Jeonju Supjeongi Shrine

Overview

Jeonju Supjeongi Shrine is a shrine of the Jeonju Diocese in Jinbuk-dong, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju, standing on the site of the Supjeongi execution ground, the place of martyrdom for the Jeonju area in the persecution era. Beginning with the execution of Yu Hang-geom’s family during the Sinyu Persecution, martyrs were executed here also during the Gihae and Byeongin Persecutions, and in 1984 it was designated as a monument of North Jeolla Province.

History

According to the beatification and canonization site of the Bishops’ Conference, Supjeongi, thick with woods, was also called ‘Supmeori,’ served as the training ground of the Jeonju garrison in the late Joseon period, and executions were carried out on one side. The present Jeonjucheon embankment was completed in 1937, and until the 1920s the Jeonjucheon flowed close to Supjeongi, where, it is said, executioners washed their blood-stained swords in the water flowing near the execution ground. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture explains that it was the site of a military command platform of the fortress in the Joseon period, remote and quiet, and was used as an execution ground for serious criminals.

Its connection with the Korean Catholic Church began in 1801 with the execution of Yu Hang-geom’s family during the Sinyu Persecution. Good News records that on January 31, 1802 (December 28, 1801 by the lunar calendar), Yu Hang-geom’s wife Sin Hui, his sister-in-law Yi Yuk-hui, his daughter-in-law Rugarda Yi Sun-i, and his nephew Matthew Yu Jung-seong were first beheaded. Yi Sun-i and Yu Jung-seong were beatified on August 16, 2014, and Sin Hui and Yi Yuk-hui are Servants of God (Bishops’ Conference).

On May 29, 1839, Peter Sin Tae-bo, Peter Yi Tae-gwon, Job Yi Il-eon, Paul Jeong Tae-bong, Peter Kim Dae-gwon and others, 5 persons in all, who had been arrested during the Jeonghae Persecution of 1827 and had suffered 12 years of imprisonment, were beheaded. They were beatified at Gwanghwamun Square on August 16, 2014 (Good News). On January 4, 1840, Protasius Hong Jae-yeong, Barbara Choe Jo-i, Magdalena Yi Jo-i and James O Jong-rye were martyred (Bishops’ Conference).

On December 13, 1866 by the lunar calendar, 6 persons — Bartholomew Jeong Mun-ho, Peter Son Seon-ji, Joseph Han Jae-gwon, Peter Jo Hwa-seo, Peter Yi Myeong-seo and Peter Jeong Won-ji — were martyred, and on May 6, 1984 at Yeouido Square in Seoul they were raised to sainthood. In 1867, Philip Kim Sa-jip and several other unnamed martyrs were martyred here (Good News). The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture lists Jo Hwa-seo, Jo Yun-ho, Yi Myeong-seo, Jeong Won-ji, Jeong Mun-ho, Son Seon-ji, Han Won-seo and others as the martyrs of 1866, showing a difference in the listing of martyrs’ names from other sources.

According to Good News, the development of this execution ground as a church historic site began in the early 1930s when Anatol Yi Jun-myeong, grandson of Saint Peter Yi Myeong-seo, purchased the martyrdom site. In 1935, Paul Yi Hak-su, president of Jeondong Parish, erected a cross-shaped martyrdom monument, in 1960 Haeseong Middle and High School opened nearby, and in 1968 a memorial tower honoring the blessed martyrs was built. On September 20, 1984, the Supjeongi martyrdom site was designated as Monument No. 71 of North Jeolla Province.

With urbanization, the school moved away and apartments were built, traces of the original martyrdom site disappeared, and a new shrine was created inside an apartment complex about 150m from the original place, covering it with soil moved from the martyrdom site and erecting a cross and a tower honoring the martyrs. Good News gives the date of the Haeseong School relocation as 1989 in one account and as 1992 in another. In June 2004, a statue of Mary with the Child and 14 Stations of the Cross were prepared and blessed.

Architecture and Space

According to Good News, the present shrine was created in front of Yunho Hall, formerly used as the gymnasium of Haeseong Middle and High School, and inside Yunho Hall is the Jeonju Catholic Theological Institute, founded as a project commemorating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Jeonju Diocese in 1997. The shrine has a tower honoring the martyrs and a cross, a statue of Mary with the Child, and 14 Stations of the Cross, and the Bishops’ Conference site introduces the Supjeongi execution-ground martyrdom monument (1935) and the monument to the martyrs of the Sinyu Persecution.

The National Heritage Portal registers this heritage as ‘Monument of North Jeolla Special Self-Governing Province Supjeongi (Catholic Martyrdom Site),’ with 3 parcels and 1,459 square meters, and the designation date is September 20, 1984. Ownership and management belong to the Jeonju Diocese Catholic Church Maintenance Foundation.

Religious Meaning and Visiting Context

Good News introduces Supjeongi as the historic site that produced the most martyrs in Jeolla-do. There are 6 saints, 11 blesseds and 2 Servants of God martyred here (Bishops’ Conference). Rugarda Yi Sun-i’s letter sent from prison to her natal family just before her execution is quoted in full in Dallet’s “History of the Catholic Church in Korea” (Good News).

The parish with jurisdiction over the shrine is Supjeongi Parish (Bishops’ Conference).

Related Places and People

• Chimyeongjasan Shrine: the place where the tombs of Rugarda Yi Sun-i, daughter-in-law of Yu Hang-geom, and of the chaste couple John Yu Jung-cheol and his wife are found.
• Cheonho Shrine: the place where the remains of 4 saints martyred here are enshrined.
• Jeonju Catholic Theological Institute: located inside Yunho Hall adjacent to the shrine.
• Rugarda Yi Sun-i, Augustine Yu Hang-geom, Bartholomew Jeong Mun-ho and others: persons martyred here.

References and Sources

1. Special Episcopal Committee for Beatification and Canonization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, related shrine Jeonju Supjeongi Shrine. The origin of the name, the Jeonjucheon embankment, the list of martyrs by year, 6 saints, 11 blesseds and 2 Servants of God, and the 1935 martyrdom monument were confirmed.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/51
2. Good News Catholic Information, Jeonju Diocese Jeonju Supjeongi Shrine. The first martyrdom, martyrdoms by year, the process of developing the historic site, the monument designation, the relocation of the shrine and the facilities of 2004, and the Jeonju Catholic Theological Institute were confirmed.
   https://maria.catholic.or.kr/sa_ho/list/view.asp?ctxtOrgNum=2359&menugubun=holyplace
3. Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, Supjeongi. The site of the command platform, use as an execution ground, the cases of martyrdom and the designation as a provincial monument in 1984 were confirmed.
   https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0032104
4. National Heritage Portal, Monument of North Jeolla Special Self-Governing Province Supjeongi (Catholic Martyrdom Site). The designation date, area, and ownership and management were confirmed.
   https://www.heritage.go.kr/heri/cul/culSelectDetail.do?ccbaCpno=2333500710000
5. Jeonju Diocese, Jeonju Supjeongi Shrine. The use as a military training ground and execution ground, the martyrdom of 1867, and the history of erecting the martyrdom monument were confirmed.
   https://www.jcatholic.or.kr/theme/main/pages/terrasanta03.php