Painting by Tak Hee-sung

Intellectual Contact via China

Catholicism first entered Joseon through elites that were part of tribute missions to Qing China. In Beijing, they encountered Catholicism, naming it Seohak (Western Learning), which shows it entered as a study, not worship. This aligned with late-Joseon Silhak interests in evidential learning and moral reform, making Catholic texts legible as a philosophy.

Western Regions; Jiang Tingxi (蔣廷錫) and Jin Tingbiao (金廷標), The Ten Thousand Nations Paying Tribute (萬國來朝圖), 1760, color on silk, 299 × 207 cm, courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing.

Close-Up of the Joseon Diplomatic Mission

Yeonhaengdo, Panel 9, Tribute (朝貢). A painting depicting the Joseon diplomatic mission (bottom right), dressed in full court attire, respectfully welcoming (祗迎) the imperial procession outside the Qing emperor’s palace. Courtesy of the Soongsil University Korean Christian Museum

Matteo Ricci, Matrix: The Early Modern Catholic Encyclopedia, courtesy of the University of Scranton

Matteo Ricci True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven (천주실의), courtesy of Seosomun Shrine History Museum

"Objects cannot bring themselves into being and must necessarily await an external creator (造物者) in order to be made. Towers and terraces (樓臺) and houses and halls (房屋) cannot arise by themselves; they are always brought into being by the hands of craftsmen (工匠). If one understands this, then one will know that Heaven and Earth likewise cannot bring themselves into being and must necessarily have a maker. This is what I call the Lord of Heaven (天主)."
Excerpt from True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, courtesy of Compendium of Explanatory Notes on East Asian Classics.

A scene depicting Yi Seung-hun traveling to Beijing, China, accompanying his father, who was a member of a Joseon diplomatic mission to the Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Korean Catholic Martyrs Museum.

Elite Reading Circles in Joseon

Scholars that returned formed reading circles, centered around the Cheonjinam Study group, and studied Catholic texts without priests, thereby self-introducing Catholicism to Joseon without typically depending on clerical presence and imperial routes. Here, key figures including Yi Byeok and Jeong Yak-jong equated the Lord of Heaven in Catholicism to the Supreme Deity, using Confucian language. This strategic translation allowed Catholic metaphysics to be articulated within an existing moral vocabulary. At this time, Catholicism was framed as an ethical and metaphysical framework rather than a religion. ​​​​​​​

“Gathering at Myeongnyebang,” Kim Tae, 1984, courtesy of the Myeongdong Cathedral

Portrait of Yi Byeok, courtesy of the Catholic Peace Broadcasting Corporation (CPBC) (left)
​​​​​​​Jeong Yak-yong (Dasan)’s crucifix, excavated from Jeong Yak-yong’s grave in Namyangju, courtesy of the Seoul Museum of History (right)

"In the spring of the eulsa year (1785), Yi Seung-hun, together with Jeong Yak-jeon and Jeong Yak-yong, preached (說法) at the house of the jungin Kim Beom-u, located in front of the Jangnyeowon (掌禮院). There was a man named Yi Byeok, who covered his head with a blue headcloth that draped down to his shoulders. … When constables of the Chujo (秋曹, Ministry of Justice) suspected that the gathering might be a drinking and gambling party and entered to inspect it, they found everyone with powder on their faces and wearing blue cloths, their behavior strange and uncanny. They therefore arrested them and submitted a painted image of Jesus (耶穌의 畵像), books, and several other items to the Chujo"
​​​​​​​From “Byeokwi-pyeon” 「壁衛篇」, courtesy of the Catholic Peace Broadcasting Corporation (CPBC)

Heesung Tak, <The Jueosa Kanghakheo: Joseon Academic Seminar Group of Catholicism>, courtesy of Seosomun Shrine History Museum

First Korean Baptism in Beijing

Lee Seung Hun, accompanying his father on a tribute mission, received a baptism in Beijing before any priest entered Korea. He then returned to Joseon and performed lay baptisms, and thereby established Korea as the only Catholic church founded by lay intellectuals, not missionaries.

"With grace acting on the heart of young Ly, reading the books about religion, together with the conversations he had through writing with the Europeans, made a deep impression on him; he converted to the faith; and then, after being instructed on the articles it is necessary to know, he was baptized with the name Peter."
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​​​​​​​Charles Dallet, History of the Church of Korea, courtesy of Sogang University

A scene depicting Yi Seung-hun receiving baptism in Beijing from the French missionary Father Jean Grammont, becoming the first Korean to be baptized. courtesy of the Korean Catholic Martyrs Museum

Portrait of Yi Seung-hun, courtesy of the Archdiocese of Seoul, Myeongdong Cathedral.

Within the Myeongnyebang community that formed in Seoul, Yangbans (Nobles), commoners, and slaves called each other brother and sister. This was radical equality in practice, especially as hierarchy is a fundamental aspect of Confucianism; such an act required the rejection of ancestor rites and was an example of the collapse of lineage-based ethics.

Lay Church Expansion and Mixed-Class Communities

Painter Tak Hee-seong, courtesy of the Korean Catholic Martyrs Museum

103 Korean Martyred Saints by Woonbo Kim Ki-chang, courtesy of Yeoksam-dong Catholic Church

Sihyeon Lee, Gaeun Lee, Sejin Oh
事人如天— "Serve People as Heaven": The Silent Revolution of Joseon
Senior Division
Group Website
Student composed words: 1200
Media length: 2min 28sec 
Process paper length: 500