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Tsai Su Juan, Christiana Tsai, born on February 12, 1980 in Nanjing, China to the Vice Governor of Jiangxi. Tsai was the 18th of 24 children and grew up in wealth and the Buddhist tradition, both in part because of the role of Tsai’s father in the Chinese government. As Tsai’s family followed both Buddhist teachings and believed in Chinese superstitions, having a marriage arranged for Tsai remained complicated and challenging. Tsai sought to uphold Buddhism through its teachings, sacrificing to gods and offering incense; yet Tsai claimed she never found true satisfaction. Tsai’s conversion to Christianity came as a result of her pursuit of education in an effort to “find her meaning” in life. Tsai’s pursuit of education led her to attend a mission school in Soochow where she was taught English. As Tsai was being taught English, the teachers tried to share the Gospel with her, but Tsai had morally resolved to not engage on the matters. It was not until an American preacher came that Tsai became interested in the matters of Christianity. The preacher’s message centralized on Jesus Christ as the “light of the world” and Christ’s ability to “chase away darkness inside the hearts of men.” Such teaching led Tsai to recall an image from her childhood where she lifted up a garden stone and witnessed the bugs move about as the light exposed the darkness where the stone once rested. This image ushered in the understanding for Tsai, she claims, that much of her life looked like a white-washed stone that disguised her sin and brokenness, and ultimately led her to identify her need and desire for Christ.

Tsai asked that the Lord would “forgive my sin and help me understand Thy word” (Tsai 69). This was the starting place of Tsai’s ministry as a witness to the work of peace that Jesus had accomplished in her life. Tsai joined the “China Inland Mission” and devoted her life to being a witness in China. Due to Tsai's newfound Chrisitan faith, she was rejected by her family, her father in particular being strictly against her faith. While they also attempted to talk Tsai out of practicing Christianity, her devotion to the religion led to 55 members of her family converting to Christianity, including her mother, sisters and her father.

In the 1920s, Tsai became ill, acquiring malaria– and would continue to battle numerous health challenges through the second half of her life as she continued to evangelize and teach the Bible. Through her illness she went partially blind, was often confined to bed, and left unable to speak. She made a partial recovery to continue sharing Christ with others, but maintained a hyper-sensitivity to light which required her to remain in dark spaces. This points to the title of Tsai’s autobiography, entitled Queen of the Dark Chamber, which details the severe suffering Christiana endured as a result of her conversion. Even in her “dark chamber” Tsai continued to evangelize by tying gospel tracts to the collar of the cat that would carry them to people, even as she was physically unable to do so herself.

Amid Tsai;s continuing decline in health, she decided to make passage to America as the only hope of a potential recovery. She remained in America, living in Pennsylvania, until the time of her death in 1984. Following her death, her legacy is regarded by Christians as one that points to her faith in Christ amid persecution, chronic illness and family opposition.