1900 - Liu Zhaosan

June 1900

Yanshan, Hebei

Liu Zhaosan was the gatekeeper of the Mission compound at Yanshan. He was a rough-looking man who had never learned how to read or write. Liu had spent years as a soldier, but later in life became a devout Christian. The role of a mission gatekeeper in those days did not merely involve letting people in and out of the compound. He was also expected to give his testimony to passers-by and exhort them to come to the chapel meetings to learn more about Jesus Christ.

When Liu applied for baptism in 1895, he found it difficult to answer all the questions from the catechism. He said, “I cannot answer clearly, because I am an uneducated man. I only know this—There is a river; on one side of it is hell, and on this side is heaven. I know that I have crossed this river and am now on my way to heaven.”[1]

Liu and his wife escaped from Yanshan on June 6th, hiding from the Boxers in a riverbed about five miles (eight kilometres) outside the town. During the hot daytime Liu and his wife separated, but during the night they met together underneath a bridge and encouraged one another to be faithful and to persevere to the end. One night the two were overheard by a traveller passing by on the bridge. The Boxers captured Liu Zhaosan and prepared to slay him. “Just wait a minute,” Liu said, “I will sing one of our hymns to you.”

The Boxers, with a mocking spirit, allowed his request. In a clear and loud voice Liu sang the well-known hymn, “He leadeth me, oh blessed thought.” By the time he reached the verse, “Glories upon glories hath our God prepared,” the Boxers had become enraptured by the spirit of the song, and exclaimed, “Good! Good!” One of the Boxers said they should not kill Liu, but would be better off letting him go free. The others, however, scoffed at the idea. They quickly bound him

“with strong cords and placed him near to the mouth of a cannon, which they fired; and so he passed to the joy of which he had sung. The Boxers still speak of the strong and resolute bearing of Liu and his fearlessness in the face of death. It made a great impression upon them.”[2]