Lucien Taipedi and Wang Zhimning

Lucien Taipedi - Anglican, Layman - c1921 to 21st July 1942

Lucien Taipedi was born in around 1921, in New Guinea. His family had connections with sorcery Educated in a mission school he went onto become a teacher and evangelist. He along with many others were martyred during the escape from the invading Japanese forces in 1942. He was killed with an axe by a local tribesman, his companions by the Japanese.

Wang Zhimning - Protestant, Pastor - 1907 -December 29th 1973

Born in 1907, 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. During the 1950s Wang was one of six Miao Christian leaders who accommodated some of the demands of the new government by signing the Three 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 a counter-revolutionary.
During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), at least twenty-one Christian leaders in Wuding were imprisoned, and many others were sent to camps, denounced or beaten. One later stated, "I cannot recall how many time 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 of Chairman 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. The largely Christian crowd was not cowed into submission by the spectacle, but rather many rushed the stand where they berated the prosecuting official.