1958 - Dong Shaowu

September 7, 1958

Luoshan, Henan

Dong Shaowu.

Born into a poor but godly Christian family in the winter of 1894 at Xiangcheng County, Henan Province, Dong Shaowu made a commitment to serve the Lord Jesus Christ at an early age. When he was old enough Dong travelled to Hunan Province where he studied at the Changsha Bible School. In the mid-1920s he attended the Jinling Union Theological Seminary in Nanjing. By the age of 30 Dong Shaowu had a wealth of Bible knowledge deposited in his heart and mind. In 1926, when the Nanjing Seminary was forced to close because of the Civil War, Dong returned to Henan and worked as an assistant in the church in Runan. In the Spring of 1944, he received a great honour when he was asked to become the President of the Lutheran Seminary in Chongqing. Once again, Dong packed his bags and said goodbye to his family and friends as he continued to follow Christ’s call.

After the Communists swept to power in 1949, church activity was placed under tight scrutiny as the authorities complied information on pastors and priests throughout the country, especially those who had contact with foreign organizations. Dong was questioned and warned. Having moved back to his native Henan Province, Dong Shaowu was placed on a list of the ten most wanted persons in the county in 1950. By the following year all nine other men on the list had been found dead. Dong had no income and was barely able to survive at this time. Because of his poverty, he was forced to move away from the city and his life was subsequently spared, as the authorities could not locate him.

During Easter 1954, Dong received some money from his second son and was able to travel to Beijing for the first time. As soon as he arrived he made his way to the Christian Tabernacle, led by the great Chinese Church patriarch, Wang Mingdao. Dong stayed in Wang’s house and was asked to speak at the Easter services. Dong Shaowu and Wang Mingdao became close friends. Dong later described his time in Beijing as the happiest of his life. Wang Mingdao was imprisoned in August 1955. Dong somehow escaped arrest but his two sons were given harsh prison sentences for their work in the church.

By May 1958, the winds of persecution were blowing all around Dong Shaowu. He was accused of betraying China to the Western imperialists. His friendship with the hated Wang Mingdao was proof in the eyes of his accusers that Dong was a counter-revolutionary. A long ‘struggle session’ was arranged against him. For days they attempted to break Dong’s spirit and to force him to align with the government’s wishes.

The first struggle session lasted 21 straight days and only ended because the participants had to break to gather in the wheat harvest. Dong returned home, his mind in turmoil from the constant strain of being questioned and manipulated. When he reached his home to find a letter from his son awaiting him. Dong’s son wrote that he had recently had two terrible dreams, and that he was afraid a great trial would soon unfold. In mid-July of 1958 Dong was notified to return for questioning. This time Communist harassers constantly beat and kicked him, forcing Dong to kneel on the concrete floor for hours at a time while they berated him with all kinds of false accusations. One report said:

“Struggles became fierce and cruel. Dong was scolded, beaten up, spit at, forced to kneel…. All kinds of vicious abuses were hurled at him…. A month of endless struggle left Dong without rest. His health deteriorated rapidly. He was infected with acute hepatitis and jaundice. His whole body turned yellow…. From August 31st to September 6th, it was a struggle day and night. The interrogators had shifts. Dong must stand alone, however. He was then 64-years-old. He was no longer able to sustain the torment, either physically or mentally.”[1]

September 7th was a day off for all other prisoners except Dong. Special sessions were organized that day to break him even more. After a long morning of physical and mental torture by the Public Security Bureau officials (including one man who at the time, and for more than 30 years after, was a standing committee member of a Henan Three-Self Church), Dong Shaowu reached the stage where he could take no more. Sometime after five o’clock in the afternoon Dong asked the officials if he could go to the toilet. After a long while waiting for his return, one of the guards and went into the toilet to get him. Dong’s body was found slumped over on the floor. He had drowned himself in the urinal. Even his death did not please the torturers. They officially charged the dead Dong with having “committed suicide to escape punishment.” Although some would argue that Dong taking of his own life does not qualify him as a martyr, there is no doubt that he was literally driven to his death by the unrelenting torture of the authorities.

That evening, as news spread around the town that Dong Shaowu was dead, a local deacon boldly came to the Public Security office and claimed the body, which he washed and prepared for burial. Six others volunteered to help bury Dong, at great personal risk to themselves. Among them was a 14-year-old believer. They covered the face of their beloved pastor with a straw hat and wrapped the corpse in an old mat. Dong’s body was buried in an empty hole in the ground at an unmarked burial ground outside the South Gate of the city.

And so ended the life of a simple, good-hearted man whose passion in life was just to teach the Bible and see Christians grow up in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. Dong’s death caused some believers to become bolder and more willing to proclaim their faith. At a meeting the following evening, the deacon who had come for his pastor’s body stood up and announced his commitment to Christ. Immediately after the meeting the deacon was arrested and sent away to a labour camp, and was never heard from again.