Chinese Martyrs ( zh, t=中華殉道聖人, s=中华圣烈士, first=t, w=Chung1-hua2 shêng4-lieh4-shih4, p=Zhōnghuá shéng lièshì) is the name given to a number of members of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church who were killed in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

during the 19th and early 20th centuries. They are celebrated as martyrs by their respective churches. Most were Chinese

laity In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...

, but others were

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

from various other countries; many of them died during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

Eastern Orthodox

The Eastern Orthodox Church recognizes 222 Orthodox Christians who died during the Boxer Rebellion as "Holy Martyrs of China". On the evening of 11 June 1900 leaflets were posted in the streets, calling for the massacre of the Christians and threatening anyone who would dare to shelter them with death."The Chinese Martyrs", American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the United States
/ref> They were mostly members of the Chinese Orthodox Church, which had been under the guidance of the Russian Orthodox since the 17th century and maintained close relations with them, especially in the large Russian community in Harbin. They are called

new-martyr The title of New Martyr or Neomartyr ( el, νεο-, ''neo''-, the prefix for "new"; and μάρτυς, ''martys'', "witness") is conferred in some denominations of Christianity to distinguish more recent martyrs and confessors from the old martyrs ...

s, as they died under a modern regime. The first of these martyrs was Metrophanes, Chi Sung, leader of the Peking Mission, who was killed, along with his family, during the

. All told, 222 members of the Peking Mission died.

Roman Catholic

The Roman Catholic Church recognizes 120 Catholics who died between 1648 and 1930 as its " Martyr Saints of China". They were canonized by Pope John Paul II on 1 October 2000. Of the group, 87 were Chinese laypeople and 33 were missionaries; 86 died during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. The

Chinese Martyrs Catholic Church The Chinese Martyrs Catholic Church is a national Catholic church in the Greater Toronto Area for Chinese Catholics. Originally based in Scarborough and now based in Markham, it was the second Catholic church to cater to Chinese Catholics in the ...

in Toronto, Ontario is named for them.

Protestant

Many Protestants also died during the

, including the " China Martyrs of 1900", but there is no formal veneration (according to their religious beliefs) nor a universally recognized list. At least 189 missionaries and 500 native Chinese Protestant Christians were murdered in 1900 alone. Though some missionaries considered themselves non-denominationally Protestant, among those killed were

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

Evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists,

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

and

Plymouth Brethren The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and non-conformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where they originated from Anglicanism. The group emphasizes ...

References

External links

Canonisation of 120 Chinese martyrs: has much changed under communism?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinese Martyrs 19th-century Eastern Orthodox martyrs 19th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 19th-century Christian saints 20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 20th-century Christian saints Chinese saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church Chinese Roman Catholic saints Roman Catholic child saints Groups of Eastern Orthodox saints Groups of Roman Catholic saints Chinese People of the Boxer Rebellion Eastern Orthodox missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in China Franciscan Missionaries of Mary China–Russian Empire relations

Eastern Orthodox

Roman Catholic

Protestant

See also

References

Further reading

External links