Tianjin Massacre

The Tientsin Massacre (Chinese: 天津教案; pinyin: Tiānjīn Jiào'àn; literally: "Tianjin Religion Case"), one of the most important "missionary incidents" of the late Qing dynasty, involved attacks on French Catholic priests and nuns, violent belligerence from French diplomats, and armed foreign intervention in Tianjin (Tientsin) in 1870. The incident marked an end to comparative cooperation between foreign powers and the Tongzhi court, and adversely affected the ongoing renegotiation of the Treaties of Tientsin, first signed in 1858.

The presence of foreign influence in Tianjin was not always peaceful; one of the most serious violent incidents to take place was the Tianjin Church Incident In June 1870, rumors spread throughout China concerning Catholic church activities. Catholic nuns had been active in bringing children into their orphanages, sometimes with the inducement of payment to foster families or orphanages which led illicit child-brokers to engage in kidnapping. It was commonly believed that missionaries removed the eyes of unwitting Chinese for use in medicine. Throughout 1870, deaths at these orphanages increased due to outbreaks of disease; the fact that baptism was often given specifically to those likely to die led to the impression a Christian baptism directly resulted in death.

On June 18, three Chinese kidnappers were arrested 30 li outside Tianjin, and while the two eldest were executed almost immediately, the youngest – aged 19 – claimed in public to have sold at least 10 children to the staff and guards of a nearby Catholic orphanage for $6 each.

Chinese officials met with their French counterparts, who had assumed responsibility for the Catholic missions to China since the Arrow War. However, an angry anti-Catholic crowd gathered outside the Cathedral and smashed windows. Chinese Catholic converts begged the French Consul, Henri-Victor Fontanier, to appeal directly to the county magistrate for public calm.

While the Chinese magistrate's staff attempted to suppress the riot, the French Consul visited the magistrate's official quarters to lodge an angry diatribe, even going so far as to draw his sword and embed it in the magistrate's table. The magistrate was not there, however, and Fontanier left empty-handed. The series of events afterwards are somewhat confused: while both Chinese and French histories agree Fontanier shot a Chinese assistant dead after an argument with the magistrate (who was just entering his office as the Consul was leaving), the French version says Fontanier's shot only came after he was threatened by the mob and the magistrate. In any case, both the French Consul and his assistant, M. Simon, were murdered by the rioters and their bodies dumped in the river.

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