Peter Lee Seung-hoon Tomb (Banjugol)

Overview

The Tomb of Peter Yi Seung-hun (Banju-gol) is a shrine of the Incheon Diocese, holding the graves of Peter Yi Seung-hun, the first Korean baptized believer and one of the founding ancestors of the Korean Catholic Church, his eldest son Yi Taek-gyu, and his 3 son Matthias Yi Sin-gyu. Yi Seung-hun was martyred by beheading outside Seosomun during the Shinyu Persecution of 1801 and was buried in Banju-gol, Jangsu-dong, Incheon, his ancestral burial ground. The tomb area was designated as Incheon City Monument No. 63 in 2011, and the Incheon Diocese and Incheon City have developed it into a shrine equipped with a history park and the Peter Yi Seung-hun Shrine Memorial Hall centered on the tomb area.

History

Yi Seung-hun was born in 1756. According to the GoodNews shrine introduction, he passed the jinsa examination at age 24 but gave up an official career, married the younger sister of Jeong Yak-yong of the Majae Jeong family, and was deeply influenced by them. While attending the Cheonjinam study gathering, at the urging of Yi Byeok he followed the winter embassy to Beijing in late 1783, learned doctrine, and the following year was baptized by Father Grammont with the name Peter, becoming the first Korean baptized believer. The Peter Yi Seung-hun Shrine Memorial Hall presents this baptism as received in 1783 after following his father to Beijing, while GoodNews dates it to the following year, so sources differ.

After returning with catechisms and sacred objects, he baptized his study companions, held meetings at Myeongnye-bang, led the lay-led priesthood system, and formed a community of believers, laying the foundation for the creation of the Korean Catholic Church. The shrine memorial hall explains that he baptized Yi Byeok, the Jeong Yak-yong brothers, Gwon Il-sin and others and held regular religious gatherings, giving birth to the first Catholic faith community in this land. According to GoodNews, he left the Church for a time because of the Eulsa Chujo exposure incident, the ancestral-rite question, and his parents' strong opposition, but later returned.

Yi Seung-hun was martyred by beheading at the crossroads execution ground outside Seosomun during the Shinyu Persecution of 1801, and his body was buried in Banju-gol, Jangsu-dong, Incheon, his ancestral burial ground. According to a Catholic Newspaper article, the Yi Seung-hun family produced 8 martyrs over 4 generations, including his son Matthias Yi Sin-gyu and his grandson Thomas Yi Jae-ui.

According to the Footsteps history of the shrine memorial hall, in 1933 Father Oh Gi-seon met Yi Seung-hun's great-grandson Yi Hak-ho, a scholar of Korean medicine, and thereafter in 1967 visited the tomb with the 5-generation descendant Yi Byeong-gyu and others and held an unveiling ceremony for the tombstone in October 1968. In 1981, to commemorate the 150 anniversary of the establishment of the Joseon Diocese, part of Yi Seung-hun's remains buried in Banju-gol was transferred to the burial ground for the founding ancestors of the Korean Catholic Church at the Cheonjinam Shrine and enshrined beside Jeong Yak-jong, the brothers Gwon Cheol-sin and Il-sin, and Yi Byeok. The shrine memorial hall explains that 180 years after his martyrdom by blood, most of the remains had already returned to dust.

In December 2011 the Yi Seung-hun tomb was designated as Incheon City Monument No. 63. In January 2014 the Incheon Diocese launched the Shrine Development Support Association that would lead the diocesan project to develop martyrdom shrines into sacred precincts, and announced a plan to develop the tomb area with Incheon City into a history and culture park with a history-culture memorial hall and pilgrimage routes. The shrine memorial hall records that on May 17, 2019 an on-site investigation for Servant of God by the Beatification and Canonization Committee of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea confirmed that the Jangsu-dong tomb is the actual grave. Construction of the shrine memorial hall proceeded from 2022 through the first half of 2024, and on September 12, 2024 the memorial hall opened together with the Martyrs Exaltation Mass jointly celebrated by the Apostolic Nuncio. After October 2024, a 1,801 m section of road near the tomb area was named Yi Seung-hun Peter Road, with street nameplates and sculptures installed.

Architecture and Space

Incheon City created the Yi Seung-hun Peter History Park on a site of about 4 ten thousand 6 thousand square meters, and prepared the Way of the Cross, a deck road leading from the memorial hall to the tomb area, a Pieta pond, and a plaza. The Catholic Newspaper of February 1, 2026 reported that the Incheon Diocese and Incheon City had developed a shrine with a history park and memorial hall on a site of about 5 ten thousand square meters centered on the tomb area.

According to the Catholic Newspaper article, at the entrance there are a Pieta pond and garden in 4 tiers, symbolizing the martyrdom history of the Yi Seung-hun family that produced 8 martyrs over 4 generations. Beyond the pond, past Peter Yi Seung-hun Plaza, stands the circular Peter Yi Seung-hun Shrine Memorial Hall with 1 basement level and 2 above-ground levels. The building and the central plaza were built in circular form imaging the moon and the pond, and on the right wall of the memorial hall is attached Yi Seung-hun's confession of faith, 'Wollak jaecheon, susang jijin (月落在天, 水上池盡)'. This phrase means that just as the moon remains in the sky even after it sets, faith remains in God, and just as water ends in the pond even as it gushes forth, faith is fulfilled in God.

The permanent exhibition hall on the 2 floor of the memorial hall introduces Yi Seung-hun's life, the martyrdom of his descendants, and their influence on the local community, and exhibits historical sources such as the letter he sent to Bishop Gouvea of the Beijing Diocese requesting the dispatch of priests. At the entrance to the video exhibition hall there is a photo zone recreating the scene of Yi Seung-hun receiving baptism from Father Grammont at the North Church in Beijing. On the wall behind the altar of the chapel on the 1 floor, the words from chapters 18 to 24 of the Gospel of Luke are engraved in marble, and the tabernacle made of 45 pieces of glass embodies the resolve of Yi Seung-hun, martyred at age 45. Behind the memorial hall, a 400 m wooden-deck Way of the Cross leads into the hills to the graves of Yi Seung-hun and his two sons. The memorial hall records benefactors' names and baptismal names and offers Mass for them on the memorial wall and prayer wall inside the chapel, in the benefactors' room, and at the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross.

Religious Significance and Visiting Context

The shrine memorial hall and the Catholic Newspaper present this shrine as preserving the roots of the Joseon Church that accepted the faith voluntarily without the help of missionaries. The shrine memorial hall explains that the faith community begun by Peter Yi Seung-hun produced more than 1 ten thousand martyrs over about 100 years.

According to GoodNews, Peter Yi Seung-hun has been selected as a Servant of God among the 132 beatification candidates of John the Baptist Yi Byeok and companions being promoted by the Korean Catholic Church, and the beatification process is underway. The shrine memorial hall explains that the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea has promoted the beatification of martyrs under the Joseon Dynasty including Peter Yi Seung-hun since 2009, and in October 2016 received from the Holy See Dicastery for the Causes of Saints a decree of no objection (Prot N. 3087-4/16) allowing the official use of the title Servant of God.

Related Places and People

• Peter Yi Seung-hun Shrine Memorial Hall: memorial hall built near the tomb area
• Cheonjinam Shrine: burial ground for the founding ancestors of the Korean Catholic Church to which part of Yi Seung-hun's remains was transferred in 1981
• Matthias Yi Sin-gyu: 3 son of Yi Seung-hun and martyr, whose grave is in Banju-gol
• Yi Taek-gyu: eldest son of Yi Seung-hun, whose grave is in Banju-gol

References and Sources

1. GoodNews, the Catholic internet of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, Shrines and Historic Sites 'Tomb of Peter Yi Seung-hun (Banju-gol)'. Confirmed Yi Seung-hun's life, the transfer of remains in 1981, designation as an Incheon City monument in 2011, the sanctification plan of 2014, and the ongoing beatification process.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2271
2. Peter Yi Seung-hun Shrine Memorial Hall, Footsteps. Confirmed the shrine development process from 1933 to 2024, the identification of the tomb, the opening of the memorial hall, and how the title Servant of God came to be used.
   https://www.leeseunghoon.org/milestone
3. Catholic Newspaper, Pilgrimage, Walking and Praying: Incheon Diocese Peter Yi Seung-hun Shrine, February 1, 2026 issue. Confirmed the scale of the shrine, the architecture and spatial composition of the memorial hall, and the Way of the Cross.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20260122500001