1900 - Peter Liu Zeyu

July 17, 1900

Shen Xian, Hebei

Peter Liu Zeyu. [CRBC]

Peter Liu Zeyu was born in 1843 at Zhujiaxie village in Shen Xian, Hebei Province. After school he gained worked in a pottery factory, and never married. On June 5, 1900, Liu’s fellow believers advised him to flee to a neighbouring county before the Boxers arrived. Liu refused to escape, saying, “To be killed by the Boxers is martyrdom and a great grace from God. Why do we reject it?” One of his friends challenged Peter’s stance by asking, “It would be all right if they just killed you, but they may torture you for a long time. Can you bear that?”[1] Peter Liu Zeyu replied, “Before God, the greater the suffering, the greater the merit. I trust myself to God’s mercy. I desire to suffer more for Him.”[2]

On July 17th the magistrate of Shen Xian sent a Buddhist monk, two guards, and a handful of Boxers to Zhujiaxie village to arrest Christians there. Liu was bound with his hands tied behind his back. He prayed continually, fully aware that eternity was just a few moments away. The Boxer leader asked him if he wanted to deny Christ. Peter refused to answer the question, but continued to fervently pray, “God, help me!” One of the Boxers raised his sword and in one blow severed 57-year-old Peter Liu Zeyu’s head from his body. The Buddhist monk, amazed at the courage and genuine faith displayed by Lu, “grabbed a knife from one of the Boxers, cut open Peter’s chest, scooped out his heart and raised it in the air to show it to the people who were watching. They had all benefited by Peter’s intercession, finding him a good example of Christian courage.”[3]

1. “The Martyrs of China 1648-1930,” Tripod, 67.
2. CRBC, The Newly Canonized Martyr-Saints of China, 50.
3. CRBC, The Newly Canonized Martyr-Saints of China, 50.