1900 - Shouyang Slaughter of 71 Christians

July 3, 1900

Shouyang, Shanxi

The memorial service for the martyrs of Shouyang, held in June 1901.

The missionaries and Chinese believers at Shouyang had nervously endured throughout the month of June as rumours that the Boxers were coming to slaughter them circulated throughout the town. The threats took a leap towards becoming reality on June 27, when the new provincial Governor Yu Xian issued a proclamation urging Chinese believers to renounce their faith or face death. If they did, they would receive a certificate declaring they were no longer Christians, and would consequently escape the coming slaughter. In part, the governor’s proclamation stated,

“The foreign religion is pernicious—it insults the gods and injures the people; the Boxers are right to kill and burn; and your crime has come upon your own heads. The foreigners’ preaching is an evil device to deceive man; it perverts the heavenly doctrine and destroys relationships.”[1]

A few days later it was announced in Shouyang that a reward of 100 taels (worth approximately $80 at the time) would be given for the head of any foreigner, and 25 taels ($20) for the head of each Chinese Christian.

On July 3rd the Boxers rounded up a large group of church members. A Christian shepherd named Li Pai rushed to the West Gate when he heard a commotion, and found that

“the Boxers were in the process of beheading seven Christians. Li Pai recognized one of the victims, a Mr. Mi…a teacher in the Baptist boys’ school in Taiyuan, who refused to recant. In all, throughout the district, seventy-one Chinese Christians, including eighteen women and eleven children, were slain that day—husbands in the presence of their wives and children in their mother’s arms. One woman was buried alive.”[2]

Li Pai himself became a victim of the Boxers a short time later.

Li Pai the Christian shepherd was put to death because he followed Jesus.

The remorseless persecutors decided to test their captives’ faith. A large circle was

“drawn on the ground and a cross inscribed in the center. To indicate their denial of Christ, all they had to do was step outside the circle. Only a few accepted this invitation. Those that stood their ground included a sizable number of teenagers. All were killed.”[3]

One girl named Bu Tao returned home to find that her father, mother, and elder sister had all been martyred by the Boxers. Another girl, Jia Loh, was engaged to be married to a young man in Shouyang. Her fiancé’s father, Cai, “was hunted by the Boxers and killed, and his wife was buried alive.”[4]

Zai Jingyang was a house painter by trade. Before his conversion he had also painted idols for a living. He fell ill, and while recovering in the Taiyuan hospital he heard the gospel for the first time and surrendered to the claims of Christ. Upon returning home to Shouyang he used part of his house as a chapel. Zai fearlessly preached the good news everywhere, even going into Buddhist temples to share with the monks. When the Boxers arrested Zai, he was bound and beaten half to death. While lying on the ground battered and bruised, “he was ridiculed by the bystanders. Some asked, ‘Does it hurt, teacher?’ After a so-called trial he was condemned to death, and beheaded outside the city, his head being hung on a neighbouring tree.”[5]

Wang Tianren and his bride on their wedding day, presided over by fellow-martyrs Thomas and Jessie Pigott.

Wang Tianren had been converted to Christ through the influence of missionaries. For several years he was the closest Chinese co-worker of Thomas Pigott. Just before the Pigott family were bound and taken to Taiyuan for execution, Wang was given their final letter in the hope that he would be able to safely deliver it. Soon after, Wang was captured by the Boxers and dragged before a magistrate and a Boxer chief. A circle was drawn on the floor with a cross in the middle. Wang Tianren was ordered to show his contempt for the cross by urinating on it. He refused and was swiftly executed.

Mi Xianseng was cruelly treated. He was a member of the Baptist Mission, and for several years had assisted Thomas Pigott in his work. He was taken before a mock trial, headed by the Boxer chief, but he “proved fearless, and refused to recant. He was then handed over for execution, taken outside the city with several others, and there mutilated in a manner which forbids description, before being finally beheaded.”[6]

A faithful man named Hu was killed at the village of Shidie. For many years he had worked as an evangelist, and had led many people to faith in Christ. Because of his effectiveness as a preacher, he was well-known throughout the area and many evil men desired to snuff out his life. He was finally captured, “beheaded, disembowelled, his heart cut out, and then his dismembered body was cast into the fire.”[7]

Li Gai, an old man in his 60s, was detained by his own neighbours until the Boxers arrived. They dragged him into the city where the magistrate asked him questions, but Li was too dazed to provide answers. The furious magistrate believed Li was purposely not answering and had him beaten. When Li was

“nearly insensible he was dragged out to undergo one of the most cruel forms of torture known. He was placed in a tall, wooden cage, with only his head protruding from an aperture in the top, his toes barely reaching the ground. Here he remained several hours; then he was taken out, and executed with others outside the city wall.”[8]

By the time the Boxers had completed their carnage, 71 Chinese Christians from the Shouyang area had lost their lives, many in a gruesome manner. Husbands “…were killed in the presence of their wives, while children were massacred in their mother’s arms. One woman was actually buried alive. All their sufferings could not be delineated, and will probably never be fully known.”[9]

1. Brandt, Massacre in Shansi, 216.
2. Brandt, Massacre in Shansi, 219.
3. Hefley, By Their Blood, 33.
4. Edwards, Fire and Sword in Shansi, 205.
5. Miner, China’s Book of Martyrs, 161.
6. Edwards, Fire and Sword in Shansi, 178.
7. Edwards, Fire and Sword in Shansi, 180.
8. Miner, China’s Book of Martyrs, 168.
9. Edwards, Fire and Sword in Shansi, 180.