1906 - The Nanchang Tragedy

February 25, 1906

Nanchang, Jiangxi

One of the strangest and most tragic incidents to occur in China in the early 20th century took place at Nanchang in Jiangxi Province. The Catholics in the city had complained to the government about the murders of Chinese believers, and had demanded that the county magistrate, Jiang Zhaotang, be held responsible and be forced to provide compensation to the victims’ families. Through official channels great pressure was placed on Jiang. The result was the deaths of an innocent Protestant missionary family, and the slaying of several Catholics.

The most tragic part of the incident is that violence and hatred between the Catholics and Methodists played a key part in the sorry saga. For several years the tension between the two Christian groups had been rising, with about 100 Methodists destroying 15 Catholic shops on July 3, 1901. In retaliation, more than 200 Catholics

“lured a band of battle-ready Protestants and their allies into an ambush. In the ensuing fighting, twelve died, some by drowning. None of the fatalities was Catholic and six were Methodists. To celebrate the victory, various non-Catholic shops (nine Protestant, two unaffiliated) were sacked and the Methodist chapel defaced.”[1]

Not surprisingly the animosity between two arms purporting to belong to the Body of Christ was viewed with disdain and mockery by the non-Christian Chinese in Nanchang. On February 22, 1906, magistrate Jiang dined at the headquarters of the city’s Catholic mission. He was later found with his throat cut, in an apparent bid by Jiang to harm the Catholics who had caused him to ‘lose face’ and destroyed his chances of promotion.

When the people of Nanchang heard about the magistrate’s death, they immediately rioted against the Christians in the belief that the official had been murdered. The Chinese government later issued a statement declaring that Jiang had “cut his own throat in a fit of anger.”[2]

On the morning of Sunday, February 25th, a group of students mobilized in Nanchang with revenge on their minds. They marched toward the Catholic mission with murderous intent. As French missionary Jean-Marie Lacruche prepared for Mass on Sunday morning, the local Catholics heard what the students were planning, and urged the missionaries to leave the city immediately. Lacruche refused to flee and convinced the local authorities to assign a small military guard to protect the church property. The Frenchman only consented to start the Mass one hour earlier than usual and to dispense with his sermon.

When the rioters reached the mission, “the huge crowd overwhelmed the military guard, discovered Lacruche, and tracked him through the streets of Nanchang as he fled a rain of blows. His efforts at finding refuge failed, and he succumbed after a long chase of an hour or two.”[3]

The mob set fire to the mission buildings at Laogongyuan. The nearby French College, which was run by the missionaries, employed five Marist brothers as teachers. After being alerted to the troubles by the sight of flames and smoke emanating from the Catholic mission, they fled the city in haste, but “the pursuing crowd cornered them in a pond beyond the city walls and stoned them until all five had died.”[4] The name of one of the martyred Marist brothers was Louise Maurice.

Unfortunately for one Protestant missionary family, the Nanchang students saw all foreigners in the same light on that Sunday morning. Harry and Octavia Kingham were Plymouth Brethren missionaries who lived near the French College. When the rioters approached their compound, the Kinghams

“strenuously denied any connection with the Catholic mission or the French, but to no avail. Both were beaten to death. Their elder daughter, seven years old, was so severely injured that she died that night. Nine foreigners had been killed or fatally injured within a few hours amidst the rain and sleet of 25 February in Nanchang. All Catholic mission buildings were burned, as was the Plymouth Brethren compound.”[5]

Thirty-five other foreign missionaries, both Protestant and Catholic, managed to escape from Nanchang unharmed, but the disgrace to the cause of Christ because of this incident hindered the advance of the gospel in the city for years to come.

1. Daniel H. Bays (ed.), Christianity in China: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present (Stanford, Ca.: Stanford University Press, 1996), 106-107.
2. Bays, Christianity in China, 109.
3. Bays, Christianity in China, 97.
4. Bays, Christianity in China, 97.
5. Bays, Christianity in China, 97.