Cheonjinam Shrine

Overview

Cheonjinam Shrine is a shrine of the Suwon Diocese at the foot of Aengjabong in Usan-ri, Toechon-myeon, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, created on the site of Cheonjinam, where the founding ancestors of the Korean Catholic Church are said to have held study gatherings, as the “birthplace of the Korean Catholic Church.” It holds the cemetery of 5 founding ancestors, including Yi Byeok, Kwon Cheol-sin, Kwon Il-sin, Yi Seung-hun and Jeong Yak-jong, the cemetery of the founders of the Joseon Diocese including Saint Paul Jeong Ha-sang, Gwangam Church, the Cheonjinam Museum and the Research Institute for the Founding History of the Korean Catholic Church, and the site for the Cheonjinam Cathedral promoted under the plan for 100 has been prepared.

History

Cheonjinam (天眞菴) was originally a temple beneath Aengjabong in Usan-ri, Toechon-myeon. The Gwangju City website introduces it as presumed to have been closed around 1779, while the Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture explains that since Hong Gyeong-mo’s “Jungjeong Namhanji,” compiled in 1847, records Cheonjinam as an old temple on Aengjasan that made paper and belonged to the Saongwon, it appears to have survived until then. According to the same entry, the exact year of foundation is uncertain, Cheonjinam is mentioned as an affiliated temple of Jueosa, and the epitaph for Kwon Cheol-sin written by Jeong Yak-yong records “Cheonjinam Jueosa” together. Jeong Yak-yong visited Cheonjinam several times for excursions, and when he visited after returning from exile in 1824, it already looked dilapidated but does not appear to have been abandoned.

According to the Good News shrine introduction, the beginning of the Korean Catholic Church is dated to the spring of 1784, when Yi Seung-hun returned after being baptized in Beijing, but 5 years earlier, in the winter of 1779, church history had already begun at Jueosa in Cheonjinam. At that time, some 10 scholars gathered in the study group led by Kwon Cheol-sin, including the brothers Kwon Cheol-sin and Il-sin, the brothers Jeong Yak-jeon, Yak-jong and Yak-yong, and Yi Seung-hun, and with the participation of Yi Byeok, scholarly knowledge of Western Learning developed into religious faith. The “Hymn in Reverence of the Lord of Heaven” written by Yi Byeok and the “Hymn of the Ten Commandments” written by Jeong Yak-jong toward the end of the study group are introduced as its fruits.

The related-shrine guide of the Special Episcopal Committee for Beatification and Canonization of the Korean Catholic Bishops’ Conference describes Cheonjinam as the setting of the study gatherings that formed the background and origin of the founding of the Korean Catholic Church. Ambrose Kwon Cheol-sin led his disciples Jeong Yak-jeon, Kim Won-seong, Kwon Sang-hak, Yi Chong-eok and others in study gatherings almost every year, mainly in winter, and especially when John the Baptist Yi Byeok heard the news and came on a snowy night to join the winter study gathering in 1779, Western Learning, including Catholic faith, began to be studied and discussed in earnest. The guide reports that Bishop Daveluy wrote that in the study gathering of 1779, questions about heaven, the world, life and other matters, the opinions of earlier scholars, ethical writings of sages, and Western books on philosophy, mathematics and religion were studied and discussed.

However, the “Catholic Study Sites in Korea” entry in the Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture notes that whether the Catholic study gatherings at Cheonjinam and Jueosa began in 1777 or 1779 is understood differently by different commentators, and there is also a claim that the two temples have no connection with Catholic study gatherings, so it is difficult to assert that either claim is correct. According to that entry, Dallet’s “History of the Catholic Church in Korea” describes a study gathering held in a remote temple in a snow-covered winter of 1777 without naming the exact place, while the epitaph for Kwon Cheol-sin written by Jeong Yak-yong states the year as “in the winter of the Gihae year (1779) when studying at Cheonjinam Jueosa, Yi Byeok came on a snowy night.” The epitaph for Jeong Yak-yong’s elder brother Jeong Yak-jeon records that he studied with Kim Won-seong, Kwon Sang-hak, Yi Chong-eok and others at Jueosa.

At Yi Byeok’s urging, Yi Seung-hun went to Beijing, was baptized with the name Peter and returned, and gave baptism first to Yi Byeok, who then evangelized the Jeong Yak-jong brothers in Majae and the Kwon Cheol-sin and Il-sin brothers in Yanggeun. That autumn, Kim Beom-u, a middle-class interpreter from Myeongnyebang in Seoul, was admitted to the faith, establishing a foundation for the Korean Catholic Church in the middle of the capital (Good News).

Cheonjinam was long forgotten. Good News explains that only in 1960 were place names clarified on the basis of documents and its value began to emerge through testimony of elderly villagers and field surveys, and the Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture records that Nam Sang-cheol identified the site of Cheonjinam in 1962 and the site of Jueosa was also identified that year with the help of elderly Park Yeong-so. Accounts of the timing of development as a shrine differ by source. According to the year-by-year sanctification history on the official website of Cheonjinam Shrine, Father Byeon Gi-yeong surveyed the site of Cheonjinam in 1975 and began promoting its purchase, purchased some 3000 pyeong of the site in 1978 and on October 10 of that year secured the “birthplace of Korean Catholicism” for the first time and celebrated a Liturgy of the Word on the site. The Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture records that Father Byeon Gi-yeong began by purchasing some 3000 pyeong in 1975 and purchased a total of 20 pyeong around the area by 1983 to develop it as a shrine, while Good News records that 12 pyeong in the area was purchased in June 1980. The Suwon diocesan history series in the Catholic Newspaper reports that the diocese took note of the Cheonjinam site and purchased the land in 1978.

According to the sanctification chronology on the official website, in 1979 the tomb of Yi Byeok was discovered and relocated, some 4 pyeong of the shrine was secured, and a ceremony commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Korean Catholic Church was held at Namhansanseong. In 1980, a monument for the 200st anniversary was erected, the protective stone chamber and altar stone for Yi Byeok’s tomb were completed, a temporary building for the Carmel Monastery was completed, and Mass for the 1nd anniversary of the relocation of Yi Byeok’s tomb was celebrated. Good News reports that on June 24, 1980, a monument commemorating the 200rd anniversary of the founding of Korean Catholicism was unveiled in the name of Archbishop Noh Gi-nam. On June 24, 1981, the first celebratory event was held as part of the movement to establish a Foundation Day of the Korean Catholic Church. The Catholic Newspaper reported that Bishop Kim Nam-su, Archbishop Noh Gi-nam, head of the Seoul Archdiocese, and Apostolic Nuncio to Korea Luciano Angeloni, among others, attended the event.

In November 1981, the tombs of the founding ancestors were relocated one after another. According to the official chronology, the tomb of Jeong Yak-jong was relocated from Hwaseong on November 1, the tombs of Kwon Cheol-sin and Kwon Il-sin from Hyojabong in Yanggeun on November 21, and the tomb of Yi Seung-hun from Mansu-dong in Incheon on November 29. The tomb of Jeong Ha-sang was identified by a survey on March 24 of the same year, and the tombstone of Jeong Yak-jeon was identified in Chungju on October 3. In 1982, 44 stone steps in the cemetery of the founding saints were completed, and in 1984 the tombstones of 5 founding ancestors — Yi Byeok, Kwon Il-sin, Yi Seung-hun, Kwon Cheol-sin and Jeong Yak-jong — and the tombstone of Saint Jeong Ha-sang were erected. In 1987, the stage 1 civil works for the cemetery of the founders of the Joseon Diocese (Saint Jeong Ha-sang and Saint Yu Jin-gil) were finished, and the graves of 12 immediate family members of the founding ancestors, including Jeong Yak-jeon and his wife, Jeong Yak-yong’s grandparents and parents, and Yi Byeok’s parents, sister and younger sibling, were relocated.

The Research Institute for the Founding History of the Korean Catholic Church was established in 1982 (Good News), and the official website records that the institute building opened in 1984 and began normal operations and was completed in 1986. Cheonjinam Catholic Mission Chapel was raised to the quasi-parish Gwangam Church on February 5, 1985, and its first pastor was Father Byeon Gi-yeong. The patron saint of Gwangam Church is John the Baptist Gwangam Yi Byeok, and the feast day is June 24. According to the brief history of Gwangam Church, Father Byeon Gi-yeong, then pastor of the Sinjang Parish, received pastoral jurisdiction over Toechon-myeon and Namjong-myeon in 1976, the small Gwangam chapel was completed in 1994, and 700 pyeong of land for a new Nokam Catholic Mission Chapel was donated in 2001. Cheonjinam Parish moved to Toechon in 2006 and its name was changed to Toechon Parish (year-by-year sanctification history on the official website).

According to the Suwon diocesan history series in the Catholic Newspaper, the diocese began full-scale development of the shrine by relocating the remains from the tomb of Yi Byeok discovered in 1979, and relocated the tombs of Jeong Yak-jong, Yi Seung-hun, Kwon Il-sin and Kwon Cheol-sin to Cheonjinam in November 1981. At that time, Bishop Kim Nam-su of the Suwon Diocese strongly promoted the beatification and canonization of the founding ancestors, and in 1984 proclaimed the opening of the inquiry for promoting the beatification of “Gwangam Yi Byeok and his fellow martyrs and witnesses, the founding ancestors of the Korean Catholic Church.” In 1985, when the Bishops’ Conference decided to divide beatification efforts by diocese, the Suwon Diocese took up the beatification of “5 leaders of the founding,” but in 1988 it was suspended due to the decline in devotion to the 103 saints.

Construction of the cathedral was confirmed under a plan for 1986–100. According to the official chronology, in 1987 stage 1 site-clearing works were finished, the Cheonjinam Museum was established in 1992, and the site for the Cheonjinam Cathedral planned for 100 was blessed. In 1993, the cornerstone laying ceremony was held with 3 faithful attending, Pope John Paul 2 issued a blessing message for the cornerstone, and the 27-ton cornerstone made of Jecheon sandstone was blessed and installed. In 1994, the central altar stone of the cathedral (86 tons) was blessed, and in 1996 building permission for the cathedral was obtained and the first-pillar groundbreaking ceremony was held with 5000 people attending. In 1998, through a 1th design revision, building permission for a floor area of 3300 pyeong was obtained. Good News introduces that cathedral works finished civil works by 2000 and foundation works were under way by 2020, with completion of a cathedral seating 3 expected after frame works in 2040, masonry in 2070 and finishing works in 2079.

On August 17, 2012, Msgr. Byeon Gi-yeong became an elder pastor and on August 28 Father Kim Hak-ryeol was appointed as full-time director (official chronology). The official chronology records that on May 23, 2013, the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints formally approved promotion of the beatification of “Servant of God John the Baptist Yi Byeok and his 132 companions,” and that Augustine Jeong Yak-jong was beatified in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on August 16, 2014. According to Good News, on June 23, 2013, the “Statue of Our Lady for World Peace” was erected and blessed between the Marian chapel and the cathedral site, and on October 29, 2016, the dedication ceremony of the Marian Church remodeled from the former Marian chapel was held.

Architecture and Spaces

Good News explains that in 1994 Gwangam Church commemorating Gwangam Yi Byeok was built at the shrine entrance and in 1999 the dedication ceremony for the Marian chapel was held. The Cheonjinam Museum received approval for construction in 1992, held its groundbreaking ceremony in 1995 and finished building works and held its blessing ceremony in 2011, while interior exhibition and storage works are still under way. According to the official chronology, the main museum building broke ground in 1994 and in 2006 entered assembly of a 3-story steel frame with total floor area of 1350 pyeong. The Marian Church (240 pyeong steel-frame) had its steel frame and copper roof completed in 1995.

According to Good News, on June 23, 2013, the “Statue of Our Lady for World Peace” 22 meters high including the pedestal was erected between the Marian chapel and the cathedral site. It was made of bronze in the form of Our Lady of Fatima to pray for freedom of faith and peace for all nations and peoples. The official chronology lists the bronze weight of the statue as 25 tons, the height of the statue as 15 meters, the steel-beam and stone pedestal height as 7 meters, and the total height as 22 meters. A stone altar where outdoor Mass can be celebrated is provided on the cathedral site (Good News).

The related-shrine guide of the Bishops’ Conference explains that the “Cemetery of 5 Founding Ancestors of the Korean Catholic Church” at Cheonjinam Shrine holds the tombs of Blessed Augustine Jeong Yak-jong, Servant of God John the Baptist Yi Byeok, Francis Xavier Kwon Il-sin, Ambrose Kwon Cheol-sin and Peter Yi Seung-hun. The tombs introduced in the guide are Ambrose Nokam Kwon Cheol-sin (1736–1801), Francis Xavier Jikam Kwon Il-sin (1742–1791), John the Baptist Gwangam Yi Byeok (1754–1785), Peter Manche mond Yi Seung-hun (1756–1801), and Augustine Seonam Jeong Yak-jong (1760–1801). Jeong Yak-jong’s remains were buried after martyrdom at the foot of Geomdansan in Witbaealmi near his hometown Majae, then relocated 100 years later to the family burial ground in Sasa-dong, Ansan, where his descendants lived, and are now enshrined at Cheonjinam Shrine. The guide adds that Yi Byeok’s original tomb site is in Hwahyeon-myeon, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, and Yi Seung-hun’s original tomb site is in Jangsu-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon.

In the “Cemetery of the Founders of the Joseon Diocese” are the tombs of Saint Paul Jeong Ha-sang, Saint Augustine Yu Jin-gil and Blessed Charles Jeong Cheol-sang (related-shrine guide of the Bishops’ Conference). Jeong Ha-sang’s tomb was buried in Baealmi-ri (now Baealmi-dong, Hanam-si) after martyrdom, then discovered in 1981 by Msgr. Byeon Gi-yeong, then pastor of the Sinjang Parish in Hanam, but the landowner exhumed and incinerated it, losing the remains, and 3 pieces of remains, including 1 teeth and 2 bone fragments, with bone powder and coffin fragments, collected from around the exhumed site, were enshrined at Cheonjinam Shrine. Good News guides that going up to the right from the three-way intersection at the shrine entrance leads to the cemetery of Saints Jeong Ha-sang and Yu Jin-gil and the cemetery of the founding ancestors’ families, and that near the entrance is a Gyeonggi youth camp operated under commission by the Suwon Diocese. The official chronology records that in 2014 the tomb of Blessed Jeong Cheol-sang was added to the Jeong Ha-sang cemetery.

Religious Significance and Visiting Context

The Gwangju City website introduces Cheonjinam as the place where young Confucian scholars studied and practiced Catholic doctrine in a Buddhist hermitage and founded the Catholic Church, and where faith life began spontaneously without missionaries, and explains that Jeong Yak-yong visited the place for 50 years from age 15 until 1827 at age 65, writing poems. The Gwangju City website also records that the Gwangju area is the birthplace of Korean Catholicism and that in the study gathering of 1779, mainly scholars of the Namin lineage participated, including Yi Byeok, Kwon Cheol-sin, Kwon Il-sin, Jeong Yak-jeon, Jeong Yak-jong, Jeong Yak-yong, Yi Seung-hun, Yun Yu-il, Yi Jon-chang and Yi Chong-eok.

According to Good News, the Korean Catholic Church Foundation commemoration event is held every year on the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (June 24), with the foundation anniversary Mass celebrated at 11. The candlelight prayer meeting is conducted with 10 decades of the rosary at 17 and a Marian devotion Mass at 18 on the first Saturday of each month, and retreats for catechumens and the Cheonsongi prayer gathering (a thousand rosaries) on the first Monday of each month are also announced. The official chronology records that after the first Foundation Day event in 1981, the commemoration has been held every year on June 24 and the candlelight prayer meeting has been held on the first Saturday evening of each month since 1998.

Related Places and Figures

• Jueosa site: the temple site where the Cheonjinam Jueosa study gathering is said to have been held, located in Sanbuk-myeon, Yeoju-si (Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture).
• John the Baptist Yi Byeok (1754–1785): attended the winter study gathering in 1779, and is the patron saint of Gwangam Church.
• Kwon Cheol-sin and Kwon Il-sin: brother scholars who led the study gathering and received baptism, whose tombs are at Cheonjinam Shrine.
• Peter Yi Seung-hun: the first baptized Korean who returned after being baptized in Beijing, whose cemetery has been created.
• Augustine Jeong Yak-jong: beatified on August 16, 2014.
• Saint Paul Jeong Ha-sang, Saint Augustine Yu Jin-gil, Blessed Charles Jeong Cheol-sang: enshrined in the Cemetery of the Founders of the Joseon Diocese.
• Msgr. Byeon Gi-yeong: the priest who led the development of Cheonjinam Shrine from 1975 and became an elder pastor in August 2012.
• Daegam Village and Jueosa (area of Daeseok-ri, Gangsang-myeon, Yangpyeong-gun): Good News introduces the place where Kwon Cheol-sin and Kwon Il-sin lived and the Jueosa site as the cradle of the Korean Catholic Church.

References and Sources

1. Official website of Cheonjinam Shrine, Development History of Cheonjinam Shrine: year-by-year sanctification process. Confirmed sanctification progress in 1975–2015, relocation of founding ancestors’ tombs, cornerstone laying and groundbreaking for the cathedral, and specifications of the Statue of Our Lady for World Peace.
   http://www.chonjinam.or.kr/client/content/viw.asp?pn1=1&pn2=2&pn3=7
2. Official website of Cheonjinam Shrine, Relocation process of founding ancestors’ tombs. Confirmed relocation dates and erection of tombstones.
   http://www.chonjinam.or.kr/client/content/viw.asp?pn1=1&pn2=2&pn3=6
3. Official website of Cheonjinam Shrine, Gwangam Church. Confirmed foundation date, patron saint and brief history.
   http://www.chonjinam.or.kr/client/content/viw.asp?pn1=4&pn2=2
4. Good News Catholic Information, Cheonjinam Shrine in the Suwon Diocese. Confirmed study gatherings and founding process, sanctification projects, cathedral plan, museum and Marian statue, and devotional events.
   https://maria.catholic.or.kr/sa_ho/list/view.asp?ctxtOrgNum=2327&menugubun=holyplace
5. Special Episcopal Committee for Beatification and Canonization of the Korean Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Related Shrines Cheonjinam Shrine. Confirmed study explanation, cemetery of 5 founding ancestors and cemetery of founders of the Joseon Diocese.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/43
6. Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture, Catholic Study Sites in Korea. Confirmed history of Cheonjinam and Jueosa, identification in the 1960s, timing of shrine development, and debate on study years.
   https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0081603
7. Gwangju City Hall, Cheonjinam and Korean Catholicism. Confirmed status of Cheonjinam and introduction of Catholicism in the Gwangju area.
   https://www.gjcity.go.kr/portal/contents.do?mId=0101060400
8. Catholic Newspaper, One Page of Suwon Diocesan History (5) Faith Ancestors’ Beatification Movement and Shrine Development (February 24, 2026). Confirmed land purchase in 1978, relocation of Yi Byeok’s tomb in 1979, and events in 1981.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20260220500031