Jeongsan Shrine

Overview

The Jeongsan Martyrdom Shrine is a martyrdom shrine of the Diocese of Daejeon located in Jeongsan-myeon, Cheongyang-gun, Chungcheongnam-do. It is the place where Blessed Paul Yi Do-gi bore witness to the faith at the Jeongsan government office, prison, and marketplace beginning in 1797 and was martyred in 1798, corresponding to the area of the former Jeongsan-hyeon government office site and prison site.

History

Jeongsan was originally Yeolgi-hyeon of Baekje, and in 757 (King Gyeongdeok 16) it was renamed Yeolseong-hyeon and became a subordinate county of Buyeo-gun, and in 940 (Taejo 23) it was renamed Jeongsan-hyeon. In 1413 (Taejong 13) a hyeongam was appointed, and in 1895 (Gojong 32) it became a county, and then at the time of the administrative reorganization in 1914, Daemyeon and Ingmyeon were merged to form Jeongsan-myeon, which was annexed to Cheongyang-gun (Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture). During the Joseon period, Jeongsan-hyeon was a key transportation hub linking the Hongju, Cheongyang, and Gongju areas.

Blessed Paul Yi Do-gi (李道起, 1743–1798) was born in Cheongyang. The introduction to the shrines of the Diocese of Daejeon carried in Ssilukseu Catholic estimates his birthplace as Sudan-i (Sinwang 1-ri, Namyang-myeon, Cheongyang-gun), and explains that since the Gospel had reached the Cheongyang area before 1786, he likely embraced the faith around that time. According to the same introduction, Yi Do-gi played a major role in proclaiming the Gospel in the Cheongyang and Jeongsan areas, and among the believers who entered the faith through him, those whose names are known are Yi Se-chae of Hongju, Kim Seong-ok of Boryeong, Yi Won-gyeong of Cheongyang, Yi Sang-won of Eun-jin, and Kim Seon-ryong of Gongju. These 5 persons were arrested during the Shinyu Persecution in 1801 and were exiled to various places on the charge of having learned Catholicism from Yi Do-gi. Although not highly learned, Yi Do-gi, who was wealthy, moved 5 and 6 times for his life of faith and spent all his property, and because of such active proclamation of the Gospel, he was singled out as a ‘ringleader’ of Catholicism and arrested.

Yi Do-gi refused his wife’s advice to flee, remained in Jeongsan, and was arrested on intercalary June 8, 1797. The “Jeongsan Diary” is a martyr’s biography recording his interrogation, severe beating, imprisonment, and profession of faith over 1 years from his arrest in Jeongsan until he was beaten to death on June 12, 1798 (lunar calendar). According to the brief biography by the Special Episcopal Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, Yi Do-gi, dragged to the Jeongsan government office, was frequently brought before the magistrate for interrogation and punishment, and the constables sometimes dragged him to the marketplace to humiliate or beat him. He did not yield and often explained Catholic doctrine before the magistrate. When the magistrate tried to win him over by offering him a government post, he answered, “Even if you were to give me the whole town of Jeongsan, I cannot betray the Lord,” and, fearing his resolve would weaken, he sent away his wife and fellow believers who came to visit him in prison.

Yi Do-gi was beaten until his legs broke and then abandoned. Two days later, in the evening, the magistrate ordered the constables, “If he has not died, kill him outright,” and the constables crushed his body. The Special Episcopal Commission for Beatification and Canonization records this time as July 24, 1798 (Gregorian calendar) and his age at the time as 55. Just before his martyrdom, he is said to have looked up to heaven and cried out, “Hail Mary.” His age is recorded differently according to the source, with the Ssilukseu Catholic introduction recording it as 56.

The Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture explains that the “Jeongsan Diary” contains the testimony of a jailer that a great radiance brightly illuminated the area around the body on the day the death sentence was carried out. This book, together with the “Jichung Diary” of the Jinsan martyr Yun Ji-chung of 1791, is evaluated as a martyr’s biography that inspired devotion to martyrdom among believers during the persecution. The author and date of the “Jeongsan Diary” are unknown; Bishop Daveluy collected it, translated it into French, and sent it to Paris in February 1855, and it was reflected in Dallet’s “History of the Catholic Church in Korea.” It is held by the Research Institute for Korean Church History as a manuscript of 1 volumes and 54 pages.

Architecture and Spaces

According to the Special Episcopal Commission for Beatification and Canonization, the Jeongsan Shrine was created in 2018 to commemorate the 220th anniversary of the martyrdom of Blessed Paul Yi Do-gi. The related historic sites introduced are the Jeongsan government office site (Seojeong-ri 496-1, the present Jeongsan-myeon Office), the Jeongsan prison site (Seojeong-ri 55, next to Jeongsan Middle School at Okgeori), and the Jeongsan marketplace (the area of Seojeong-ri 156). A travel article on the Chungcheongnam-do official website states that the Jeongsan Shrine is a place honoring one martyred at the prison site located on the former Jeongsan-hyeon government office site, and that no trace of the martyrdom site can be found as the surrounding environment has changed.

According to the introduction carried in Ssilukseu Catholic, at the entrance to the chapel a knife, a kind of torture frame at the time of martyrdom, has been placed, carved in granite. The introduction reports that, even while suffering the torture of having his neck tightened with a club inserted between the holes of the knife, Yi Do-gi said, “The Lord beats me to keep my heart from growing weak and makes it burn.” It also states that Mary, reaching out her hand and grieving over the pain of Yi Do-gi, who at the last moment said, “Holy Mary, hail to you,” was sculpted in marble, and that this Marian statue was fashioned by a monk of the Mirinae Shrine trimming white marble.

Related Places and Figures

• Blessed Paul Yi Do-gi: born in Cheongyang in 1743, a blessed martyred in Jeongsan in 1798.
• “Jeongsan Diary”: a martyr’s biography recording Yi Do-gi’s interrogation and profession of faith.
• Jeongsan government office site, prison site, and marketplace: places where Yi Do-gi bore witness to the faith, as introduced by the Special Episcopal Commission for Beatification and Canonization.

References and Sources

1. Special Episcopal Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, “Related Shrines,” entry for Paul Yi Do-gi. Confirmation of the place of witness to the faith, circumstances and time of martyrdom, and creation of the shrine in 2018.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/57?page=2
2. Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture, “Jeongsan Diary.” Confirmation of the content, compilation, and bibliographic details of the “Jeongsan Diary.”
   https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0066728
3. Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture, “Jeongsan.” Confirmation of the history of Jeongsan-hyeon.
   https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0050332
4. Ssilukseu Catholic, “Jeongsan Martyrdom Shrine” (containing the introduction to the shrines of the Diocese of Daejeon). Confirmation of Yi Do-gi’s life, those who entered the faith, and the shrine sculptures.
   https://cylooks.co.kr/ca/shop/1712161445
5. Chungcheongnam-do official website, “Start Your Trip to Jeongsan-myeon, Cheongyang-gun at the Administrative Welfare Center.” Confirmation of the location of the Jeongsan Shrine and the outline of Yi Do-gi’s arrest and martyrdom.
   https://www.chungnam.go.kr/cnportal/media/article/view.do?articleNo=MD0003416949&menuNo=500167