1881 - Jean-Baptiste Brieux

September 8, 1881

Batang, Sichuan

Jean-Baptiste Honoré Brieux was born at Bonboillon, France, on February 6, 1845. He attended the seminary of Besancon, after which he was employed as a clerk for six years. During this time he studied diligently, and later worked as a professor at a local college. In October 1876 he entered the Missions Etrangères de Paris. After being ordained a priest on June 15, 1878, Brieux left for the Orient the following July 11th.

Brieux was appointed to one of the most remote and dangerous locations in China—the frontier town of Batang on the border between Tibet and Sichuan. The region was rife with bandits and violence, although the Catholic missionaries had generally been allowed to travel unmolested for the previous twenty years. Whenever Brieux wanted to go on a long journey to visit some of the scattered believers under his care, the safest way was to attach himself to a large convoy of travellers. In addition to his pastoral and evangelistic duties, Brieux was given the task of delivering the annual allowances, letters, and supplies to the missionaries as far away as Yanjing in Tibet and Deqin in northern Yunnan. These trips often took weeks to accomplish, across some of the most brutal and breath-taking landscapes in the world.

On September 8, 1881, Brieux was attacked by Tibetan robbers while sleeping in a tent just four miles (six kilometres) from Batang. While preparing for a night’s rest a hail of rocks fell on the missionary, and several men rushed into his tent and stabbed him to death. Two of the priest’s Chinese colleagues were kidnapped, but one managed to get free and report the events to the authorities at Batang. The magistrate immediately sent soldiers by horse to investigate, but all they found was the dead body of Jean-Baptiste Brieux. The leader of the Mission, Alexandre Biet, investigated the incident and concluded,

“The murder of Mr. Brieux is not a simple act of banditry. The plot was woven in advance, and I do not hesitate to believe that our dear brother poured out his blood for his faith, and that his assassins were paid by the Tibetan lamas. They committed this mortal sin not because we are foreigners, but because we preach a religion that is not Buddhism.”[1]

Four of the Tibetans who had been involved in the murder took refuge in the Batang Buddhist monastery. The Chinese magistrate sent a message to the head lama, instructing him to hand the men over for questioning. The messenger was greeted with a hail of rocks. A small Chinese garrison was then sent to the monastery to arrest the murderers, and this time the Buddhist monks responded by shooting and wounding three of the soldiers. The men were finally arrested and executed. Biet concluded,

“The assassins were only instruments of the real culprits: the lamas and monks of the Batang monastery…. The death of Mgr. Brieux is a terrible blow for our poor Mission, so frequently and harshly tested. I relied much on this excellent missionary. Although he arrived only three years ago, he had displayed an unflappable piety and an absolute devotion to the cause…. Today his mortal remains rest close to our mission house. This apostle has sprinkled the ground of Batang with his blood. May this invaluable sacrifice advance the hour of God’s merciful visitation, when Tibet opens its arms to us and the Gospel!”[2]

1. My translation of the Jean-Baptiste Brieux Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris, China Biographies and Obituaries, 1800-1899.
2. Jean-Baptiste Brieux Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris.