Martyr Blessed Jeong Chan-mun's Tomb

Overview

The Diocesan Martyr Blessed Jeong Chan-mun Tomb is a shrine of the Masan Diocese located in front of the Sabong Catholic mission chapel in Jungchon Village, Muchon-ri, Sabong-myeon, Jinju-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, and is the burial place of Blessed Antonio Jeong Chan-mun (1822–1867), who was beaten and martyred in Jinju Prison during the Byeongin Persecution in 1866. Because the head of his body could not be recovered, it was called Mudumyo (無頭墓), meaning “headless tomb,” and the responsible church is Jinju Munsan Church.

History

Antonio Jeong Chan-mun (鄭燦文) was born in 1822 into a yangban family in Jungchon at Heoyu Pass, Jinju, Gyeongsang-do (present-day Sabong-myeon, Jinju-si) (Brief Biography of the Bishops’ Conference). Good News reports that he was born on lunar October 13, 1822, as the only son of his father Jeong Seo-gon and his mother Lady Kim of Ulsan, of the Jinyang Jeong yangban family. It is said that the Jinyang Jeong family are descendants of Jeong On, Chief Censor in late Goryeo, and continuing that family tradition he was known for integrity and principled character.

Jeong Chan-mun married Lady Yun of Chilwon, from a Catholic family of the Daesan Gadeung Catholic mission chapel, before 1841, and they had a son, Jung-sun (Good News). At the encouragement of his wife, who had been baptized and entered the Church first, he came to hear about the Catholic faith, learned the catechism, and entered the Church in 1863 at the age of 41 (Brief Biography of the Bishops’ Conference). Good News explains that the period when the couple carried out evangelization was a transitional period before the persecution began in earnest, so they could evangelize actively without facing relatively serious threat of persecution.

When the Byeongin Persecution broke out in 1866 and believers began to be arrested, Jeong Chan-mun was also arrested that autumn by the Jinju runners. Relatives and a lower official of the district whom he knew came and tempted him, saying that if he would only say he would apostatize they would see to it that he was not dragged away, but his faith was not shaken (Brief Biography of the Bishops’ Conference). Dragged to Jinju, he was imprisoned for 25 days, often dragged before the magistrate and subjected to severe punishment, and meanwhile his family property was confiscated so that his family found it hard to live. His wife begged for rice and passed it into the prison. Good News writes that the encouragement of his wife Yun, who carried a baby on her back and begged for rice to carry to the prison, was a great strength.

One day, after being dragged out of prison again and beaten countless times, Jeong Chan-mun breathed his last that night after being dragged back into prison. The date was January 25, 1867 (lunar December 20, 1866), and he was 45 years old (Brief Biography of the Bishops’ Conference). Good News introduces that the Jinju prison where he was martyred by beating was located between the Central Market near Jinju Public Market and Okbong-dong Church, and that Blessed Joseph Yun Bong-mun was also martyred there. Meanwhile, the Digital Jinju Culture Encyclopedia records that he was martyred on the white sandbank of the Namgang River during the Catholic persecution on December 20, 1866 (the 3th year of King Gojong of Joseon), so descriptions of the martyrdom place differ by source.

After his martyrdom, Jeong Chan-mun’s body was left abandoned in prison for three days. The Brief Biography of the Bishops’ Conference reports that his nephews recovered the body and buried it near his hometown, and that even then the body had not stiffened and his face had a lively color so that he looked like a living person. According to Good News and the related shrine guide of the Bishops’ Conference, his cousins went to find the body, but because it was a body connected with gobok (考覆, re-examination), they could not bring the head and recovered and buried only the torso, and for this reason the tomb came to be called the Mudumyo of Muchon-ri. The Bishops’ Conference guide explains gobok as, in the samgae (三開) system of opening three successive state interrogations for criminals subject to capital punishment, sending an inspector to retry the case in the provinces, and states that the record that Jeong Chan-mun underwent gobok when arrested appears in the Testimonies of the Byeongin Persecution Martyrs (reference number 163). After that, the martyr’s tomb was long neglected and forgotten.

The timing of the rediscovery of the tomb is recorded slightly differently by source. According to Good News, in 1946 Father Bernardo Seo Jeong-do (1899–1964) of Munsan Parish heard the story of the Mudumyo from the president of the Gumshil (Sagok-ri, Sabong-myeon) Catholic mission chapel, and on March 30, 1948, following a tip from a grandmother Kim of Gwangsan living in Muchon-ri (then 94 years old), found the tomb on the roadside of Heoyu Pass. The related shrine guide of the Bishops’ Conference writes that in 1947 Father Seo Jeong-do heard the oral tradition and began investigation and found the tomb on the slope beside Heoyu Pass on March 29, 1948, explaining that the burial mound had collapsed so much that no one could tell it was a grave. The Digital Jinju Culture Encyclopedia writes that in 1947 Father Seo Jeong-do, with the help of grandmother Kim of Gwangsan, discovered the burial place after several excavation attempts.

On May 31, 1948, in the presence of fellow believers and distant relatives of the martyr, the remains were excavated, placed in a new coffin, moved slightly uphill, and a monument prepared by the parish was erected (Good News, related shrine guide of the Bishops’ Conference). Afterwards, the “Martyr Jeong Antonio Shrine Construction Committee” was formed, and in October 1975 the remains were transferred to the present Sabong Catholic mission chapel martyr cemetery (Jungchon Village, Muchon-ri, Sabong-myeon). Good News writes that the transfer was in mid-October 1975 and that on January 28, 1978 the tomb was renovated and a martyrdom monument was erected beside it, and the Bishops’ Conference guide also says that in 1978 the “Jeong Antonio Martyrdom Monument” was erected. The Digital Jinju Culture Encyclopedia describes that in October 1975, after the Shrine Construction Committee held funeral rites, the tomb was transferred from the vegetable garden where it was first discovered to the hill behind Muchon-ri, 100 meters away, and a martyrdom monument was erected.

According to Good News, Munsan Parish, which had preserved the tomb, built a new Catholic mission chapel building at the Sabong Catholic mission chapel on April 3, 2005, commemorating the 100th anniversary of parish establishment, and held a blessing ceremony. It is a steel-frame 1-story structure with a floor area of over 60 pyeong, with a multipurpose room for pilgrims and a separate liturgical space. Antonio Jeong Chan-mun was beatified by Pope Francis in Gwanghwamun Square, Seoul, on August 16, 2014, and raised to the rank of blessed.

Architecture and Space

Good News introduces that looking down from Jeong Chan-mun’s tomb on Heoyu Pass, the whole of Jungchon Village comes into view at a glance, and explains that Heoyu Pass is a pass that believers frequently crossed, and that going up about 600 meters past the Sabong gas station leads to the tomb. The related shrine guide of the Bishops’ Conference carries photos of the marker stone erected at the roadside spot on Heoyu Pass where the tomb was first discovered and of the “Jeong Antonio Martyrdom Monument.” In front of the martyr cemetery stands the Sabong Catholic mission chapel.

Significance for Faith and Visiting Context

Good News introduces this shrine with the phrase “Headless, so is it a Mudumyo?” The Digital Jinju Culture Encyclopedia calls Jeong Chan-mun a pioneer of Catholicism in the Jinju region, and the Bishops’ Conference guide reports that his wife first came to know the Catholic faith and led her husband to enter the Church. The History of Martyrdom in Yeongnam records that after the martyrdom his wife Yun, unable to endure harassment by her husband’s relatives, left Heoyu Pass in tears with her son Jung-sun and her whereabouts thereafter are unknown, and that near Heoyu Pass there are no direct descendants of the martyr and collateral descendants live there (related shrine guide of the Bishops’ Conference).

Related Places and People

• Sabong Catholic mission chapel: the Catholic mission chapel in front of the martyr cemetery; the church with jurisdiction is Munsan Church.
• Munsan Church: the parish that preserved the tomb; in 2005, commemorating the 100th anniversary of parish establishment, it built the new Sabong Catholic mission chapel building.
• Father Bernardo Seo Jeong-do: parish priest of Munsan Parish who led the search for the Mudumyo.
• Jinju prison site: the place where Jeong Chan-mun was imprisoned and martyred; the Bishops’ Conference guide explains that Jinju Central Market now stands where the prison was.
• Blessed Joseph Yun Bong-mun: according to Good News, the “Apostle of Geoje” martyred in the same Jinju prison.

References and Sources

1. Good News Catholic Information, Tomb of Blessed Antonio Jeong Chan-mun of the Masan Diocese. Confirmed family and marriage, entry into the Church, arrest and martyrdom, discovery and transfer of the Mudumyo, new Sabong Catholic mission chapel construction in 2005, and beatification date.
   https://maria.catholic.or.kr/sa_ho/list/view.asp?ctxtOrgNum=2262&menugubun=holyplace
2. Good News Catholic Shrines, Shrine and Historic Site Tomb of Blessed Antonio Jeong Chan-mun. Confirmed the shrine summary and location.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2262
3. Beatification and Canonization Committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, Brief Biography of the 124 Blessed Antonio Jeong Chan-mun. Confirmed time of entry into the Church, arrest and prison punishment, martyrdom date and age, and recovery of the body.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/124-Martyrs/110
4. Beatification and Canonization Committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, Related Shrine Martyrdom Shrine of Blessed Antonio Jeong Chan-mun. Confirmed gobok and the Mudumyo oral tradition, excavation and transfer of the tomb, responsible institution, and his wife’s whereabouts.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/20
5. Digital Jinju Culture Encyclopedia, Martyrdom Shrine of Antonio Jeong. Confirmed martyrdom account, discovery of the tomb and transfer in 1975, and erection of the martyrdom monument.
   https://jinju.grandculture.net/jinju/toc/GC00401861