Namhan Mountain Sanctuary

Overview

The Namhansanseong Martyrs' Shrine is a martyrs' shrine of the Catholic Diocese of Suwon in Namhansanseong-myeon, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, commemorating the faithful who were martyred during the persecutions at Namhansanseong, where the Gwangju Yusu-bu was located. Blessed Thomas Han Deok-un, martyred in the 1801 Shinyu Persecution, is the first martyr known from records, and the Diocese of Suwon proclaimed this place a shrine on September 30, 1998.

History

〔Namhansanseong and the Catholic Persecution〕 The Episcopal Special Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Bishops' Conference records that Namhansanseong was a key military stronghold of Hanyang, that its fortress walls were built in 1595 (Seonjo 28), and that in 1626 (Injo 4) the government office of the Gwangju Yusu and the village moved inside the fortress. As the Gwangju Yusu-bu moved there, Catholic faithful were dragged here in every persecution, imprisoned, punished, and martyred. Good News explains that the present Namhansanseong was built over 2 years in Injo 2 (1624) following the threat of Later Jin and Yi Gwal's rebellion. The shrine website states that a prison was provided together with the Namhansanseong Podocheong, and that this fact is carried in the Gwangjubueupji (1842-1843) in the Gyeonggiji, the Jungjeongnamhanji (1846), and the Gwangjubuji (1871) in the Gyeonggieupji.

〔Time and Scale of the Martyrdoms〕 According to the Commission's materials, there is a tradition that believers were dragged to Namhansanseong and imprisoned from the 1791 Shinhae Persecution, and Thomas Han Deok-un was martyred in the 1801 Shinyu Persecution, which is the first martyrdom at Namhansanseong known from records. Afterwards, through the 1839 Gihae Persecution and the 1866 Byeongin Persecution, about 300 people were martyred by beheading, hanging, beating to death, and wrapping in white paper, but since no interrogation records remain, only some of the martyrs whose deeds are known have been identified. Those whose deeds are known are Blessed Thomas Han Deok-un, 9 Servants of God, the family of Anthony Kim Seong-u, and Paul Jeong Eun and Peter Jeong Yang-muk from Dannaeri, Icheon, 36 persons in all. Good News records that more than 70 people including Han Deok-un, Kim Deok-sim, and Jeong Eun were martyred, and the actual number of martyrs is estimated at 2-3 hundred. The Catholic Newspaper explains that Gwangju at the time of the persecutions covered not only present-day Gwangju-si but also most of Gangnam, Songpa, Gangdong, and Seocho-gu in Seoul and areas reaching Seongnam, Hanam, and Uiwang-si, and that under the Haeupjeongbeop, by which arrested faithful were executed at their place of residence, the faithful arrested in Gwangju were executed here.

〔Martyrdom Site and the Corpse Gate〕 Good News records that the martyrdom site is at the East Gate, and that believing ancestors were brought bound with ropes through the East Gate and, after torture, were thrown outside the fortress as corpses. A water gate cut under the wall to drain water became the Sigumun (屍口門), and at the Namhansanseong roundabout there were the prison site where the faithful were confined and the execution ground. The shrine website states that the Sigumun is the 11 secret gate (Dongam Gate) and the largest among the 16 secret gates of Namhansanseong, and explains that during the persecutions the bodies of martyrs were moved out of the fortress through this gate and abandoned in a nearby valley. It also introduces that Yi Gi-gyeong's Byeokwi-pyeon contains the record, "They gathered the people outside the East Gate and executed Han Deok-un."

〔Blessed Thomas Han Deok-un〕 According to the Bishops' Conference materials, Thomas Han Deok-un (1752-1802) was from Hongju and moved to Uiri, Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do (present-day Hagui-dong, Uiwang-si). When the 1801 Shinyu Persecution broke out, disguised as an earthenware peddler he went up to Seoul, saw in Cheongpa-dong the body of Luke Hong Nak-min covered with a straw mat and mourned him, and outside Seosomun he found the body of Peter Choe Pil-je and gave him burial. He was arrested, suffered repeated punishments at the Podocheong, was sentenced to death, and was martyred by beheading at Namhansanseong where the Gwangju Yusu-bu was located, at the age of 50. The Catholic Newspaper reports that he was martyred outside the East Gate of Namhansanseong on January 30, 1802, and testified before the Hyeongjo, "I only wish to die quickly." The shrine website introduces that his Yeollyeong (煉靈) activity became the origin of the Korean Catholic Association for the Deceased.

〔Process of Establishing the Shrine〕 According to the chronology on the shrine website, on July 22, 1995 the Namhansanseong Shrine Development Committee was inaugurated (at Sujin-dong Church), and on November 20, 1995 it purchased 14 lots totaling 2,173 pyeong at Sanseong-ri 449, Jungbu-myeon, Gwangju-gun and elsewhere. On March 13, 1998 the Shrine Development Committee was launched, Mass at the shrine began on September 1, 1998, and on September 30, 1998, in the name of Bishop Yi Yong-hun of the Diocese of Suwon, the day of proclaiming the Namhansanseong Martyrs' Shrine as a shrine was observed. In June 1999 it contracted and purchased the Jeongseon Hall, remodeled it into a small church, completed it on November 30, 1999, and began daily Mass on December 1, 1999. On November 16, 2000 it received a building permit for the church site, held the groundbreaking for the new church on May 23, 2001, and on September 28, 2001 held the celebration for the 200 anniversary of the Shinyu Persecution. On May 13, 2002 there was a visit Mass by the Apostolic Nuncio, and on December 28 of the same year resident sisters for the shrine took office. The Catholic Newspaper reports that in 2005 the shrine was proclaimed a 'resting place of souls' and that a prayer for the dead is offered after every Mass.

〔Building and Dedication of the New Church〕 According to the shrine website, construction began on March 15, 2013, the groundbreaking was held on April 6, the shrine was completed on February 21, 2014, and the dedication Mass officiated by Vicar General Bishop Lino Lee Seong-hyo was held on April 25, 2015. Good News records that Namhansanseong was inscribed as a World Heritage site in June 2014 and that in April 2015 a new hanok-style church replacing the narrow old church was completed and dedicated.

Architecture and Space

According to the Catholic Newspaper, the shrine church is a 2-story hanok building with a total floor area of 296.29㎡, mixing reinforced concrete and timber structure, completed in 2014. In an ordinary hanok the hapgak is on the side, but here it is on the front, and on the hapgak a red cross is carved inside a circle, while under the eaves hangs a plaque reading 'Church (聖堂)' written by the calligrapher Bernardo Lee Su-hyeon. In keeping with the local character of Namhansanseong, the new building was also built in hanok style. On the outer walls are symbols such as the cross, Alpha and Omega, and fish, and a relief depicting a martyr suffering death by white paper, behind the altar a statue of Jesus wearing a wooden cangue hangs on the cross, and the windows have stained glass depicting episodes of Han Deok-un. On the shrine entrance side are a monument honoring the martyrs including Han Deok-un and 21 Servants of God and more than 300 unknown martyrs, and a 'Pieta of Namhansanseong' statue showing Han Deok-un embracing a martyr's body. Good News records that behind the church on the hill an outdoor Mass site and 14 Stations of the Cross have been established.

Related Places and People

• Blessed Thomas Han Deok-un: the first martyr known from records, beheaded outside the East Gate of Namhansanseong in the Shinyu Persecution (Bishops' Conference).
• The family of Anthony Kim Seong-u: Augustine Kim Deok-sim, Peter of Alcantara Kim Yun-sim, and Ambrose Kim Seong-hui are Servants of God martyred at Namhansanseong (Bishops' Conference).
• Augustine Seo Tae-sun and Joseph Yi Jo-yeo: father-in-law and son-in-law, Servants of God arrested with Father Bolieu and martyred in the Byeongin Persecution (Bishops' Conference).
• Paul Jeong Eun and Peter Jeong Yang-muk: cousins from Dannaeri, Icheon, Servants of God martyred by white paper in 1867 (Bishops' Conference).
• The site of the Namhansanseong Podocheong and prison, and the Dongam Gate (Sigumun) marker stone: introduced as shrine relics (Bishops' Conference).

References and Sources

1. Episcopal Special Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Korean Bishops' Conference, "Related Shrine: Namhansanseong Martyrs' Shrine". Fortress construction and transfer of the Yusu-bu, persecutions and scale of martyrs, Thomas Han Deok-un and 9 Servants of God.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/37
2. Namhansanseong Martyrs' Shrine (Diocese of Suwon), "Shrine Introduction" and chronology. Shrine history from 1995 to 2015, Thomas Han Deok-un and the Association for the Deceased, introduction of 36 martyrs.
   http://xn--9d0bk7d12t0oab22lj12aftw.org/memorial-prayer-hall/about/
3. Namhansanseong Martyrs' Shrine (Diocese of Suwon), "Pilgrimage Order". Explanation of the Namhansanseong Podocheong and prison site, Sigumun, and the execution ground outside the East Gate.
   http://xn--9d0bk7d12t0oab22lj12aftw.org/pilgrimage/pilgrimage-worship/
4. Catholic Good News Shrines and Historic Sites, "Namhansanseong Martyrs' Shrine". Time and estimated number of martyrdoms, martyrdom site and Sigumun, proclamation as shrine in 1998, World Heritage inscription in 2014, dedication of the new church in 2015.
   https://app.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2318
5. Catholic Newspaper, "[Parish Pilgrimage in the Diocese of Suwon (3)] Namhansanseong Martyrs' Shrine Church" (August 27, 2024). Scope of Gwangju and the Haeupjeongbeop, martyrdom of Thomas Han Deok-un, proclamation as 'resting place of souls' in 2005.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20240826500169