Gihae Persecution

Background

The Sinyu Persecution of 1801 dealt a severe blow to the Catholic Church in Joseon. That persecution was led by Queen Dowager Jeongsun, who was governing as regent on behalf of King Sunjo. Afterward, the surviving believers worked to bring clergy into the country. Foremost in this effort was Jeong Ha-sang (1795–1839). He had lost his father, Jeong Yak-jong, in the Sinyu Persecution, and for more than twenty years thereafter he traveled back and forth to China.

As a result of these efforts, two priests of the Paris Foreign Missions Society entered Joseon in the mid-1830s: Father Pierre Maubant and Father Jacques Chastan. They were followed in 1837 by Bishop Laurent Imbert. Bishop Imbert was the second Vicar Apostolic of Korea; a vicar apostolic is a bishop entrusted with the Church in a region where a regular diocese has not yet been established. Through the missionaries' work, the Church revived and the number of believers grew. Alarmed by this, the royal court again began to discuss persecution.

Course of Events

• 1839: Right State Councilor Yi Ji-yeon (1777–1841) led the persecution. Denouncing Catholics as people who acknowledged neither father nor king (mubu mugun, 無父無君), he had prominent believers arrested and executed.
• July 11, 1839: Jeong Ha-sang was arrested. He had been assisting Bishop Imbert and, having been chosen as a seminarian, was studying Latin and theology. At the time of his arrest he handed over the Sangjaesangseo (上宰相書), which he had written in advance. The title means "A Letter Submitted to the Minister of State," and it is understood to have been addressed to Yi Ji-yeon, who was leading the persecution.
• In the course of the persecution, Bishop Imbert, Father Maubant, and Father Chastan were all martyred, bringing the brief ministry of the three missionaries to an end. Jeong Ha-sang, his mother Yu So-sa, Yu Jin-gil, Jo Sin-cheol, and others were also martyred at this time.
• November 23, 1839: The government promulgated the Gihae Cheoksa Yuneum (己亥斥邪綸音), a royal proclamation enjoining the people to reject heterodox teaching. With this, the persecution was brought to a close a little over seven months after it began. The government's decision to end the persecution is interpreted as reflecting its judgment that most of the leading believers had been captured and executed.

Aftermath and Impact

Having lost its leaders, the Catholic Church in Joseon fell into a period of stagnation. The Gihae Cheoksa Yuneum was composed by Jo In-yeong and runs to 2,226 characters, making it the longest of Joseon's four royal proclamations against heterodoxy. It was distributed throughout the country in both its Classical Chinese original and a vernacular Korean translation (eonhae). The earlier Sinyu Cheoksa Yuneum had focused on announcing the crimes of Catholics and the punishments imposed on them. The Gihae Cheoksa Yuneum, by contrast, concentrated on explaining why Catholicism was a false teaching, refuting the Sangjaesangseo point by point.

Two important documents emerged during this persecution:

• The Sangjaesangseo: A short text of a little over 3,500 characters, including its appended material. It consists of three parts: an explanation of Catholic doctrine (including the Ten Commandments), an apologetic defense of the faith, and an appeal for religious freedom. The Catholic Church regards it as the first apologetic work of the Korean Church.
• The Gihae Ilgi (Record of the Gihae Year): An account of the deeds of the martyrs, recorded by Bishop Imbert and several believers.

Bishop Imbert, Fathers Maubant and Chastan, Jeong Ha-sang, and others martyred at this time were later declared saints and are venerated in the Catholic Church.

Assessment

The Gihae Persecution is often assessed in comparison with the Sinyu Persecution. Those executed in the Gihae Persecution were not people of political influence, nor were there as many memorials to the throne calling for the suppression of Catholicism as there had been during the Sinyu Persecution. On these grounds, some interpret it as a persecution more distinctly religious in character than a matter of political contention.

The Catholic Church remembers the event as a symbol of faith unto martyrdom. In 2019, commemorative events marked the 180th anniversary of the persecution, including a stage play about Jeong Ha-sang performed at the Seosomun Shrine History Museum.

The Gihae Persecution took place more than forty years before Protestant missionaries entered Joseon. The event is treated as illustrating how Joseon society received and suppressed the Christian faith that had come from the West. Jeong Ha-sang's appeal for religious freedom in the Sangjaesangseo is also noted in this connection.