Bleeding Hearts

In 1870, rumors of sorcery and kidnapping swirled around a group of Catholic missionaries in the Chinese city of Tianjin. Local officials investigated, but their efforts put them on a collision course with the French consul and the structures of colonialism and treaties that protected foreign privileges on the China coast. The result was a day of violence. This is a story of empire, religion, cultural misunderstandings, and conflict that tore a city apart.

Jeremiah Jenne is a historian, writer, and educator based in China for over two decades. He earned his PhD from the University of California, Davis. His articles on China have appeared in The Economist, South China Morning Post, the Journal of Asian Studies, Los Angeles Review of Books, and China Books Review.