Yi Byeok

Life

Yi Byeok was born in 1754 in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, the second son among the six children of Yi Bu-man and his wife, a member of the Cheongju Han clan. His ancestral seat was Gyeongju, his courtesy name was Deokjo, and his pen name was Gwangam. His family belonged to the Namin (Southerner) faction of the Giho region. Beginning with his grandfather's generation, the family produced successful candidates in the military examination and became known as a military-official family, and both his elder and younger brothers held military office. Although Yi Byeok was large and physically strong, he had no interest in the state examinations and devoted himself instead to scholarship. After his sister married Jeong Yak-hyeon, he became close to Jeong Yak-hyeon's younger brothers, Jeong Yak-jeon and Jeong Yak-yong, and studied with them.

In 1785, when his Catholic activities came to light through the so-called Myeongnyebang Incident, his father confined him to the family home, and he is reported to have died later that same year. His grave is located in Hwahyeon-myeon, Pocheon.

Ministry and Achievements

From an early age, Yi Byeok took an interest in the Western learning and Catholic books that had entered Korea by way of Qing China, known collectively as Seohak (西學, "Western Learning"). He is also said to have pointed out the shortcomings of Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism and of Confucian ideology. Around 1777, Kwon Cheol-sin, Jeong Yak-jeon, Jeong Yak-yong, Yi Seung-hun, and others held a gathering at a mountain temple to study Western learning together; Yi Byeok learned of it later and joined them. Unlike the other participants, he is said to have already held religious convictions. Notably, he taught himself Christian doctrine by reading books, without instruction from any missionary.

He urged Yi Seung-hun to travel to Qing China and become the first Korean to receive baptism. After Yi Seung-hun returned, Yi Byeok was baptized by him and received the baptismal name John the Baptist. For this reason he is counted, along with Yi Seung-hun, Kwon Il-sin, and others, among the principal founders of the Catholic Church in Joseon.

Influence on the Korean Church

The early community of faith led by Yi Byeok and his associates is frequently cited in the history of Catholicism in Korea as an example of laypeople who embraced the faith on their own through books and established a community before any clergy arrived. This community went on to produce many martyrs during the subsequent persecutions of Catholics in Joseon.

Because Korean Protestantism began separately through the work of Protestant missionaries in the late nineteenth century, it is difficult to regard Yi Byeok as a direct root of any Protestant denomination. Nevertheless, accounts of how Christianity was first received on the Korean Peninsula include his name regardless of denominational perspective.

Assessment

The Catholic Church honors Yi Byeok as a leading lay figure of the founding period of the Korean Catholic Church. In 2012, the city of Pocheon designated his grave a local heritage site. His life was short, however, and he left few writings of his own. As a result, sources differ on the specifics of his religious activities, the circumstances of his final days, and the year and location of the Western learning study gathering.