Hyeongjo Shrine

Overview

The Hyeongjo Site is a Catholic historical site in the area in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts at Gwanghwamun in Seoul, where the Hyeongjo, the judicial office of the Joseon Dynasty, once stood. After the founding of the Catholic Church in Korea, many believers were brought here under escort and interrogated, and it is introduced as the third pilgrimage site on 2 Course ‘Path of Life’ of the Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Route.

History

According to the Seoul Archdiocese Committee for the Promotion of Martyrs, the Hyeongjo was one of the Yukjo, the central government offices of the Joseon Dynasty, also called ‘Chugwan’ or ‘Chujo,’ and together with the Saheonbu and Hanseongbu it was called the ‘Sambeopsa.’ The Hyeongjo was located in Jeokseonbang to the west of Hanseongbu, and after the founding of the Catholic Church in Korea, many believers were escorted to this place and interrogated.

Its beginning was the ‘Eulsa Chujo Discovery Incident’ that occurred in 1785 (Jeongjo 9). It was an incident in which believers gathering at the house of Thomas Kim Beom-u in Myeongnyebang were discovered by prohibition officers and escorted to the Hyeongjo. Later, during the Shinyu Persecution in 1801, Thomas Choe Pil-gong, Peter Choe Pil-je, Lucia Yun Un-hye, Carlo Jeong Cheol-sang and others were interrogated at the Hyeongjo, and Andrea Kim Cheon-ae, Augustine Yu Hang-geom, Francisco Yun Ji-heon and others were escorted from Jeonju to Seoul and interrogated.

During the Gihae Persecution in 1839, the saints Augustine Yi Gwang-heon, Damian Nam Myeong-hyeok, Columba Kim Hyo-im, Agnes Kim Hyo-ju, Ignatius Kim Je-jun and others were interrogated at the Hyeongjo, and during the Byeongin Persecution in 1866, the saints John Jeon Jang-un, Peter Choe Hyeong and others also passed through the Hyeongjo, it is said.

Architecture and Space

The Committee for the Promotion of Martyrs explains that the Hyeongjo Site is the place where a floor stone installed by the Seoul Archdiocese Committee for the Promotion of Martyrs is embedded in the floor of the bus stop in front of the Sejong Center on Sejong-ro. The guide to holy places and martyrdom sites on the Daily Mass website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea introduces this floor stone as lying between the Sejong Center and the statue of King Sejong the Great.

Faith Meaning and Visiting Context

The Hyeongjo Site belongs to 2 Course ‘Path of Life’ of the Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Route. The pilgrimage route website explains the Hyeongjo as a place that, together with the Saheonbu and Hanseongbu, was called the Sambeopsa and formed one pillar of the judicial institutions of the Joseon Dynasty, and relates that after the incident of 1785, through the Shinyu Persecution, the Gihae Persecution and the Byeongin Persecution, many believers and saints were brought here under escort and, enduring cruel torture, walked the path of martyrdom. 2 Course is guided as having a total distance of 5.9 km, taking 2 hours 30 minutes on foot.

Related Places and Figures

• Gwanghwamun 124 Beatification Site: a pilgrimage site introduced in the same 2 Course in the order immediately before the Hyeongjo Site.
• Uigeumbu Site, Jeonokseo Site, UPodocheong Site: former government office sites of the persecution era included in the same 2 Course.
• Kim Beom-u (Thomas): a believer escorted to the Hyeongjo in the Eulsa Chujo Discovery Incident of 1785.

References and Sources

1. Seoul Archdiocese Committee for the Promotion of Martyrs, Hyeongjo Site entry in ‘Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Route, Path of Life (2 Course)’. The status and location of the Hyeongjo, the incident of 1785 and the persons interrogated in each persecution, the installation of the floor stone, and the distance and time required for 2 Course were verified.
   https://martyrs.or.kr/_web/mpilgrims/aboutcourse.html?cidx=7
2. Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Route (seoulpilgrim.com), ‘2 Course: Path of Life’. The description of the Hyeongjo Site and the order of pilgrimage sites on 2 Course (third after the Gwanghwamun Beatification Site) were verified.
   https://seoulpilgrim.com/course/2/
3. Daily Mass of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, ‘Guide to National Holy Places, Martyrdom Sites and Pilgrimage Places’. It was verified that the Hyeongjo Site is guided as a holy place and historic site of the Archdiocese of Seoul and that the floor stone lies between the Sejong Center and the statue of King Sejong the Great.
   https://missa.cbck.or.kr/Shrines