Wang Zhiming (王志明) (1907 – December 29, 1973) was aMiao pastor fromWuding County,Yunnan, who was executed on December 29, 1973, during theCultural Revolution.

Wang Zhiming was born in Wuding in 1907, the year after ChristianmissionariesSamuel Pollard,Arthur G. Nicholls,George E. Metcalf andGladstone Porteous first began work there. Their work among minority people, especially the Miao in Wuding, saw much fruit. By 1949, 130,000Protestants, nearly 20% of the total for China, were found among Yunnan's minorities. Five years later half of the Christians in Yunnan reportedly lived in the prefecture which included Wuding.

Wang was educated in Christian schools and later taught in one for ten years. In 1944 he was elected chairman of the church council in Wuding, and he was ordained in 1951 at the age of 44.^[1] During the 1950s Wang was one of six Miao Christian leaders who accommodated some of the demands of the new government by signing theThree Self Manifesto. Still, he refused to participate in denunciation meetings held to humiliate landlords, saying, "My hands have baptized many converts, and should not be used for sinfulness". This was undoubtedly one of the reasons that, even before the Cultural Revolution, Wang was declared acounter-revolutionary.^[2]

During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), at least 21 Christian leaders in Wuding were imprisoned, and many others were sent to camps, denounced or beaten. Muslims in the area were also targeted. One of the interned Christians later stated:

I cannot recall how many times I was made to kneel on the rubble and how much blood flowed from my knees due to their sharp edges. When I could not hold out and fell to the ground, merciless beatings followed. Then I was pulled up and forced to salute the portrait ofChairman Mao. My refusal to do so resulted in another round of beating up. Vicious cycles went on and on. This only paused for a little while when I almost lost consciousness.

In 1969, Wang Zhiming and his wife and sons were arrested. On December 29, 1973, Wang was executed in a stadium in front of more than 10,000 people. Zhiming's execution caused chaos to break out in the largely Christian audience, and the prosecuting officials was assaulted by spectators.^[3][4]

After the Cultural Revolution, official attempts to placate the Miao included a compensatory payment of 1,300 yuan (then $250) to Wang's family. His execution did not end the spread of Christianity in the area: when Wang Zhiming was arrested, there were 2,795 Christians in Wuding; by 1980 the church had grown to about 12,000, and Wuding now has over 30,000 Christians and more than 100 places of worship.^[4] Sporadic persecution in Wuding continues.^[5]

In 1981, a largemonument was erected at hisgravesite.^[6][7]

In 1998, he was one of ten 20th-century Christian martyrs memorialized above the Great West Door ofWestminster Abbey with astatue.^[4]

In 2014, a documentary about Wang's life and community was released by filmmakerHu Jie.^[8]

• Hattaway, Paul.Operation China,Piquant, 1990.ISBN 978-0-9535757-5-6.
• Wickeri, Philip L. "The Abolition of Religion in Yunnan: Wang Zhiming" inThe Terrible Alternative: Christian Martyrdom in the Twentieth Century. Mowbray, 1998.ISBN 978-0-304-70287-9.
• Tien Ju-Kang,Peaks of Faith: Protestant Mission in Revolutionary China. Brill, 1993.ISBN 978-90-04-09723-0.

• Wang Zhiming at Westminster Abbey website

• 1907 births
• 1973 deaths
• Miao people
• People from Chuxiong
• Chinese Protestant ministers and clergy
• 20th-century Protestant martyrs
• 20th-century executions by China
• Executed People's Republic of China people
• People executed by China by firearm
• Victims of the Cultural Revolution
• Victims of anti-Christian violence
• Executed Chinese people
• Executed people from Yunnan

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Chinese-language text