Myojae (Saint Nam Jong-sam · Martyr Nam Sang-kyu's Burial Site)

History & origins

The history of Myojae can be understood beginning with Augustine Nam Sang-gyo’s decision to withdraw from public office and devote himself more fully to the Catholic faith. According to GoodNews, Nam Sang-gyo was a scholar in the intellectual lineage of Jeong Yak-yong and had held government office. After encountering Western learning and accepting Catholicism, he came to regard official life as an obstacle to his faith and withdrew to the mountain village of Myojae. The residence preserved here was the place where he made faith the center of his daily life and where he instructed his adopted son, John Nam Jong-sam, in Catholic belief.

John Nam Jong-sam was born in 1817 and, after growing up, became the adopted son of his uncle Nam Sang-gyo. He passed the state civil-service examination in 1838 and later held a series of official posts, rising to the rank of royal secretary and taking part in the education of the royal household. At the same time he embraced Catholic faith through his engagement with Western learning and developed both his scholarship and his religious conviction. In a period when a Catholic official could not openly practice the faith without danger, the instruction received through Nam Sang-gyo and the family setting of Myojae formed an important background to his spiritual life.

When the Byeongin Persecution began in 1866, Nam Jong-sam set out for the capital prepared to face martyrdom, was arrested, and was executed at the Seosomun execution ground on March 7 of that year. He was later canonized and is honored among the Korean Martyrs. Myojae was not the place of his martyrdom, but it is historically important as the domestic setting where the faith that would lead to martyrdom was cultivated and handed on.

The residence and historic site preserved today bring together the relationship of father and son, a faith encountered through learning, and a conscience maintained under persecution. The importance of Myojae is therefore not simply the preservation of an old house. It is a historical place showing that the martyr faith of the Korean Church was formed not only in dramatic final acts, but also through family teaching and the ordinary practice of faith over many years.