ZHAO QUANXIN, JAMES, ST.

Lay martyr; b. 1856, Luilinzhaung Cun, Taiyüan Xian, Shanxi Province, China; d. July 9, 1900, Taiyüan, Shanxi Province. James Zhao Quanxin (given also as Chao Ch'üan-hsin or James Tciao-Tciuen-Sin) was born into a Catholic family headed by Antonius Zhang Desheng and Martha Jia. After military service, James married. He moved with his mother, wife, and two sons to Taiyüan to work for the Franciscan community. Although he was not arrested on July 5, 1900 with Bps. Gregorio grassi and Francesco Fogolla, he visited them each day in prison and resolved that he would die with them. He was arrested. His former military colleagues pled on his behalf in court, but James continued to profess himself a Christian. He was beaten and slashed to death by the sword. James 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]