ZHANG HUAN, JOHN, ST.

Martyr, Franciscan seminarian; b. Aug. 18, 1882, Nanshe, Yangqu Xian, Shanxi Province; d. July 9, 1900, Taiyüan, Shanxi Province, China. John Zhang Huan (Chang or Tchang) was the son of the pious Catholics Simon Zhang Tianjun and Clare Wu. Even in childhood his life and play centered on the faith. He began his studies in the minor seminary of Ko-lao-kou in 1896 and four years later transferred to the seminary at Taiyüan, where he was guided by Fr. Elias Facchini. When he and his classmates were advised to flee into hiding at the beginning of the Boxer Rebellion, John returned home. Soon thereafter he decided he would rather die with his bishop, Francesco Fogolla than hide his faith. He was among those arrested in the Taiyüan cathedral and executed after a short imprisonment. John was beatified by Pope Pius XII (Nov. 24, 1946) and canonized (Oct. 1, 2000) by Pope John Paul II with Augustine Zhao Rong and companions.

Feast: July 4.

Bibliography: l. m. balconi, Le Martiri di Taiyuen (Milan 1945). Acta Apostolicae Sedis 47 (1955) 381–388; Vita del b. A. Crescitelli (Milan 1950). m. t. de blarer, Les Bse Marie Hermine de Jésus et ses compagnes, franciscaines missionnaires de Marie, massacrées le 9 juillet 1900 à Tai-Yuan-Fou, Chine (Paris 1947). Les Vingt-neuf martyrs de Chine, massacrés en 1900, béatifiés par Sa Sainteté Pie XII, le 24 novembre, 1946 (Rome 1946). l. miner, China's Book of Martyrs: A Record of Heroic Martyrdoms and Marvelous Deliverances of Chinese Christians during the Summer of 1900 (Ann Arbor 1994). j. simon, Sous le sabre des Boxers (Lille 1955). c. testore, Sangue e palme sul fiume giallo. I beati martiri cinesi nella persecuzione della Boxe Celi Sud-Est, 1900 (Rome 1955). L'Osservatore Romano, Eng. Ed. 40 (2000): 1–2, 10.

[k. i. rabenstein]