1951 - Peter Wang Beihua

March 1951

Jiudu, Jiangxi

Peter Wang Beihua was a Catholic living in Nancheng in Jiangxi Province. In 1950, when the Communists cracked down on Christians in Nancheng, he was arrested and confined to prison for more than a year. The 33-year-old Wang fell into a depression over his incarceration and likely death. He still believed in Jesus Christ, but the unfairness of his situation had been weighing on his mind and heart. God used another prisoner, a non-Christian named Yao, to help Wang break free from despondency. Yao asked Wang:

“Why do you worry? Why are you melancholy about the future? Don’t you Catholics believe that life here is just a fleeting preparation for a life which will never end? …. And you Catholics believe too that the more you suffer in this life the greater will be your happiness in the next. And another thing…those two boys who are in our cell, they will be shot too. Why don’t you instruct and baptize them so that, even if their earthly life is cut short, they may be assured of life in heaven?”[1]

This wise counsel totally changed Wang’s perspective. He stopped feeling sorry for himself and shared the gospel with the two young men in his cell. Two weeks later they believed and were baptized.

One grey and drizzly Sunday afternoon, in 1951, Wang was led out of the prison in chains and taken to his home village of Jiudu, to be tried as a criminal. All the people of Jiudu knew the trial was unfair. Wang Beihua was known as a man of integrity and honour, unlike the corrupt officials who now wielded their earthly power against this follower of Christ. When one man told the Communist leadership that Wang was a good man, the Reds “flew into a rage, flailed him with a bamboo cudgel, then ordered that he be tied up and led away to jail.”[2]

On the way to his execution Peter Wang Beihua first met a distant relative, who encouraged him to remain steadfast. Next, after they entered Jiadu village, he caught a glimpse of his elder sister, who cried out, “Beihua, your hour has come. Do not worry about your trial here but make sure that your soul is prepared to meet God in judgement.”[3]

Every few minutes as the procession continued more Catholics shouted their encouragement to the condemned ‘criminal.’ Just like his Lord and Master, the trial of Wang included testimony from some false witnesses who had been paid to lie. A few collaborators then demanded that Wang be shot for his crimes. The Communist judge duly endorsed the sentence, under the pretence that he was a ‘servant of the people’ and his role was merely to obey their wishes. Wang was led to a green field a short distance from the village. He was commanded to kneel down, and fell forward awkwardly as he lost his balance due to his hands being bound tied behind his back. The leading official

“asked the condemned man if he had anything to say. Peter was silent. He just bowed his head and his lips appeared to move in prayer…. The Commissar raised a red flag. Peter signed himself with the sign of the cross as the executioner placed the muzzle of a gun close to his ear. The flag dropped. A shot rang out and Peter fell.”[4]

After the cruel and unjust slaying, a Communist official was heard to say of Peter Wang Beihua, “I never heard anyone say a word against him. But we had to shoot him. We can’t leave people like that around.”[5]

1. Smyth, …But Not Conquered, 114.
2. Smyth, …But Not Conquered, 113.
3. Smyth, …But Not Conquered, 116.
4. Smyth, …But Not Conquered, 117.
5. Smyth, …But Not Conquered, 117.