Orthodox Christianity arrived in China around the year 1685, perhaps earlier. Centuries later, 222 native Chinese Orthodox Christians were murdered during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. The new Chinese martyrs included faithful men, women, and children. Their priest, Mitrophan, whose birth name was Jichong, and his family, were among the innocents tortured and killed.An article on the history of Orthodox Christianity in China is available on the website of Dimitris Papadias, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The Orthodoxy in China website has published an article entitled, "The Chinese Martyrs of the Boxer Rebellion," by Father Geoffrey Korz, which originally appeared on the Conciliar Press site. "Accounts of the Martyrs of the Chinese Orthodox Church," an article that lists the names of martyrs and offers information about them, is also available on the "Orthodoxy in China" site.
The icon of the Holy Martyrs of China can be viewed on Orthodoxwiki. An explanation of the icon is on the website of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Pacific.
An Akathist to the Chinese Martyr Saints, composed with the blessing of His Grace, Bishop SERAPHIM, bishop of Ottowa and All Canada (OCA), has been included in the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
For information on St. John the Wonderworker, also known as St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, check out the website of St. John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church, part of the Orthodox Church in America.
For more information, you may visit the website of the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and South East Asia, which is part of the ancient Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Also, you may read my previous post on Christ the Eternal Tao.
(The icon of St. Mitrophan shown above is by the hand of Nana Quparadze. The icon is used here according to fair use with credit given to the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. This icon and others are available on the Orthodoxy in China website and at Orthodoxwiki.)
