Carl Joseph Fast

Carl Joseph Fast (simplified Chinese: 发士; traditional Chinese: 發士; pinyin: Fāshì; (also written as 法士) Foochow Romanized: Huák-sê̤ṳ; October 8, 1822 – November 13, 1850) was the second Swedish missionary sent to China^[1] and the first Protestant missionary murdered in Fuzhou.^[2]

Tombstone of C.J. Fast in Fuzhou, ca. 1910

On January 1, 1850, Fast arrived in Foochow (today Fuzhou) as the missionary from the Lutheran Lund Missionary Society of Sweden,^[3] and was joined by Anders Elgqvist [sv] later that year. The mission they set up in China was short-lived. On November 13, 1850, the two missionaries were brutally assaulted by Chinese pirates when they were coming up the River Min after getting money from a ship. Armed with a pistol Elgqvist survived the attack, but Fast was killed on the spot.^[4]

Fast was buried in Fuzhou Nantai.^[2] An order was given by then-Fujian Governor Xu Jiyu (徐继畬) to capture the murderers within three days, and the case was finally settled on November 18, with three criminals brought to justice.^[5]