Gwandukjeong Martyrs Memorial Hall

Overview

The Gwandeokjeong Martyrdom Memorial Hall is a martyrdom shrine of the Catholic Archdiocese of Daegu in Jung-gu, Daegu Metropolitan City. Its official name is ‘Catholic Daegu Gwandeokjeong Martyrs’ Shrine,’ and it enshrines the relics of Saint John Yi Yun-il, the 2 patron saint of the Archdiocese of Daegu. Built on the site of the Gwandeokdang parade ground, which was the execution ground of the Gyeongsang provincial office in the late Joseon period, the memorial opened on May 31, 1991.

History

Gwandeokdang (觀德堂) was a two-story gate pavilion with a 3-bay facade, built in 1749 (Yeongjo 25) by Min Baek-sang, governor of Gyeongsang-do and magistrate of Daegu, at a point 200 bo southwest of the South Gate (Yeongnam Jeilgwan) of Daegu Eupseong, and it served as the Dosicheong where the dosi (都試), one of the military examinations, was held. With its pavilion and large courtyard, it was used as a drill ground and as a venue for gatherings, and when criminals were punished, a scaffold was set up on the parade ground for executions. During the Catholic persecutions, believers arrested throughout Gyeongsang-do were transferred to the Daegu provincial office and martyred at this Gwandeokdang execution ground.

Archdiocesan records state that at Gwandeokdang 7 people were martyred in the 1815 Eulhae Persecution, 3 people in the 1839 Gihae Persecution, and 7 people including Saint John Yi Yun-il in the 1866 Byeongin Persecution. The Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture and the Episcopal Special Committee for Beatification and Canonization date the execution of the 7 Eulhae martyrs to 1816, so the year differs by source. According to the Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture, Andrew Bak Uisa, Andrew Kim Sa-geon and Andrew Yi Jae-haeng, arrested in the 1827 Jeonghae Persecution and imprisoned for 12 years, were executed in 1839, Yi Yun-il was martyred in 1867, and Bak Dae-sik and others were martyred in 1868 at this place. The Special Committee records that Blessed Mark Sin Seok-bok and Blessed Victorinus Bak Dae-sik were martyred at the Gwandeokjeong execution ground in 1866 and 1868 respectively.

The Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture also reports that Su-un Choe Je-u, founder of Donghak, was executed at the Gwandeokdang parade ground in 1864. During the Japanese colonial period, after Kim Yeon-guk of Cheondogyo verified that it was an execution site, he purchased the Gwandeokdang building, and Cheondogyo erected a statue of Choe Je-u in Dalseong Park in 1964 and, in 2017, erected in front of the execution site the ‘Monument to the Martyrdom of Donghak Founder Su-un Choe Je-u’.

When Daegu Eupseong was demolished in 1906, Gwandeokdang lost its function as Dosicheong, and members of the Daegu Gwangmunsa, including Governor Sin Tae-hyu and Seo Sang-don, founded a normal school here, which was closed in 1907 and seized by Japan. As the meteorological station moved nearby in 1916, houses began to appear, and in the 1930s a public market was built in the front yard of Gwandeokdang and called ‘Saejangteo’ or ‘Nam}mun Market.’ Gwandeokdang was later demolished, and in 1937 Nam}mun Market moved to its present location.

Gwandeokjeong began to take shape as a martyrdom shrine when the martyr John Yi Yun-il was canonized. As one of the projects commemorating the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Catholic Church in Korea, the Archdiocese of Daegu secured the site verified as the execution ground (the Special Committee records that the land was purchased from 1983 to 2). It held the groundbreaking for the martyrdom memorial in 1985, blessed the underground chapel and transferred and enshrined the relics of Saint Yi Yun-il on January 20, 1991, and opened on May 31 of that year. On January 21, 2002 it erected a statue of Saint John Yi Yun-il at the entrance, and on January 21, 2007 it newly built and blessed an annex with meeting rooms and a hall beside the memorial. In 2016, marking the 25th anniversary of its opening, it unveiled the ‘Monument to the Blessed Martyrs’ for 11 martyred here among the 124 beatified in 2014. Since 1992 it has held the annual ‘Feast of Saint John Yi Yun-il.’

Architecture and Space

The memorial is a Korean-style pavilion building with 1 basement floor and 3 above-ground floors, reproducing the appearance of Gwandeokjeong at the time. The Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture explains that its granite walls honor the faith and spirit of the martyrs, and that the exterior reliefs embody the martyrs’ love toward God. Together with the relics of Saint Yi Yun-il, the memorial exhibits the relics of many saints and martyrs and materials and artifacts illustrating the church history of the Yeongnam region.

Meaning of Faith and Visiting Context

John Yi Yun-il, raised to sainthood in 1984, is the only saint of the Yeongnam region, and his relics are enshrined beneath the altar of the chapel here, his place of execution. Good News introduces that among the 124 beatified by Pope Francis on August 16, 2014 in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, 20 martyred in the Daegu area, including Gwandeokjeong and the Daegu provincial office, are included. The Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture states that the memorial promotes 10 Blessed martyred at Gwandeokdang together with Saint John Yi Yun-il (1 of them honored by the Diocese of Masan) and 10 Blessed who died in prison at the Gyeongsang provincial office.

Related Places and People

• Saint John Yi Yun-il (1815-1867): As president of the Yeoumok Catholic village in Mungyeong, he was arrested on November 18, 1866 and transferred through the Mungyeong office and Sangju to the Gyeongsang provincial office. He was martyred by beheading at the Gwandeokdang execution ground on January 21, 1867. His relics passed through Nalmoe and Mungni and were moved in 1976 to the Mirinae anonymous martyrs’ cemetery, then moved on December 21, 1986 to the chapel in the Daegu archdiocesan office, placed in the Marian chapel in 1987, and enshrined in the underground chapel of the memorial in 1991.
• Blessed martyrs of the Eulhae Persecution: Francis Kim Hui-seong, Barbara Gu Seong-yeol, Anna Yi Si-im, Peter Go Seong-dae, Joseph Go Seong-un, Andrew Kim Jong-han, James Kim Hwa-chun (the Special Committee records beheading on December 19, 1816).
• Blessed martyrs of the Jeonghae and Gihae Persecutions: Andrew Yi Jae-haeng, Andrew Bak Uisa, Andrew Kim Sa-geon (beheaded on May 26, 1839).
• Blessed martyrs of the Byeongin Persecution: Mark Sin Seok-bok, Victorinus Bak Dae-sik.
• Daegu Gyeongsang provincial office and prison site: introduced by the Episcopal Special Committee for Beatification and Canonization as a related martyrdom site.

References and Sources

1. Catholic Archdiocese of Daegu, Gwandeokjeong Martyrdom Memorial Hall. Construction of the Gwandeokjeong Dosicheong (Yeongjo 25), numbers of martyrs by persecution, transfer route of Saint Yi Yun-il’s relics and proclamation as the 2 patron saint.
   https://www.daegu-archdiocese.or.kr/page/shrine.html?idx=5&process=read&srl=shrine&view_option=
2. Academy of Korean Studies, Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture ‘Gwandeokjeong’. Establishment and decline of Gwandeokdang, list of martyrs, execution of Choe Je-u, opening in 1991 and annex in 2007.
   https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0076761
3. Good News (Catholic Seoul), shrines and historic sites ‘Gwandeokjeong Martyrdom Memorial Hall’. Groundbreaking in 1985, opening in 1991, statue in 2002, annex in 2007, monument to the Blessed martyrs in 2016.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2250
4. Episcopal Special Committee for Beatification and Canonization, related shrine ‘Gwandeokjeong Martyrdom Memorial Hall’. Description of the Gwandeokdang execution ground, land purchase, biographies of the saint and blessed martyrs.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/29