ZHANG ZHIHE, PHILIP, ST.

Franciscan seminarian, martyr; b. 1880, Shangqingyu, Lin Xian, Shanxi Province; d. July 9, 1900, Taiyüan, Shanxi Province, China. Both in the minor seminary at Dongergou and the major seminary at Taiyüan, Philip Zhang Zhihe (Chiang or Tchang) was regarded as a diligent, tenacious student. After the June 27 burning of the local Protestant church, the seminarians were advised to return home. Philip and four other seminarians stayed. He was corned in Taiyüan's cathedral with his bishop and several dozen other Christians, and martyred after a short imprisonment. He 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]