Simon Zhu Kaimin

His given name is Ximeng (Chinese: 希孟). His Zi is Mingde (Chinese: 铭德). His Hao is Jiqiu (Chinese: 季球) and Kaimin (Chinese: 开敏).

Zhu was born in Shanghai, on October 30, 1868 to a fisherman's family. His ancestral home in Qingpu County, Jiangsu Province. His ancestor Ma Tingluan (Chinese: 马廷鸾) was the prime minister of the Southern Song. Their family has believed in Catholicism since the Ming dynasty. His mother Ma Jianshu (马健淑) was the elder sister of Ma Xiangbo, founder of Fudan University.[1]

In 1883 he studied Latin at the Dongjiadu Catholic Church (Chinese: 董家渡小修院) and then studied theology at Xujiahui Catholic Church (Chinese: 徐家汇大修院). He joined the Society of Jesus on September 9, 1888. He was ordained a priest on June 28, 1898.

On August 2, 1926, he was appointed bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Haimen by the Pope Pius XI. On October 28, 1926, he and five other Chinese priests (Odoric Cheng Hede, Philippus Zhao Huaiyi, Hu Ruoshan, Melchior Sun Dezhen, and Chen Guodi) were ordained bishops by Pope Pius XI in Rome. Then they had traveled to France, Belgium and other countries.[2]

He returned to China in March 1927 and founded Xilei Middle School (Chinese: 天主教锡类中学) that same year.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he actively raised funds to support the fight against the Empire of Japan.

At the beginning of 1949, he lived in Shanghai. He returned to Haimen in 1955. In 1958 Matthew Yu Chengcai was proposed as the new bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Haimen, Zhu reported the result to the Holy See. On January 15, 1959, Zhu was labeled as a rightist by the Communist government. Zhu was brought to be persecuted and suffered political persecution. On November 15, 1959, Matthew Yu Chengcai was consecrated as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Haimen in Nanjing, but it was not recognized by the Holy See.

Zhu died of illness on February 22, 1960. He was buried in the Tomb of Yuangongsuo (Chinese: 袁公所墓地). In 1966, Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution, his tomb was completely destroyed by the Red Guards. He was rehabilitated on May 15, 1980.