The Taiyuan massacre took place during the Boxer Rebellion, July 9, 1900, in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, North China. Reports at the time alleged that Yuxian, governor of Shanxi, ordered the killings of 45 Christian missionaries and village Christians, including children. Recent research, however, raises questions. Roger Thompson, in his article about Yuxian, the supposed "Butcher of Shanxi", found that there were no eye-witnesses accounts and that both the missionary sources and the Chinese official reports hide the full truth. Nevertheless he concludes, "The weight of the evidence leads to a conclusion that mob violence, not Yuxian, was responsible" for the massacre. Another study finds that the accounts from the time offered different accounts of the executions, though agreed on the skeletal narrative.
The massacre
Protestant and Catholic missionaries and their Chinese parishioners were massacred throughout northern China, some by Boxers and others by government troops and authorities. After the declaration of war on Western powers in June 1900, Yuxian, who had been named governor in March, implemented a brutal anti-foreign and anti-Christian policy. On 9 July, reports circulated that he had executed forty-four foreigners from missionary families whom he had invited to the provincial capital Taiyuan under the promise to protect them. Roger Thompson points out that the widely circulated accounts were by people who could not have seen the events and that these accounts closely followed well known earlier martyr literature. In any case, this event became a notorious symbol of Chinese anger. By the summer's end, more foreigners and as many as 2,000 Chinese Christians had been put to death in the province. Journalist and historical writer Nat Brandt has called the massacre of Christians in Shanxi "the greatest single tragedy in the history of Christian evangelicalism."
Christians in Taiyuan before the 1900 massacre
By the late 19th century, there were long-established Christian communities. Catholic missionaries first came to Shanxi in 1633, and Protestant churches were established in 1865.
Reports from resident missioners
Visiting missioners and others
A report of this conference was made and includes the following note of those present:
Mr J J Turner and Mr F James travelled from Chianking on 17 Oct 1876 arriving in "Taiyuanfu" in April 1877 to discover the region was suffering from 3 years of famine. They left on 28 Nov, two days before the arrival of Timothy Richard with famine relief. Returning the following March 1878 with famine relief were Mr Turner, Rev A Whiting and Rev David Hill.
Sarah Alice Young nee Troyer, known as Alice or Sade to her family
Moir Black Duncan and Jessie Chalmers Duncan and their daughters
The Massacre
Later related events
Reparations
About three months later than the Memorial Services at Pao-ting-fu which have just been referred to, a party of eight missionaries started for the province of Shan-si. Their names are Dr. E. H. Edwards of the Sheo-yang Mission, Rev. Moir Duncan, and Dr. Creasy Smith of the B.M.S., Dr Atwood of the American Board, and Messrs. D. E. Hoste, A. Orr-Ewing, C. H. Tjader, and Ernest Taylor of the C.I.M. In response to the invitation of the new Governor, Ts en-ch un-hsiien, the party of eight missionaries, under an escort provided by the Governor, started from Pao-ting-fu on Wednesday, June 26, reaching T ai-yiian-fu on July 9 the first anniversary of the awful massacre in that very city. The following extract from the diary of one of this party describes their reception :
July 9. Reached T ai-yiian-fu. Twelve months ago to-day forty-five European and American missionaries and others were slaughtered by order of the Governor. The scene to-day was a strange contrast. Thirty miles off, outriders inquired as to the time of our arrival. Ten miles off, the Governor s body guard blared out their welcome and unfurled their standards. Two miles nearer, the Shan-si mounted police made salute. Three miles from the city, we exchanged our litters for Pekin carts to facilitate our reception. A large and representative body of Christians seemed delighted to welcome us. Their faces bore clear traces of the sufferings endured. From this point the procession rapidly increased, as we proceeded between rows of officials, both military and civil. At the entrance to the pavilion stood an Imperial officer, who stepped forward and said, "I welcome you in the name of the Emperor of China."
Taken unedited from "Last Letters and Further Records of Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission"
Indemnity funds
The Shansi Imperial University at Taiyuan was founded in 1901 with funds from the indemnity levied against Shansi for the massacre of the Christians by the Boxers. During the first decade of the university its chancellor was the Baptist missionary Timothy Richard who also headed the Western College.
