中文 | Русский | Kitajskij Blagovestnik (1935 edition)

Accounts of the Martyrs of the Chinese Orthodox Church
who fell victim in Beijing in 1900

English translation by Nina Tkachuk Dimas
Part I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX

An Albazinian, KLIMENT (Clement), Kui Ling, 36 years -- sacristan. His wife (from the Zhun family) Barbara, 35 yrs. Their children: Maria, 14 yrs.; Olga 11 yrs., Ia, 9 yrs. and Irina, 4 yrs. The day that the Mission buildings were burned, Kliment with his family hid in his cemetery outside the city. Later they were executed at the Triangle together with others on June 11th. Kliment was a sacristan since his youth and served very assiduously. Kliment's mother, Ia, 56 yrs. old, a widow from a young age, was the principal teacher at the school for females at the Mission, and was in charge of handicrafts for church decoration. She died a martyr's death in Fr. Mitrophan's home on June 10th. The Boxers chopped off her leg before her death.

MATFEI (Matthew) Hai Qun, 31 years old, assistant to the sacristan, his wife (from the Rui family) Matrona, 32 years old. On June 11th, that is, the day after the killing of Christians in Fr. Mitrophan's house, at about 7 o'clock in the morning, Matfei and Matrona with their five year old child Agafia, fled near the city's north wall, towards the Mission site, pursued by a soldier with a dagger in his hand. At that time, the Mission site was filled with Boxers. Matfei and Matrona were seized and executed at the Triangle.

VITT Hai, Matfei's brother, 29 years old, on June 11th was killed in the Cheng'ensi pagan temple during the day and burned. Vitt read well in Slavonic. Before the beginning of the Boxer Rebellion, he had been in Běidàhé (北大河, Peitaho) with the Mission chief and returned to Beijing already after the destruction of the railway. Regarding Vitt's wife Marfa, whom he had recently married, no information was preserved. Matfej's second brother, Nikifor Hai (27 years), sisters Vassa Zhong, (25 years) and Elena Zhong (19 years), third brother Kirill Hai (15 years), their Mother Ekaterina Zhun, a widow (55 years), and grandmother Nadezhda Chang, widow (81), died as martyrs on June 11. Nadezhda was killed in the house, but the rest, together with Vitt, while being led into the Cheng'ensi pagan temple, were killed on cathedral grounds which now belong to the Mission. Their uncle Alexei Ming (51 yrs) was killed on June 11th in the Cheng'ensi pagan temple; their cousin Vonifati (25 yrs.), son Taisii, killed beyond the Dōngzhímén Gate (东直门) in Huājiādì (花家地) ; his younger brother Stefan (19 yrs.) was taken by the Boxers into slavery and was at their camp, then was killed.

An Albazinian, SIMEON Xi Lin'a (50 yrs.), formerly a sacristan and bellringer, had lately been baking prosfora (church bread). On June 10 he was among those surrounded by the Boxers, died, probably in the Cheng'ensi pagan temple.

Albazinian maidens, EKATERINA (24 yrs.) and MUZA (Muse 17 yrs.), daughters of Alexander Ai, died as martyrs in the house of Vitt Hai, which was on a site which now has a women's monastery. It is said that they tried to flee from the burning house over a wall, but the Boxers pierced them with spears and threw them down into the courtyard of the burning house.

MARINA Xu, 44 yrs., widowed for many years, was a teacher at the Mission's school for females. On June 2, that is, the day after the Mission buildings were burned, Marina, together with her brother Kassian Lin's wife, Liudmila, and her children: Vladimir, Nikita and Georgy, went to Alexander Cheng. She said that she fled only for the sake of the children, and had she been alone, she would have sacrificed herself to God when the church burned. Alexander's wife's brother was afraid to let Marina and Liudmila with the children into the house. Khrisanf In who was there also said it was dangerous for Christians to gather in one place. Therefore, Marina and Liudmila, after washing up and drinking tea, returned to Shizijie (near the Mission) and lived there until June 10. When on the evening of June 10th the Boxers began attacking the Christians, Marina and Liudmila hid within the house concealed by darkness. Passing near that house, the Boxers opened a rear window, looked and threw a torch inside the house but did not notice Maria and Liudmila with her children. At the time, they were kneeling and praying. On June 11 Marina separated from Liudmila and went to her husband's relatives in the southeast part of the city, but there she was seized by the Boxers and killed. And Liudmila, with her children, wandered about the city as a beggar, and finally was able to get out of the city and was saved. Liudmila's son, Vladimir now serves in the rank of deacon.

An Albazinian, ANNA Rui, 57 yrs., a widow. Her two married daughters are among those who died as martyrs; a third daughter, presently the nun Fiva, and son, now the priest Mikhail Min, had been in the hands of the Boxers, but were saved. Anna herself died on the evening of June 10. When the Boxers broke into the house, Anna strongly reproached them. Grown furious, the Boxers chopped her with swords and later burned her body completely.