On June 21, officials in Tianjin, Zhou Xunguang, Zhang Guangcao and Liu Jie, took Wu Lanzhen to the church to see the priest Xie Fuyin. In the afternoon, the people who were there had an argument with some church members that led to vio- lence. Some five people went to the French embassy to argue with officials, and Feng Daye thought that what was happening was due to local officials not making efforts to protect Catho- lics. He went to the government office with two guns and hissecretary Simon followed him with a sword in his hand.
After
he arrived at the government office, he was very rude and knocked on the table using his sword, screaming at Chong Hou: "Those crazy people want to kill me and I want you to die in front of me.‘ He fired his gun and wounded several people. Many mem- bers of Shui Huo Hui (Water and Fire Gang) gathered outside of the office while this was going on. Chong Hou asked them not togo out of the office for their safety. Feng Daye refused to listen and said, "I am not afraid of the Chinese people.‘ On his way back, he met the local governor Liu Jie returning from the local church. They argued to the point of violence. Some people were hurt and the secretary Simon fired at the people twice. The Chi- nese were furious about this and killed Feng Daye and Simon and threw their bodies into the river. Afterwards, a mob gathered to burn down the churches, Renci Tang, and the French Consu- late; they killed the missionaries, business people and Chinese Catholics, including priests and church workers. This violence did not end until five o"clock in the afternoon. Besides the at- tacks on the French, the Chinese also burned down the churches that had been built by Britain and USA.
Many non-Chinese died during this religious persecution, including the French missionary Xie Fuyin, a couple who were the consulate"s translators, a French business couple Sha Er Mei Song, Russian businessman Ba Suofu , Robert Pin Pin Fu and his wife, ten nuns from France, Russia, Belgium, Italy, Ireland and another 20 people.
After the Tianjin Persecution, the ambassadors from more than seven countries including Britain, the United States, France, Belgium and Russia issued a joint letter to require a meetingwith Yixin and sent their military boats to Haikou, Tianjin and Yantai, Shandong Province, to demonstrate their military strength. On June 23, Chong Hu reported the Tianjin incident to the Em- peror, and the government sensed the severity of matter and asked Zeng Guofang to investigate it the following day. On the 25th, Emperor Tong Zhi decided to arrest the leaders, Chong Hou, Zhou Jiaxun, Zhang Guangcao and Liu Jie, and sent them to different courts for punishment. On the 28th, he ordered not to follow Tianjin"s example in persecuting. On September 12th, he sent Li Hongzhang to Tianjin "to meet Zeng Guofang, Ding Richang and Cheng Lin to solve the problem as soon as pos- sible.‘On October 5th, Emperor Tong Zhi ordered: "Because the people in Tianjin gathered to cause trouble and some gangsters snuck into the crowds, many innocent people were killed. The criminals are still at large.This is a very serious matter…Therefore,Zhang Guangcao, Liu Jie and others should be sent into exile inHeilongjiang Province.‘Two groups of people who partici-
pated in this religious persecution were executed separately, in- cluding 20 common people and 25 soldiers. On the request of France, China paid 210,000 Pieces of silver for the damage done to the embassies, churches and Ci Ren Tang, etc. and 250,000Pieces of Silver to console the victims. Chong Hou was sent toFrance on China"s behalf to apologize.
