Xing Ruiming

Xing Ruiming, or Ruiming Xing (; 1888–1990), was a Chinese educator, Christian evangelist, and advocate of education for young women in Jieyang, Guangdong province, China. She served as principal of the first girls' school in Jieyang county (now Jieyang city), after having been a student in the first girls' literacy class in the region.

Early life and education Ruiming was born on April 26, 1888, into a peasant family in Fengwei village, in the eastern suburbs of Rongcheng, the county seat of Jieyang, Guangdong province. Later, her father converted the whole family to Christianity, sparing Ruiming from foot binding, which was popular at that time. Speicher hired Chen Meixian from Chenghai County to teach the class. Xing received instruction for two years, after which the classes were discontinued.

Xing Ruiming had thousands of students, including Professor Xie Haiyan, president of the Nanjing Academy of Fine Arts.

Evangelism By 1932, there were several girls' schools in the county town. Xing Ruiming retired from teaching to focus full-time on the spread of Christian gospel. With her church colleagues, she went to rural villages for missionary visits, during which she also taught Chinese characters and Bible reading. For the next three years, she visited various rural churches in Jieyang and Puning counties, focusing her efforts on women's education and evangelism in the Chaoshan region.

From 1935, Xing Ruiming went to work at the church-run Jieyang Truth Hospital as a chaplain, a position she held for 15 years. In 1944, the Japanese army invaded Jieyang, and the doctors and nurses fled the hospital, leaving Xing Ruiming and a few others behind. At that time, there was a female patient in the hospital who had just undergone surgery. Xing moved the patient to her mother's home in the suburb for recuperation, and sent her home after her condition improved two days later. Xing's relationship with co-workers, doctors, nurses, patients and their relatives led many people to accept Christianity.

As the political environment changed in the People's Republic of China, Xing Ruiming focused more on helping to raise her grandchildren and looking after her elderly mother, but continued to preach the gospel whenever the opportunity arose. During the Cultural Revolution, the churches were closed and Bibles and hymn books were destroyed. However, Xing wrote down many Bible chapters and hymns from memory. Before the reform and opening up of China, Chaoshan region was quite poor, and many people lacked food and clothing. Xing lived frugally, keeping a limited wardrobe, and donating her old clothes after receiving new outfits from her children and grandchildren.

Personal life and death Xing Ruiming's husband, Chen Dexiu, was also a teacher. They had four children, two daughters and two sons. On November 23, 1990, Xing Ruiming died at home at the age of 102.