to convert to the Catholic faith. In 1853, he received the sacraments of baptism and confirmation from Father Thomas Luo, taking the name of Jerome.”[4]

Another source says, “His life was transformed. Violent by nature, he became gentle and lovable. He stopped drinking and became attentive to the needs of the poor…. He was a witness of the martyrdom of Father Chapdelaine, and wrote about it.”[5]

Lu served the Lord wholeheartedly. His zeal incensed many, and in 1854 he was falsely accused of treason. In prison he suffered countless horrible tortures. Finally, on December 14, 1857, Jerome Lu Tingmei was led to the execution ground along with fellow believers Lawrence Wang Bing and Agatha Lin Zhao. The three martyrs were stripped naked and beheaded. Eyewitness reports said that “when they were executed, three bands of light, two red, one white, appeared around them and some non-Catholics at a distance saw three globes of light in the sky.”[6]

1. Some sources state Lu Tingmei was a Miao, but the Chinese at the time generally called all non-Han Chinese people ‘Miao’. The village where Lu was born was inhabited by Bouyei people. The Bouyei are part of the Tai race.
2. CRBC, The Newly Canonized Martyr-Saints of China, 14.
3. “The Martyrs of China 1648-1930,” Tripod, 23.
4. CRBC, The Newly Canonized Martyr-Saints of China, 15.
5. “The Martyrs of China 1648-1930,” Tripod, 23.
6. CRBC, The Newly Canonized Martyr-Saints of China, 15.