1862 - Martin Wu Xueshang

February 18, 1862

Kaiyang, Guizhou

Martin Wu Xueshang. [CRBC]

Wu Xueshang was born into a Catholic family in 1817, at the town of Chuchangbo in Qingzhen County, Guizhou Province. He was the youngest child in a farming family, and grew up living a peaceful and honest life. When his parents died, Wu inherited the family farm and was married soon after. His wife, however, had not been a willing participant to the wedding agreement and caused him no end of trouble. Finally she moved back to her parent’s house. In a bid to save his marriage he moved to the city, hoping to have regular contact with his wife. It was a lost cause, and in the end they officially separated.

The pain of his failed marriage drove Wu to the cross of Christ for help and strength. He matured as a believer and in 1848 Bishop Bai Defan asked Wu to assist the missionaries in their work. He agreed and was appointed two counties—Qingzhen and Qianxi—as his territory. In 1850, at the age of 33, Wu relocated to Duyun in southern Guizhou where he studied medicine. Falsely accused there, “he was jailed and given a severe beating. In jail he was told to renounce his faith, but he preferred to die rather than betray Jesus Christ. As a result, he was deported.”[1]

In 1856 there were strong anti-Christian sentiments throughout China. Followers of Christ were being exposed and tortured in prison. The work of missionaries and their Chinese converts went underground. Once, while staying at an inn in Zunyi, Martin Wu Xueshang carelessly left a crucifix in his room. The innkeeper reported him to the local magistrate, who arrested Wu and held him in prison for one year. When he was finally released on bail, Wu didn’t shrink from the Lord’s work, but went straight back to teaching “with all the fire of his zeal unabated.”[2]

In 1861 Martin Wu Xueshang travelled to Kaiyang. On the way he stayed with the highly-respected French missionary Jean-Pierre Néel. Little did he know that a short time later he would join the missionary on the roll of China’s Christian martyrs. Wu was arrested with three other Catholic men and one sister. They were treated cruelly before being executed on February 18, 1862.