Xi Shengmo

Early Years as a Confucian Scholar

Xi Shengmo (Pastor Hsi), originally named Xi Zizhi (席子直), was born around 1835 in Xizhang village, Pingyang Prefecture (around present-day Linfen), Shanxi, into a scholarly family. From childhood he studied the classics and histories and was quick-witted; in 1851 he passed the examination for the degree of xiucai (licentiate) and was a Confucian scholar of considerable local standing. In those turbulent years, however, illness and frustration led him to take up opium, and he was bound by the addiction for many years; his family fortunes, body and mind all suffered from it, and he nearly sank into ruin.

Conversion and New Life

Around 1879 came the turning point of his life. During famine relief in Shanxi, the British missionary David Hill (李修善) held a prize essay competition on themes of the Christian faith. Xi Zizhi entered and won a prize, and because of his literary skill was engaged by David Hill to teach him Chinese. Spending every day with the Bible and the missionary, his doubts were gradually lit up by the truth, and before long he came to faith in Christ. After his conversion he resolved to rely on prayer to break free of opium, and after a tremendous struggle he was finally set free. To commemorate this victory over bondage he took the name “Shengmo”, meaning one who overcomes the devil and conquers the demons, and from then on he was known as Xi Shengmo.

Gospel Opium Refuges

Having experienced both the poison of opium and the grace of deliverance, Xi Shengmo knew well the suffering of his countrymen. One after another he founded gospel opium refuges called “Tianzhao Ju” (天招局), supporting those breaking their addiction with faith and prayer on the one hand, and with Chinese medicine of his own making to restore their bodies on the other; residents were required to keep morning and evening prayers together. The refuges spread outwards from Shanxi into Shaanxi, Henan, Zhili and other provinces, numbering forty or fifty in all, and countless addicts found renewal of body and mind in them. The refuges also became bases for preaching the gospel and planting churches, and a spiritual revival arose in southern Shanxi as a result.

Ordination and Pastoral Work

As the work expanded, Hudson Taylor of the China Inland Mission in 1886 ordained Xi Shengmo as superintending pastor, entrusting him with the care of the churches across a wide area of Shanxi. He served alongside China Inland Mission co-workers, including Stanley Smith and D. E. Hoste of the “Cambridge Seven”, and composed hymns with a local flavour. He shepherded and trained many believers and co-workers, becoming a spiritual leader raised up from among the Chinese themselves.

Death and Biography

In February 1896 Xi Shengmo went to rest in the Lord in Shanxi, at about the age of sixty-one. From a ruined scholar bound by opium he became a pastor who led revival in his region, and his life bore witness to the power of the gospel to transform lives. Mrs. Howard Taylor wrote his biography, Pastor Hsi, making this nineteenth-century pioneer of the Chinese church widely known to later generations and inspiring generation after generation of Chinese believers.