Father Chapdelaine Incident
The Father Chapdelaine Incident, also called the Xilin Incident, occurring in 1856 during the Taiping Rebellion, was a mid-19th-century diplomatic and religious crisis in Qing-dynasty China. It concerned the arrest, trial, and death of a catholic missionary of Paris Foreign Missions Society and his followers in Xilin County, Guangxi, which escalated into international tension and contributed to the outbreak of the Second Opium War.
Background
This incident was rooted in a complex interplay of religious, political, and economic factors, influenced by both domestic discontent and foreign interventions.Foreign Interest
often sought cooperation with Christian missions as part of their broader strategies to expand influence in China. Missionaries provided cultural and linguistic expertise that facilitated diplomatic and commercial exchanges, while their presence also served to legitimize foreign intervention under the guise of religious freedom. Furthermore, Christianity was viewed as a tool to promote Western values and social reforms, which could open Chinese society to trade and political penetration. By aligning with missions, Western governments aimed not only to secure economic privileges through unequal treaties but also to establish a moral justification for their expanding presence in China.Christian Activities
In the early 19th century, Christian missionary activities in China were restricted, with foreign missionaries permitted only in designated treaty ports. The Treaty of Whampoa, signed between France and China in 1844, allowed French missionaries to operate in five treaty ports but prohibited their activities in the interior. Despite these restrictions, many missionaries, including Auguste Chapdelaine, ventured into the interior to spread Christianity, often facing legal and cultural challenges.Religious Tensions
During the Christian missionary movement in China, cultural conflicts emerged in several key areas. First, disputes arose over ancestor worship and Confucian rites, which missionaries considered idolatrous but were deeply embedded in Chinese social and moral life. Second, linguistic and conceptual differences created misunderstandings in translating theological ideas, often leading to resistance or misinterpretation. Third, the association of Christianity with Western political powers during the 19th century heightened suspicions that missionaries were agents of cultural imperialism, sparking anti-Christian movements and violent clashes.Besides, the Taiping Rebellion was partly influenced by internal discontent and foreign intervention during the First Opium War. This Christian-inspired movement led to widespread suspicion of Christianity among Qing officials, who associated foreign missionaries with the rebellion. Consequently, missionaries were often viewed with distrust, and their activities were seen as subversive.
These tensions reflected the difficulty of reconciling universalist Christian doctrines with the long-standing traditions and hierarchical structures of Chinese society.
Incident
Early Period
In 1852, while the Taiping Army's main forces were shifting toward the Yangtze River basin, Bishop Napoléon Libois of the Diocese of Guangdong and Guangxi dispatched missionary Reniu to secretly enter Guangxi. His mission was to investigate local society and religious activities. It is said that within months, he submitted a detailed and actionable report to the bishop. That same year, Bishop Libois secretly dispatched Father Chapdelaine to China for missionary work. Departing from Hong Kong, he was robbed on the Dongjiang River and turned back. He set out again in early 1853, traveling through Guangdong and Hunan into Guizhou, where he began learning the local dialect and adapting to life in China.To enhance missionary appeal in inland China, Father Chapdelaine addressed the mountain regions' lack of medical care and the people's hardships. He distributed inexpensive medicines he carried—such as quinine pills for chills, eye drops, and painkillers—free of charge to patients, curing some illnesses. At that time, villagers believed in spirits and deities. When someone fell ill, they would consult shamans and fortune-tellers, often paying them with money and gifts—a heavy burden. In contrast, embracing Catholicism meant receiving medicine when sick without financial cost. Some villagers were thus persuaded by Chapdelaine to be baptized and join the faith.
During his time in Guizhou, Father Chapdelaine met two lay assistants: Bai Xiaoman and Cao Guiying. Bai Xiaoman, a native of Guizhou from a poor family, gained Father Chapdelaine's favor after converting and accompanied him to Guangxi for missionary work. Cao Guiying also came from extreme poverty, and her ancestors had already embraced the faith. Highly intelligent, she earned the priest's attention and was sent to study at the Xingyi Prefecture Church in Guizhou. She married at the age of twenty-nine but experienced discord with her husband's family. After her husband's death, she was expelled from her in-laws' home by her brother and sister-in-law. From then on, she actively engaged in Catholic missionary work. Later, she also accompanied Father Chapdelaine to Guangxi for missionary work.
In December 1853, accompanied by Bai Xiaoman, Cao Guiying, and servant Yalaowu, Father Chapdelaine disguised himself as a local Yi ethnic member. He entered Longlin County, Guangxi from Ma'anshan, Xingyi, Guizhou, then crossed the Tuoniang River into Xilin County. Subsequently, he operated in Baijia and Changjing, thirty li outside Ding'an Town in Xilin County. By distributing medicine and exploiting ethnic tensions, Chapdelaine successfully established Catholic missionary bases in villages like Liujia and Changjing. Subsequently, his activities gradually expanded toward the county seat and surrounding rural areas.
However, during his missionary work, Chapdelaine failed to show sufficient respect for the traditional culture of Xilin County or China as a whole. He forbade his followers from erecting memorial tablets or worshipping ancestors, and strictly prohibited intermarriage between believers and non-believers. Yet, the marriage customs in Ding'an Town emphasized freedom of marriage, and women were considered sacred and inviolable. Over time, Chapdelaine's disregard for local customs and his Confucian-influenced missionary methods sparked intense resentment among the populace, sowing the seeds of future conflict for his continued missionary work.
Chapdelaine also employed various means to seize peasants' fields and forests, and confiscate the property of widows and orphans. To expand his influence, he recruited a group of local thugs and hoodlums into the faith, shielding and encouraging them to commit crimes. Oral accounts from local residents also circulate, detailing Chapdelaine's egregious conduct. Though potentially exaggerated, these accounts reveal how deeply despised Chapdelaine had become among the locals:
Begin
In 1855, Father Chapdelaine demanded that Bai San, a believer from Baijiazhai, convert his wife to Catholicism. He also sternly ordered Bai San to remove the ancestral tablets from his home. Facing fierce opposition from his wife and relatives, Bai San sought to renounce his faith. Father Chapdelaine rebuked him for lacking resolve. Later, through Cao Guiying, Chapdelaine deceived Bai San's daughter and niece into converting. Bai San's niece, humiliated by Chapdelaine during her baptism, took her own life in tears. Bai San reported Chapdelaine and his associates to the Xilin County Magistrate's Office over this incident. Just as Chapdelaine prepared to travel to the provincial capital Guilin, Chinese authorities discovered and arrested him. County Magistrate Huang Deming, who had long accepted Chapdelaine's bribes and was mindful of the provisions in the Treaty of Whampoa while also intimidated by Western military force, imposed no punishment and deported him back to Hong Kong. However, Chapdelaine returned to Xilin on December 25th of that year.Course
Upon learning of Chapdelaine's return, Bai San reported the matter once more to the Xilin County Magistrate's Office. By this time, Zhang Mingfeng had succeeded as magistrate. On February 25, 1856, he arrested Chapdelaine and 26 other believers on charges of preaching beyond their designated boundaries. The church was sealed, and nearly 400 items—including church furnishings, liturgical vessels, priestly and nun's vestments, and Chinese or French scriptures—were confiscated. Chapdelaine was accused of spreading heresy and plotting rebellion. After Chapdelaine and others were arrested, Zhang Mingfeng initially planned to interrogate them secretly, record their confessions, and then expel them. However, upon hearing this, Bai San and others jointly posted "white-headed notices" on Ding'an Street, publicly exposing Chapdelaine's alleged crimes and pressuring Zhang Mingfeng to hold a public trial for the case. Upon hearing this, crowds gathered before the magistrate's office. Women who had been insulted by Chapdelaine and followers who had been forced to destroy their ancestral altars after joining the sect began to file complaints against him.Unlike his predecessor Magistrate Huang Deming, Zhang Mingfeng held a deep affection for and commitment to China's Confucian feudal culture. He championed filial piety and chastity, embodying the rational, principled, and resolute character of a traditional Chinese scholar-official. Consequently, he was deeply repulsed by Chapdelaine's actions and resolved to conduct a trial, severely reprimand him, and punish Chapdelaine and his associates according to the law.
On February 26th, the Xilin County Magistrate's Office convened a trial for Father Chapdelaine and his associates. Crowds gathered at the courthouse to observe, and the proceedings lasted three consecutive days. Many citizens came forward to accuse Chapdelaine, but he stubbornly denied all charges, berated Magistrate Zhang Mingfeng for oppressing Catholic missionary activities, claiming it violated the Sino-French treaty.
On February 29, after three days of trial, Chapdelaine remained unwilling to submit to Qing authority. Faced with intense public sentiment, Zhang Mingfeng sentenced Chapdelaine to death. Enraged crowds paraded his decapitated body through the streets. Some accounts claim Chapdelaine was not executed by Zhang Mingfeng but dragged by locals near Ding'an to a riverbank boulder pile where he was beaten to death. A group of local Catholics, including Cao Guiying and Bai Xiaoman, were subjected to Cangue. Bai Xiaoman was executed on February 25, while Cao Guiying's execution occurred on March 1.