1917 - Alphonso Argento

July 3, 1917

Guangshan, Henan

Alphonso Argento and his family, a short time before his death in 1917.

Alphonso Argento is somewhat unique in the list of China’s martyrs in that he survived a murder attempt during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, yet carried the pain of his injuries for another 17 years, many of which were spent in service in China, before finally succumbing to head injuries in 1917. Despite the long lapse between the time he sustained the injuries and his death, all the missionary publications at the time considered Argento a true martyr of the faith.

Argento was born in Italy in 1873. At the age of 18 he was led to Christ through the influence of the Golia Mauro of the Waldensian Church. After reading China’s Millions—the monthly magazine of the China Inland Mission—Argento became deeply burdened for missionary work in China. He dedicated his life to serve God in the Orient, and applied to join the CIM. At the interview Argento was warned of the possibility of danger, to which he boldly replied, “I am not afraid even to die for Christ and the Gospel…. I was led to take this step after having known Christ’s promise, ‘Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’”[1]

In the autumn of 1895 Argento left his home at Girgenti, Sicily, and made his way to London, where he undertook training for a year. Argento was fluent in English, French and German. After arriving in China in October 1896, he soon learned Chinese. In 1899 he established the first mission station at Guangshan (previously called Guangzhou) in the southeast of Henan Province.

During the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 the mission station at Guangshan was attacked. During a church service in the evening of July 8th, a large crowd of people, armed with swords and knives, rushed into the chapel. As the murderers pressed in to kill Argento, someone knocked the lamp over and the chapel was plunged into complete darkness. The besieged Italian crawled into a corner and hid under some rubble, as the Boxers, presuming Argento had managed to escape, plundered everything they could. Argento was discovered after managing to crawl upstairs and hide beneath a table. He later described the distress of the occasion:

“With a rush they got hold of me and dragged me from under the table and on to the pile of wood [with which they planned to burn the building down]. Others took up the benches and struck me with them…. They poured kerosene on my clothes and set them on fire. Friendly neighbours, however, quickly quenched the flames, tearing off the burning part of the garment…. I was lying with my face to the ground. The rioters, seeing these neighbours wanted to save me, got hold of a pole, and began to strike me on the head and all over my body. I tried to protect my head with my hands, but had not reached the doorsteps when a very heavy blow inflicted on my head caused me to lose consciousness.”[2]

For two days Alphonso Argento lay unconscious. Some of the Boxers dragged his body into the street outside the chapel, wanting to decapitate him, but sympathetic locals convinced them the missionary was already dead. After Argento regained consciousness, the local magistrate was afraid he would die within his jurisdiction and so ordered the Italian be carried by stretcher to a town 140 miles (227 km) to the north. All along the route people came to stare at the half-naked missionary, who was covered in terrible bruises and laying in a pool of his own blood. They urged the stretcher-carriers to put him out of his misery. At one location Argento said, “They thought I was dead, for I did not move or make a sound, although they pinched me, pulled my hair, and knocked me about—an ordeal which lasted an hour long, after which the magistrate ordered some underlings to take me into a room and close the door.”[3]

At Xi Xian he was treated like an animal, being made to lay outside in the rain all night. On July 21st, after two weeks of misery, Argento was carried back to Guangshan where the ordeal had begun. The locals were astonished to see him still alive, yet they still had the audacity to mock his God. A large crowd gathered around him, saying, “God has brought you back safely, has He? Your God cannot save you. Jesus is dead; He is not in this world. He cannot give real help. Our god of war is much stronger; he protects us, and he has sent the Boxers to pull down your house and kill you.”[4]

Argento later recalled how wicked men “spat in my face, and threw mud and melon peel at me, and did what they liked. Some pinched me, others pulled my queue, and others expressed themselves in the vilest way. All the time I did not answer a word. Some of the Christians came to see me but had to run for their lives.”[5]

The cowardly Guangshan magistrate, again afraid the people would kill the missionary in his jurisdiction, ordered Argento’s journey to recommence, this time in a sedan chair. This time they went westward to Xinyang. A group of 30 armed Boxers pursued the Italian, determined to slaughter him once and for all. By obeying the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit, Argento managed to evade his pursuers and was finally delivered to safety on July 31st.

The people of Guangshan thought they had finally seen the back of the stubborn missionary, but after a year recuperating in Europe Argento returned to Guangshan, to the amazement of the town’s inhabitants. Here was a man who had learned to overcome fear and intimidation. In 1901 he wrote from Guangshan, “It was the greatest joy I have ever experienced in my life to see the Christians again and hear what the Lord has been doing during my absence.”[6] For the next seven years the Italian continued to boldly serve the Lord in Guangshan, and the church grew steadily. In 1905 Argento married Miss Bjorgum of the Norwegian Mission. Together they raised two fine boys. The injuries to Argento’s head continued to cause him much pain, but he carried on regardless. Finally, in 1908, his deteriorating health caused him to leave China. Up to that time 385 baptisms had resulted from the Italian’s fruitful ministry. After returning to Europe, doctors found that Argento

“was suffering from severe pains in his head, and in spite of the best surgical skill, he gradually became blind, latterly he lost his memory, and the use of his arms and limbs. His interest in the work in China never flagged, and in a letter at the end of May (1917) he wrote, ‘I will use my strength in prayer and in intercession for China.’”[7]

Finally, in the Norwegian city of Trondheim on July 3, 1917, Alphonso Argento was released from the pain of this life and went to be with Jesus. He was 44-years-old. The China Inland Mission paid tribute to the martyr by writing:

“He was a man of great zeal and energy and of entire devotion to the Lord, and the work at Guangshan owed much to his intercessions during the years in which he was laid aside. The Church there has prospered greatly in recent years, and there are now nearly 800 communicants. There are 29 outstations in the surrounding district, with three paid evangelists and 26 voluntary helpers. The central church has seating accommodation for 1,400, and at the time of the annual meetings it is crowded out.”[8]

When the Lutheran United Mission commenced work in Guangshan in the early 1920s, the memory of Alphonso Argento’s commitment was still fresh in the minds of the townspeople. Astrup Larsen wrote,

“Mission work was started in Guangshan about 25 years ago by Rev. Mr. Argento of the China Inland Mission. Mr. Argento was a very aggressive worker and consequently met with much opposition and enmity. In the persecutions of the Boxer year he sustained injuries which left him an invalid. He died in 1917, a martyr to the cause of Christ. Mr. Argento dug well and laid a solid foundation.”[9]

God cannot be mocked. In the town and county of Guangshan, where evil men once said, “Jesus is dead; He is not in this world. He cannot give real help,” there are approximately 120,000 Christians today—following the example of the beloved pioneer missionary Alphonso Argento.

1. “The Supreme Sacrifice: In Memoriam—Alphonso Argento,” China’s Millions (Vol. XLIII, No.8, August 1917), 89.
2. Marshall Broomhall (ed.), Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission: With a Record of the Perils and Sufferings of Some Who Escaped (London: Morgan and Scott, 1901), 238. The same account also appeared in China’s Millions (November 1900).
3. Broomhall, Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission, 240.
4. Broomhall, Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission, 242.
5. Broomhall, Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission, 242.
6. “The Supreme Sacrifice,” 89.
7. “The Supreme Sacrifice,” 89.
8. “The Supreme Sacrifice,” 89.
9. T. Ekeland, Albert Anderson, & Olive T. Christensen (eds.), White Unto Harvest: A Survey of the Lutheran United Mission (Minneapolis: The Board of Foreign Missions, 1919), 87.