Daejeong Shrine

Overview

Daejeong Shrine is a shrine of the Diocese of Jeju where the tomb of Maria Jeong Nan-ju is located, who was exiled to Daejeong-hyeon on Jeju during the Shinyu Persecution and lived as a government slave for 37 years until she died in 1838. Jeong Nan-ju was the wife of Alexio Hwang Sa-yeong and is a person venerated by the Diocese of Jeju as a “white martyr.”

History

Maria Jeong Nan-ju (1773-1838, childhood name Myeong-ryeon) was born as the eldest daughter of Jeong Yak-hyeon, the eldest brother of Blessed Augustino Jeong Yak-jong and of Dasan Jeong Yak-yong. Around 1790 she married Hwang Sa-yeong, and the Digital Seogwipo Culture Encyclopedia records that she learned Western Learning from her second uncle Jeong Yak-jeon and received the baptismal name “Maria” from her aunt’s husband Yi Seung-hun.

In 1801, during the Shinyu Persecution, her husband Hwang Sa-yeong hid in Baeron, Jecheon, Chungcheong-do and wrote a document informing the bishop in Beijing of the situation of the Catholic Church in Joseon, but he was discovered and executed outside Seosomun. The family property was confiscated, his mother Yi Yun-hye was exiled to Geojedo, Jeong Nan-ju was exiled as a slave to Daejeong-hyeon, Jeju-mok, Jeolla-do, and her two-year-old son Gyeong-han was sent as a slave to Chujado.

According to an article carried in Good News, on the way into exile Jeong Nan-ju bribed the boatman and the guards to leave her son Gyeong-han on the hill of Yecho-ri on Chujado, and the guards reported that the child had died during the voyage and had been buried at sea. Gyeong-han was found and raised by a fisherman surnamed O. The beatification and canonization website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea records that Gyeong-han was buried in Yecho-ri after his death.

In Daejeong-hyeon, Jeong Nan-ju gradually came to live more freely thanks to the care of the Kim family who was in charge of government slaves, but because of her status as a government slave she could not go to see her son on Chujado. The Kim family called her “Hanyang grandmother” and cared for her. The Digital Seogwipo Culture Encyclopedia states that she was confined to the house of Kim Seok-gu, a local notable in Daejeong-hyeon, and raised the brothers, the sons of Kim Seok-gu, as if they were her adopted sons, and the Catholic Newspaper relates that she was called “Seoul grandmother.”

Jeong Nan-ju died of illness in lunar February in 1838. The Digital Seogwipo Culture Encyclopedia records that she died at the age of 66 and that Kim Sang-jip, the son of Kim Seok-gu, buried her in Hangulwat, a place commonly so called to the north of Moseulbong. The Kim family sent a letter announcing the death to her descendants on Chujado, and that letter has been preserved to this day.

In the early 1970s, church historians Fathers Kim Gu-jeong and Kim Byeong-jun finally found the tomb after searching for it. This was because the Kim family had cared for the tomb for generations. The tomb was renovated as a martyrs’ burial ground in 1977 and developed as “Daejeong Shrine” in 1994. The history of the Diocese of Jeju also records, in 1994, the “Diocesan Martyrs Honoring Assembly and blessing ceremony of the shrine of the tomb of Maria Jeong Nan-ju.” In 1999, as one of the projects commemorating the 100th anniversary of evangelization in Jeju, the tomb was newly renovated and made into a shrine.

Architecture and Space

On both sides of the entrance path to the shrine, tall palm trees stand in a row, and next to the arched stone wall serving as the entrance there is a statue of the Madonna and Child dressed in hanbok. Inside the stone wall is landscaped as a lawn, around which 14 Stations of the Cross have been installed. The tomb of Jeong Nan-ju lies beyond the lawn under a large cross.

Faith Meaning and Visiting Context

The Diocese of Jeju venerates Jeong Nan-ju, who lived a Gospel life practicing sharing with her neighbors while living in exile as a government slave on Jeju, as a “white martyr,” and made the site into a shrine so that her example may be followed.

Daejeong Shrine is the starting point of “Jeong Nan-ju Road” among the pilgrimage routes of the Diocese of Jeju. The Catholic Newspaper introduces Jeong Nan-ju Road as a 13.8km road leading from here to Moseulpo Church, passing the place of exile of Chusa Kim Jeong-hui, the Seotal Oreum Memorial Tower, Altteureu Airfield, the tomb of Yi Gyu-seok and his two sons, and other sites. Good News introduces Jeong Nan-ju Road as a 7km pilgrimage road leading from Daejeong Shrine to Moseulpo Church, giving a different length from the Catholic Newspaper. According to the materials of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, the body having jurisdiction over this shrine is Moseulpo Church.

Related Places and Persons

• Alexio Hwang Sa-yeong: the husband of Jeong Nan-ju, who was martyred in connection with the incident of the document.
• Yecho-ri, Chujado: the place where her son Hwang Gyeong-han was left, grew up, and was buried.
• Moseulpo Church: the end point of Jeong Nan-ju Road and the parish having jurisdiction over Daejeong Shrine.

References and Sources

1. Subcommittee for Beatification and Canonization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, related shrine Daejeong Shrine. Confirmed the life, exile, death and burial place of Maria Jeong Nan-ju, the life of Hwang Sa-yeong, and the body having jurisdiction.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/95?page=8
2. Good News Catholic Information, Daejeong Shrine of the Diocese of Jeju (Tomb of Maria Jeong Nan-ju). Confirmed the background of the exile, the discovery of the tomb, the renovation in 1977, the development as a shrine in 1994, the enshrinement in 1999, and the shrine facilities and pilgrimage route.
   https://maria.catholic.or.kr/sa_ho/list/view.asp?ctxtOrgNum=2368&menugubun=holyplace
3. Digital Seogwipo Culture Encyclopedia, Jeong Nan-ju. Confirmed the family, baptism, life in exile in Daejeong-hyeon, and death and burial in 1838.
   https://seogwipo.grandculture.net/seogwipo/toc/GC04601992
4. Catholic Newspaper, “[Pilgrimage, Walking and Praying] Jeong Nan-ju Road in the Diocese of Jeju” (February 26, 2025). Confirmed the shrine facilities and the sections of Jeong Nan-ju Road.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20250224500036
5. Diocese of Jeju, diocesan history. Confirmed the exile of Jeong Nan-ju to Daejeong-hyeon in 1801 and the blessing ceremony of the shrine of the tomb of Jeong Nan-ju in 1994.
   https://www.diocesejeju.or.kr/diocese03