Thursday, July 9, marks the anniversary of the death of a not very
well known Christian martyr, Augustine Zhao Rong, who was executed on or
about this date in the year 1815.
But, while his death was certainly heroic, he represents a much larger trail of blood in the empire and now People’s Republic of China.
Zhao Rong was born in 1746 and as a young man rose to be a captain in the imperial Chinese army.
One of his last assignments was to escort the arrested French missionary Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse from the place of his arrest to Beijing.
The older bishop suffered much and bore his trials with patience as he was brought to his trial.
Impressed with the old Christian’s courage, Zhao Rong asked to learn more about the foreigner’s religion and he was soon baptized.
While still in the army, he saw the old French bishop die for his faith. Bishop John’s head was severed and placed on a pole as a discouragement to the further spread of Christianity.
In fact, as is often the case with martyrs, the exact opposite occurred. The old bishop’s body was stolen by Christians three days later and given a reverent burial, and the faith began to spread.
This brave witness may have been part of his inspiration for Zhao Rong to leave the army, to enter theological study and be ordained as a priest. Not long after his ordination Zhao Rong was arrested, put to torture and executed in 1815.
At Rong’s murder, a number of other Christians were also put to death by the imperial authorities, including an 18-year-old man who was flayed to death. The younger martyr, Chi Zhuzi, cried out to his torturers in his agony, “Every piece of my flesh, every drop of my blood will tell you that I am Christian.”
The reason why the Christians were persecuted by the emperors of China was that the rulers feared that “foreign rites” were harmful to the state, perhaps because they would upset the balance and harmony so devoutly sought by the ancient cults of China.
More obviously, they did not want foreigners meddling in their territory, and the fact that most of the missions were sent from Europeans in potentially hostile Japan did not help matters.
In point of fact, Christianity in China was far older than the missionary movements of modern times. One legend say that the apostle St. Bartholomew first took the Gospel to China.
It is known that there were Christians missionaries in China as early as the fifth century A.D. and the first known church building was erected in the seventh century A.D.
In the time of the Tang Dynasty in the seventh through 10th centuries there was a flourishing Christian community in China, and by the 13th century there was a an Italian bishop in Beijing.
The early Christians did not challenge many of the traditions of ancient China, and for many faithful the veneration of ancestors and Catholic honor to the saints seemed somehow compatible. This relatively peaceful situation was not to last.
A pivotal figure in Chinese history is the Emperor Kang His, who ruled from 1654 to 1722. This emperor on one hand encouraged the Jesuit missionaries and was particularly interested in their scientific research. However he was uncomfortable with any ceremonial rite which was not of pure Chinese heritage.
His successors, following this view, would openly persecute the Christian community. Christians had been killed from time to time in the civil disorders which often plagued China. But in 1715 and again in 1729 and 1746 imperial authorities increasingly turned on the missionaries and native Chinese believers.
It was the Emperor Kia-Kin, who ruled from 1796 to 1821, who issued a series of decrees forbidding Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular from his empire, and specific decrees were issued against anyone studying theology. Kia-Kin promised toleration to those who freely renounced their faith, but decreed a nasty end to anyone who did not.
It was in this period that Zhao Rong was killed, nor was he alone. About the same time Peter Wu, a lay teacher, was strangled, as were Joseph Zhang Dapeng a layman and a merchant, Father Thaddeus Liu and a lay teacher named Joachim Ho. These few names represent a larger number whose names are known but to God.
Note : It is important to Pray For Chinese Catholics in the Underground Catholic Church as they are Living Martyrs and True Witnesses of Christ's Unadulterated Gospel.
But, while his death was certainly heroic, he represents a much larger trail of blood in the empire and now People’s Republic of China.
Zhao Rong was born in 1746 and as a young man rose to be a captain in the imperial Chinese army.
One of his last assignments was to escort the arrested French missionary Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse from the place of his arrest to Beijing.
The older bishop suffered much and bore his trials with patience as he was brought to his trial.
Impressed with the old Christian’s courage, Zhao Rong asked to learn more about the foreigner’s religion and he was soon baptized.
While still in the army, he saw the old French bishop die for his faith. Bishop John’s head was severed and placed on a pole as a discouragement to the further spread of Christianity.
In fact, as is often the case with martyrs, the exact opposite occurred. The old bishop’s body was stolen by Christians three days later and given a reverent burial, and the faith began to spread.
This brave witness may have been part of his inspiration for Zhao Rong to leave the army, to enter theological study and be ordained as a priest. Not long after his ordination Zhao Rong was arrested, put to torture and executed in 1815.
At Rong’s murder, a number of other Christians were also put to death by the imperial authorities, including an 18-year-old man who was flayed to death. The younger martyr, Chi Zhuzi, cried out to his torturers in his agony, “Every piece of my flesh, every drop of my blood will tell you that I am Christian.”
The reason why the Christians were persecuted by the emperors of China was that the rulers feared that “foreign rites” were harmful to the state, perhaps because they would upset the balance and harmony so devoutly sought by the ancient cults of China.
More obviously, they did not want foreigners meddling in their territory, and the fact that most of the missions were sent from Europeans in potentially hostile Japan did not help matters.
In point of fact, Christianity in China was far older than the missionary movements of modern times. One legend say that the apostle St. Bartholomew first took the Gospel to China.
It is known that there were Christians missionaries in China as early as the fifth century A.D. and the first known church building was erected in the seventh century A.D.
In the time of the Tang Dynasty in the seventh through 10th centuries there was a flourishing Christian community in China, and by the 13th century there was a an Italian bishop in Beijing.
The early Christians did not challenge many of the traditions of ancient China, and for many faithful the veneration of ancestors and Catholic honor to the saints seemed somehow compatible. This relatively peaceful situation was not to last.
A pivotal figure in Chinese history is the Emperor Kang His, who ruled from 1654 to 1722. This emperor on one hand encouraged the Jesuit missionaries and was particularly interested in their scientific research. However he was uncomfortable with any ceremonial rite which was not of pure Chinese heritage.
His successors, following this view, would openly persecute the Christian community. Christians had been killed from time to time in the civil disorders which often plagued China. But in 1715 and again in 1729 and 1746 imperial authorities increasingly turned on the missionaries and native Chinese believers.
It was the Emperor Kia-Kin, who ruled from 1796 to 1821, who issued a series of decrees forbidding Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular from his empire, and specific decrees were issued against anyone studying theology. Kia-Kin promised toleration to those who freely renounced their faith, but decreed a nasty end to anyone who did not.
It was in this period that Zhao Rong was killed, nor was he alone. About the same time Peter Wu, a lay teacher, was strangled, as were Joseph Zhang Dapeng a layman and a merchant, Father Thaddeus Liu and a lay teacher named Joachim Ho. These few names represent a larger number whose names are known but to God.
Note : It is important to Pray For Chinese Catholics in the Underground Catholic Church as they are Living Martyrs and True Witnesses of Christ's Unadulterated Gospel.
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