Chinese Martyrs （During Diverse Persecutions）

Religious persecutions against Christians occurred at various periods in the history of China.  

The first persecution against the first Christians in China, the Jinh-Jiao (the Luminous Religion), occurred in 843-845, under Emperor Wuzong.

Then another persecution happened during the early Yuan dynasty (1281-1367), when Bishop John of Montecorvino was evangelizing China.  

Another series of persecutions happened again at the end of the Ming dynasty (1606-1637) after the death of  Matteo Ricci, during the dispute of the Chinese rites.  

During the Ching dynasty (1648-1907) persecutions began again with the local Churches in the south and afterwards in the southwest parts of China. 

Twenty-six of the canonized martyrs were killed between 1814 and 1860, during which time the first (1839-42) and second (1856-60) Opium Wars forced imperial China to make numerous concessions to Western powers.  The greatest number of Chinese martyrs (86 of them) died during the Boxer Uprising of 1900. The Boxer Movement ( 義和團運動), literally meaning “The Righteous and Harmonious Society Movement”) or Boxer Rebellion (義和團之亂 or 義和團匪亂) was a Chinese rebellion from November 1899 to September 7, 1901, against foreign influence in areas such as trade, politics, religion and technology that occurred in China during the final years of the Qing Dynasty (Manchu rule). 

The Boxers began as an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist peasant-based movement in northern China. They attacked foreigners, who were building railroads and violating Feng shui, as well as Christians, who were held responsible for the foreign domination of China. Foreigners troops were invading Chinese territories and foreigners in general (including missionaries) enjoyed special privileges. In June 1900, the Boxers invaded Beijing and killed 230 non-Chinese. Tens of thousands of Chinese Christians, Catholic and Protestant alike, were killed mostly in Shandong and Shanxi Provinces as part of the uprising.  

The Taiyuan martyrs (2 bishops, 3 priests, 7 sisters, 7 seminarians, ten employees and several women) were arrested in Taiyuan (the capital of Shanxi) and kept inside the Taiyuan cathedral. Their execution took place on July 9th, 1900. They were beatified by Pope Pius XII on November 24th, 1947, and were canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 1st, 2000. 

The government of Empress Dowager Cixi was helpless as diplomats, foreign civilians, soldiers and some Chinese Christians retreated to the legation quarter and held out for 55 days as a multinational coalition rushed 20,000 troops to the rescue. The Chinese government was forced to indemnify the victims and make many additional concessions to foreign powers. Subsequent reforms implemented after the crises of 1900 laid the foundation for the end of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the modern Chinese Republic. 

  The Eastern Orthodox Church recognizes 222  Albazinian martyrs who died during the Boxer Rebellion. They were mostly members of the Chinese Orthodox Church, which had been founded by Russian Orthodox missionaries in the 17th century and maintained close relations with them, especially in the large Russian community in Harbin. They keep in great honour their martyrs.  

 (The following is a contemplation of the icon by an Orthodox believer) 

“The Orthodox Church believes that the icon is a window into heaven.  In other words the icon makes visible the very real but invisible reality of Christ and the saints.  The Orthodox Church also believes that the icon is the word of God in visual form.  In other words this icon is a visual sermon that speaks to us about the heroic faith of the Chinese Martyrs, their willingness to die for Jesus Christ.When I looked at this icon I asked myself: What are they doing?  What are they looking at?  What are they doing with their hands?  What is their body posture like?  Are there any writings in the icon?    

Starting from the bottom of the icon we see a large group of people looking at us.  It is a mixed group.  It is made up of clergy and laity, men and women, adult and children, boys and girls.  All of them are wearing haloes, the haloes signifying their having attained sainthood.  (In the Orthodox Church salvation, that is, life in Jesus Christ is available to both adults and children.)  The golden haloes represent the “crown of righteousness” and the “crown of glory” promised to those who keep the faith and who love the appearing of Jesus Christ. Notice that everyone in the icon has a cross.  This represents the cross that Christ gives us when we become his followers: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”(Matt.16：24-25) 

Bodily posture is also important.  Their standing upright signify the fact that the Chinese martyrs are very much awake and conscious in heaven right now.  It also symbolizes the Orthodox Church's belief that when we die we do not experience soul sleep but enter fully conscious into Christ's presence. 

One thing I like about this icon are the little details that carry much meaning.  I see little details like the Chinese style clothing, the long braided pigtail worn by St. Paul (standing to the right of Fr. Metrophanes'), the distinctive Chinese style kung fu slippers on their feet, the Asian features on their faces.   

When I looked at the front row I expected to see the priest Fr. Metrophanes Tsi-Chung in the center, instead I see the priest with his wife St. Tatiana.  The fact that Metrophanes is of Chinese ancestry points to Orthodoxy’s commitment to an indigenous clergy.  Orthodoxy in China was not a foreign religion, but a religion with deep roots in Chinese culture.  Also please note that the priest depicted in this icon is a married priest.  More than that, he was a married priest with three sons.  A family man with three sons!  All this point to a powerful affirmation of Chinese family values.  But what really impresses me is that here is a family willing to die for Christ.  Imagine!  A whole family who loved Jesus Christ more than anything else in the world.   

A careful examination of the front row shows other signs of family affection.  In the left corner we see a little boy clinging to his father’s robe.  In the middle we see a mother putting her hand on her son’s shoulder in a gesture of love and protection.  In the right corner we see two sisters holding hands together.  

As I look upwards I see two buildings in the background.  On the left a Russian Orthodox Church building with the distinctive onion shaped dome.  And on the right a building in the distinctive Chinese architecture.  This represents the dignity and wisdom of Chinese culture.  The Chinese martyrs standing between the two buildings shows them standing between the two cultures.   

Looking further up I see the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven extending both hands in the gesture of blessing.  Christ’s position at the very top of the icon points to Christ’s Lordship over all creation, his transcendence over all cultures: East and West.  So likewise his extending out both hands in the gesture of blessing points to Christ's extending his grace and mercy to the whole world.  This brings to mind the words in John’s Gospel: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son....”  

In closing I would like to bring to your attention that for the Orthodox Christian, the icon is more than just a reminder of the past.  This icon is a spiritual bridge linking us Christians living today to the Chinese Martyrs who died a hundred years ago.  This leads us to the ancient belief in the communion of the saints.  From the beginning Christians have not only remembered the saints and the martyrs, they asked the saints to remember them in their prayers.  This is the significant of the eyes.  Do you notice that the eyes of the Chinese Martyrs are looking at you?  This is an invitation for you to enter into fellowship with them.  It is also an invitation for us to ask them to pray to Christ for our salvation and for the salvation of China to the glory of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.” 

The “China Martyrs of 1900” is a term used by other Christian churches to refer to the members of their various denomination, who were killed in 1900 in connection with the Boxer Rebellion which targeted Christians and foreigners. 182 missionaries and 500 Chinese faithful died. The number was certainly much higher. These Christian Churches have no formal veneration of martyrs or a universally recognized list. 

Among these new Saints, there are 87 Chinese and 33 foreign missionaries, among whom 6 were bishops, 23 priests, 1 brother, 7 sisters, 7 seminarians, and 76 lay persons. From these 120 saints, the oldest was 79 years old, and the youngest was only 7 years old. 32  of them were persecuted between the years 1814 to 1862. 86 died in 1900, and 2 others were killed in 1930.  

They had all previously been beatified by various Popes. They were all canonized on the 1^st October, 2000 by Pope John Paul II. 

To the accusations that in canonizing the 87 Chinese and 33 foreign missioners, the Church was indirectly legitimizing the undeniable injustices and crimes committed by foreign powers against China before and during the Boxer Revolution, Pope John Paul II answered that in canonizing the 87 Chinese and 33 foreign missioners the Church had no intention of passing judgment on the complex historical periods in which the martyrs died or of seeking to legitimize actions of foreign governments against China. The Pope also asked pardon for any human faults of the missioners.

It is easy to understand why those who endured so much for their faith were so greatly venerated by their brethren from even the first days of trial in the reign of Nero. The Roman officials usually permitted relatives or friends to gather up the mutilated remains of the martyrs for interment, although in some instances such permission was refused. These relics the Christians regarded as “more valuable than gold or precious stones”, as it is written in the Martyrdom of Policarp.

Numerous crypts and chapels in the Roman catacombs, some of which, like the capella grœca, were constructed in sub-Apostolic times, also bear witness to the early veneration for those champions of freedom of conscience who won, by dying, the greatest victory in the history of the human race. At special commemoration services of the martyrs (such as the anniversary of their death, called their “birthday”), the Eucharist was celebrated over their tombs; this gave origin to the ancient custom of consecrating altars by enclosing in them the relics of martyrs. The Eucharistic sacrifice remembers Jesus’ death and celebrates Jesus’ resurrection. In the Eucharistic celebration the martyrs are commemorated because they are a mirror into which the faithful can contemplate Jesus’ victory. 

Later on veneration of the martyrs was occasionally exhibited in a rather undesirable form; many faithful were ready to do anything and pay any amount of money in order to be buried near the tomb of a martyr, in whose company they hoped one day to rise from the grave.

The Book of Revelation describes a heavenly liturgy where all the martyrs celebrate Jesus’ victory through them (they hold a palm in their hands) and praise the Lamb Jesus who grants all energy and courage to His Church. 

“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

Then one of the elders asked me, ‘These in white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?’  I answered, ‘Sir, you know.’  And he said, ‘These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
‘they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple;
 and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. 

Never again will they hunger;
 never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
 nor any scorching heat.
 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
 he will lead them to springs of living water.
 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7: 9-17)

On 15 January 1648, the Manchu Tartars, having invaded the region of Fujian and shown themselves hostile to the Christian religion, killed Blessed Francis Fernández de Capillas, a priest of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). After having imprisoned and tortured him, they beheaded him while he recited with others the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. 

Blessed Francis Fernández de Capillas has been recognized by the Holy See as a Protomartyr of China. 

Towards the middle of the eighteenth century another five Spanish Dominican missionaries, who had carried out their activity between 1715–1747, were put to death as a result of a new wave of persecution that started in 1729 and broke out again in 1746. This was in the epoch of the Emperor Yung-Cheng and of his son, K'ien-Lung. 

While Catholicism had been authorized by some Emperors in the preceding centuries, Emperor Kia-Kin (1796–1821) published, instead, numerous and severe decrees against it. The first was issued in 1805. Two edicts of 1811 were directed against those among the Chinese who were studying to receive sacred orders, and against priests who were propagating the Christian religion. A decree of 1813 exonerated voluntary apostates from every chastisement, that is, Christians who spontaneously declared that they would abandon their faith, but all others were to be dealt with harshly. 

In this period the following underwent martyrdom: 

In some places persecution was particularly severe. It is worth mentioning here: