Xu Chengyu
Xu Chengyu, courtesy name Nanshi, was a Qing dynasty official from the Han Chinese Plain Blue Banner. He was a son of Xu Tong.
Xu Chengyu obtained the xiucai degree in the imperial examination and was selected a gongsheng of the Imperial Academy in 1861. He had served as director of the Ministry of Revenue Shaanxi Bureau, staff of Huiling Mausoleum construction office, Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud, Assistant Commissioner of Transmission, associate director of the Court of the Imperial Clan and other positions. He was promoted to the Senior Deputy Minister of Justice in 1898.
Like his father, Xu Chengyu stood in the way of Hundred Days' Reform. Although he was hostile to Western culture, he was quite accepting of Western things in terms of material life enjoyment. It was said that he bought Western-style furniture and smoked cigars, for which he was scolded by his father. During the Boxer Rebellion, Xu Chengyu supported to use the Boxers to fight against Western countries. He was appointed the execution witness of Xu Yongyi, Lishan, Xu Jingcheng, Lianyuan and Yuan Chang. When Beijing fell to the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900, Xu Chengyu persuaded his father to commit suicide with him. However, after Xu Tong committed suicide, he regretted it. He buried his father's body in the backyard and tried to fled from the capital however, was captured by Japanese soldiers. In the next year, the victorious Eight-Nation Alliance named him as one of the masterminds behind the rebellion and demanded that he be executed. Zhang Zhidong suggested to the Empress Dowager Cixi that Xu Chengyu should be returned to the Qing court for trial, and then force him commit suicide. Xu Chengyu was dismissed from all official positions and later, executed at the Caishikou Execution Grounds together with Qixiu on 26 February 1901. Xu Chengyu was so frightened that he fainted and fell unconscious during the execution. Unlike him, Qixiu accepted the fate very calmly.