1805 — 1861
Che Jinguang
Protestant Christian, originally a temple keeper at Boluo (Poklo)博罗 in Huizhou惠州, Guangdong
Che Jinguang was 50 years old when he received the New Testament from a colporteur in 1856. As he read the Bible and started to believe in Christ, he destroyed the family ancestral tablets and went to Hong Kong, where he was baptized after 6 weeks of instruction. He returned to Boluo and preached the gospel there.
In 1860, he prepared 60 candidates who were baptized by a LMS (London Missionary Society) missionary. Che baptized another 100 the next year, but the anti-foreign atmosphere could not tolerate such a success. Fellow missionary James Legge decided to purchase a house in Boluo for a church center, but local gentry occupied it. Legge returned with a military escort, and the house was recovered. Legge left after a few days, and Che was then in charge of the house, alone. A few days later, Che was tortured and killed. He was beheaded on 16 October 1861.
Sources
Lit.: J. Lutz, "The Jesus of the Early Chinese Protestant Evangelists," in Malek, Chinese Face of Jesus Christ (vol. 2, p. 734).
Taken with permission from:
Leopold Leeb, "Christians Born Before 1830: Pioneers and Partners of Foreign Missionaries in the Coastal Areas, Courageous Witnesses in the Hinterland," in Dictionary of the History of Christianity in China, ed. Wojciech Rybka, Piotr Adamek, and Sonja Meiting Huang (Fu Jen University Press: Taipei, Taiwan, 2024), 54.
About the Author
Dr. G. Wright Doyle is the director of Global China Center. He also serves as General Editor of the Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity and editor of the GCC website. He also serves as General Editor of the Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity, co-editor of the series Studies in Chinese Christianity published by Wipf & Stock, and editor of the GCC website. He has contributed to Western and Chinese academic journals, and has published a number of books (reachingchineseworldwide.org/books).
