Biography
Joseph Zhang Dapeng
About Joseph Zhang Dapeng
Joseph Zhang Dapeng was a Chinese merchant and lay catechist who became a leading figure in the Catholic mission at Guiyang. The Holy See’s account places his baptism in 1800 and his death by strangulation on March 12, 1815. His Christian service grew out of ordinary commercial and household relationships rather than an ordained ministry.
Fabio Arduino’s biography places his birth around 1754 at Duyun. It describes a religious search that included Buddhism and Daoism before his encounter with Christianity. A silk merchant’s son brought Christian books and teaching into his circle after returning from Beijing. Through this connection, Zhang began considering baptism.
Conversion also disrupted his family arrangements. Arduino reports that he had taken a second partner because his first marriage had produced no heir. Although the second woman had borne a son, he separated from her before baptism, providing a dowry and arranging another marriage. This episode belongs to the received account of his conversion; the woman’s own perspective is not preserved in that biography.
The same account describes his home becoming a meeting place for Christians and lodging for a missionary. He later taught as a catechist and led a school. His ministry included care for poor and sick people and burial of the dead.
Nominis records his arrest in 1814 after a relative disclosed his hiding place. Imprisonment was followed by execution the next March. The account remembers his refusal to abandon his faith, while the precise details of the family denunciation differ among later narratives.
His story continues to shape Catholic preaching. In a 2017 homily, Hong Kong’s Bishop Joseph Ha recalled Zhang’s return to a threatened community and his refusal to renounce Christianity. The bishop then asked his listeners to consider their own ordinary commitments to prayer, learning and service. This was an interpretation for a later congregation, connecting martyrdom with daily fidelity without suggesting that every believer must face the same circumstances.
Zhang was among the Chinese martyrs canonized by John Paul II on October 1, 2000. Holy Name of Jesus Chinese Catholic Church lists July 9 for their shared feast.
Nominis also records March 12 as his local commemoration.
A chapel in Tai Po, Hong Kong, bears his name and explicitly honors him as its patron. A diocesan newspaper explains that the community chose a Chinese martyr to strengthen its connection with the local Church and Chinese culture. Founded as a Mass center in 1992, it adopted the title Saint Zhang Dapeng Chapel after his canonization.
Wondering how to weigh the stories and sources? Learn how to read a saint biography.