1905 - Jean-André Soulié

April 14, 1905

Batang, Sichuan

Jean-André Soulié was born in Saint-Juéry, France, on October 7, 1858. He entered seminary at the age of 23. In the early months he was considered somewhat cold and distant by the teachers and his fellow students, but the Holy Spirit was working on his character and by the time he graduated five years later, Soulié had become one of the best students academically and was well-liked by all who knew him. Soulié accepted the call to become a missionary to the Tibetans, but he was worried that the news would break his mother’s heart, so he didn’t tell his family.

He slipped away from his parent’s house on September 11, 1884, making his way to the seminary of the Missions Etrangères de Paris for training. Soulié’s parents heard about the plan when one of his classmates inadvertently told them. This caused great pain and anguish and they attempted to put an end to Jean-André’s missionary plans before they commenced. Soulié was convinced of God’s call, however, and would not allow them to disrupt the direction he was firmly committed to. He was ordained a priest on July 5, 1885, and set sail for China on October 7th.

After a time of language study, Soulié started on the long overland journey to Batang in the foothills of the Himalayas, finally arriving on Christmas Day, 1886. He immediately started learning the Khampa Tibetan dialect, using two small children to speak sentences to him, which he would then mimic back to them, much to the amusement of the locals.

The Buddhist monks in Batang and surrounding districts hated the presence of the missionaries. Over the years many violent attacks had occurred. The missionaries were beaten, cut, and some died, but they refused to be intimidated and continued their mission. On one occasion the head lama secured the mission premises with the intention of massacring the foreigners holed up inside. Soulié and his colleagues staged a daring escape by riding their horses at full gallop threw the blockade and out of the town.

In 1891 Soulié was appointed leader of the work in a small town called Zegou. The local officials did all they could to prevent his ministry. The intrepid Frenchman was undeterred, and gained access to the town by disguising himself as a Manchu merchant and entering under the cover of darkness. He endured sleeping outside in the snow, and was once attacked by wolves, because he considered the Christian instruction of a handful of children at Zegou worth the suffering. Seeing the horrible sicknesses that many Tibetan people were afflicted with, Jean-André Soulié undertook a medical course so he would be better able to help them. This caused a newfound respect for Soulié in the eyes of the people. One account says,

“Soulié had become a very skilful doctor; and to be able to satisfy his patients he ordered, each year, a considerable quantity of European and Chinese drugs. The service which he thus rendered to the population soon made him like the king of the country. When he built a new presbytery, all the families of Yergong, without exception, and the head lama himself, brought him gifts and helped in the construction of the building.”[1]

The head lama at Batang, however, was not so enamoured by the missionaries. He devised a murderous plan with the chief of police. On April 3, 1905, Soulié was riding his horse towards Batang to visit his fellow missionary Henri Mussot when he was surrounded by 60 armed Tibetan thugs who had been hired by the lama from three different villages. The men seized Soulié and suddenly blows and sword cuts rained down on him. His bruised and bleeding body was tied to a tree stump. The next morning the torturers were amazed to find Soulié still alive. They dragged him to Batang where they plundered the mission, destroying religious objects with “a satanic rage.” The head lama and chief of police told Soulié his punishment was due to his “preaching a religion contrary to the teachings of the monastery at Batang.”[2] Jean-André Soulié was barely conscious, but the wicked men proceeded to torture him to death. They pressed a crucifix into his feet and other parts of his body, while tearing up prayer books and demolishing the mission station. Soulié somehow survived for 11 excruciating days. Finally at around ten o’clock in the morning of April 14, 1905, the head lama ordered one of his underlings to shoot the stubborn missionary. He was “shot through the head and heart. A fanatic cut off his arm with a sword, then the pagans covered his body with stones.”[3]

1. My translation of the Jean-André Soulié Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris, China Biographies and Obituaries, 1900-1999.
2. Jean-André Soulié Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris.
3. Robert Loup, Martyr in Tibet: The Heroic Life and death of Father Maurice Tornay, St. Bernard Missionary to Tibet (New York: David McKay, 1956), 146.