Anthony E. Clark - China’s Saints: Catholic Martyrdom During the Qing (1644-1911)

T his book records the history of the Catholic martyr saints of China during its last imperial dynasty; it is their story, and everyone who has helped to bring their story to print is in his or her own way one of its tellers. Over the past several years I have benefited from the advice, editorial commentary, correction, reading, and support of too many people to adequately list, and I have undoubtedly neglected to mention some of those kind people who have made this book possible. It would take dozens of pages, if not chapters, to provide a detailed account of the help each person listed below has offered as I worked on this project. This work has benefited, too, from the careful attention and helpful advice of my anonymous reviewers; without their exacting readings and comments I would not have been spared several embarrassments. I also acknowledge the support and encouragement of Kathleen Lodwick, Scott Gordon, Julien Yoseloff, and the wonderful staffs at Lehigh University Press and the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.

As an academic I am also a trained skeptic, and as a skeptic I hope I have not wandered at times too far in the direction of dismissing what the believer would view as miraculous. Writing a scholarly account of such religious topics as martyrdom and sainthood is accompanied by the double-edged problem of treating too lightly the sincerity of faith or the standards of academic objectivity. I have tried to mitigate this difficulty as sensitively and as honestly as possible. The eager assistance I received from the members of the Catholic orders discussed in this book has been surprisingly generous: unsolicited books, documents, and photographs related to the saints of China began to appear, often from the archivists of various religious orders and congregations. As a Roman stoic philosopher once said, Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness, and this has been especially true as I have written this book. I render my sincerest gratitude to the following archives, organizations, and people:

Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vatican); Archivio Segreto Vaticano (Vatican); Archives of the Order of Friars Minor (Rome); Archives of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (Rome); Archives of the Society of the Divine Word (Rome); Archives of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (Maryknoll, New York); Mount Angel Benedictine Library and Archive (Mount Angel, Oregon); Archives of the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions (Rome); Archives of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (Paris); Archives of the Salesians of Don Bosco (Rome); Diocese of Beijing; Diocese of Taiyuan; Diocese of Kunming; Diocese of Wuhan; Holy Spirit Study Center (Hong Kong); Ricci Institute (Taipei); Fu Jen Catholic University (Taipei); Archives of the Order of Preachers (Rome); Archives of the Society of Jesus (Rome and Taipei); National Library of China Central Archives (Beijing); National Central Library and Archives (Taipei).

William J. Fulbright Program; National Security Education Program; Congregation of the Mission Vincentian Studies Institute (DePaul University); University of Alabama; Whitworth University.

Nathan Michaud; Kenneth Szabo; Emily Cerf; Joachim Kurtz; Barbara Bersaw; Luca Carboni; Carl Olson; Eric Cunningham; Matthew Wells; Lawrence Clayton; Stephen Durrant; Lionel Jensen; Eric Reinders; Bruce Flath; Michael Kelly; Georges Hauptmann; James T. Myers; Seth Panitch; Joseph Cheney; Steven E. Gump; Ambrogio Piazzoni; Anthony Fok; Veronica Fok; Li Yuzhang; Eric Henry; Brigitte Appavou; Yan Xuxi; Yan Genxi.

Cardinals and Bishops: His Eminence Cardinal Jos Saraiva Martins, C.M.F.; His Eminence Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre; His Excellency Robert J. Baker, S.T.D.; His Excellency William S. Skylstad, D.D.; His Excellency Aloysius Jin Luxian; His Excellency Li Jiantang; His Excellency Wang Chongyi; His Excellency Xiao Zejiang; His Excellency Hu Daguo (underground bishop); His Excellency Meng Ningyou. Jesuits: Fr. Paul Mariani; Fr. Jacques Duraud; Fr. Mitch Pacwa; Fr. Elias Cerezo. Dominicans: Fr. Augustine Hilander; Fr. Lzaro Sastre; Fr. George G. Christian; Fr. Lazaro Taylor; Fr. Quirico Pedregosa. Vincentians: Fr. Edward Udovic; Fr. John Rybolt; Fr. Varghese Thottamkara; Fr. Gregory Gay; Fr. Guiseppe Guerra; Fr. Pawel Wierzbickl and the other Vincentian Fathers of the Our Lady of China Catholic Community in Beijing. Daughters of Charity: Sr. Margaret John Kelly. Franciscan Missionaries of Mary: Sr. Zhang Chan; Sr. Jin Xiangling; Sr. Wu Jingyu; Sr. Xie Shufen; Sr. Wu Suxian; Sr. Ni Yunzhu; Sr. Wang Congmin; Sr. Wei Mingxin; Sr. Alma Broggi. Franciscans: Fr. Richard Martignelli; Benedatto Lino; Ying White. Benedictines: Fr. Augustine DeNoble. Salesians: Fr. Sean Rooney. Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions: Fr. Ciro Biondi. Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus: Fr. Daniel Cerezo. Canossian Daughters of Charity: Sr. Margaret Syn. SecularPriests: Fr. Richard Janowicz; Fr. Santam Pinto; Fr. Pang Wenxian; Fr. Ma Dejiang; Fr. Liu Xianjun; Fr. Li Yifei; Fr. Zhang Dongliang; Fr. Qin Geping; Fr. Liu Zhe; Fr. Zhao Jianmin; Fr. Liu Yongbin; Fr. Liu Zhentian; Fr. Peng Xin; Fr. Zhang Jinqing.

Finally, my wife, Amanda, has been unfailingly supportive, following me across oceans and continents to libraries, archives, churches, distant villages, and remote neighborhoods in immense Chinese cities. She has patiently endured hours, days, and months of difficult travel through inhospitable weather and terrain to meet a single person, take a single photograph, procure a single document, or sometimes discover that the trip was pointlessall the while reading and correcting drafts of this work. To her this book is affectionately dedicated.

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Bianco, Enzo, ed. Shan mu wei yang she sheng: Sheng Lei Wudao, Sheng GaoHuili. Translated by Zhang Enhong. Taipei: Guangqi chubanshe, 2000.

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