Byeongin Persecution (丙寅迫害) refers to the large-scale suppression of Catholicism carried out in 1866 (the 3rd year of Gojong) by the government of Heungseon Daewongun in the late Joseon period.1 It is also called the Byeongin Saok (丙寅邪獄). The suppression lasted six years until 1872, and during this period more than 8,000 lay believers and missionaries from the Paris Foreign Missions Society in France, among others, were executed.
Heungseon Daewongun originally had no antipathy toward Catholicism, so he had no plan to suppress it.23 On the contrary, he even sought to obtain French assistance through French missionaries in order to block the southward expansion policy of Russia. However, owing to domestic and international changes, he implemented a policy of persecution against Catholicism in order to prevent his own political position from being shaken.4
The persecution, which began in the spring of 1866, became even more severe after the General Sherman incident (August 1866), the French campaign against Korea (October 1866), and the Namyeongun tomb robbery incident (1868) occurred, and at the same time the seclusion policy of Heungseon Daewongun was strengthened.56
Causes
The Daewongun and Catholicism
In 1831, the Holy See designated Joseon as an independent diocese and dispatched Imbert and Chastan priests to Joseon, who spread Catholicism mainly among impoverished members of the yangban class. However, the yangban of Joseon feared that Catholicism was connected with the imperialism of the Western powers and Christianity, and therefore prohibited it. In 1839 they carried out the Gihae Persecution, one of the persecution incidents against Catholicism, in which three French Catholic priests were executed. Nevertheless, despite such suppression, Catholicism secretly continued to spread.
Heungseon Daewongun himself originally had no intention of suppressing Catholicism,3 and he harbored no antipathy toward it.7 On the contrary, he considered exchanging relations with Western powers such as France through Catholicism, a form of Seohak introduced from the West, and Catholicism was also personally the religion of his wife, Lady Min of Yeoheung.2 The use of Catholicism to mediate with France in order to block the southward advance of the Russian Empire was also one of the reasons Heungseon Daewongun tolerated Catholicism,2 but he was forced to reject Catholicism due to developments abroad. This was because news arrived that the Anglo-French forces' occupation of Beijing was accompanied by suppression of Catholicism in the Qing dynasty.8 This was the reason why Heungseon Daewongun Yi Ha-eung had no choice but to reject Catholicism.
The Russian Southward Policy and the Failure of Accepting Foreign Powers Without Trade
In 1864 (the 1st year of Gojong's reign), when Russians came to Gyeonghung-bu and demanded trade, the Daewongun and other government officials were greatly shocked and perplexed, but they were helpless in devising countermeasures. On the other hand, some Catholics paid serious attention to this incident and thought of countermeasures on their own, which they proposed to the Daewongun. That is, they argued that if a Korea–France–Britain tripartite alliance could be concluded by relying on the power of Napoleon III, the southward policy of Russia could be blocked, and they thought that if this were achieved they could also obtain freedom of religion. Thus they succeeded in receiving a request from the Daewongun to arrange a meeting with French missionaries. However, they did not respond to this attitude of the Daewongun, which had been so rare.
Change in the Daewongun's Position
Moreover, French Catholic missionaries, including Berneux bishop, were not interested in politics, so in practice they had no value for diplomatic use, and the Russian border violations and trade demands that had caused such an uproar at court came to be considered excessive worries as time passed. The ruling class also harbored resentment toward the expansion of Catholicism, which they regarded as "heterodox learning that deceives the people by preaching heaven and hell." Furthermore, due to the sluggish measures, incompetent mediation, and irresponsible talk of Catholic believers, only the rumor that "Catholic students come and go at the Unhyeongung" spread throughout the capital, and the Daewongun came to think that the desired results could never be achieved.4
At the same time, Queen Dowager Jo, who had strongly supported his rise to power, and other high-ranking officials began to criticize the schemes of Catholicism. Just then, suppression of Catholicism revived in the Qing dynasty, and the Daewongun came to feel that he did not want to take the risk of endangering his own political foundation.4 Thus he decided that it was best to abandon all expectations of Catholics and to comply first with the prevailing public opinion, and changed his policy from initial tolerance to suppression. The increasingly intensifying aggression of the Western powers against China also became one cause of the suppression of Catholicism among Koreans who held Sino-centric ideas. Accordingly, an order to suppress Catholicism was prepared within a short time, and it swept across the whole country.
Course of Events
Suppression of Catholicism
When the Daewongun's order (敎令) to suppress Catholicism was proclaimed in the first month of 1866 (the 3rd year of Gojong),4 beginning with the execution of nine of the twelve French missionaries, more than 8,000 domestic Catholic believers were executed within only a few months.7 Many women and children who fled into the mountains and were chased about died of illness or collapsed from hunger, and there were numerous cases in which people who were not believers were also persecuted in the process. Three French priests, including Dallet, were beheaded at the Chungcheong Provincial Naval Station.9
Apostates appeared in great numbers, Catholic-related books were seized and burned, and crosses and statues of Mary were trampled. In October 1866 the French campaign against Korea broke out,10 and in May 1868 the grave robbery incident of Namyeongun, the father of Heungseon Daewongun, was carried out by the German Oppert, which intensified the suppression.11 The suppression of Catholicism lasted six years,12 and the areas where the suppression was most severe were Hapjeong in Seoul, Ongjin, Pungcheon, and Jangyeon in Hwanghae Province, and Naepo in South Chungcheong Province13 and the area around Haemi-myeon in Seosan.9
Martyrdom at Jeoldusan
Father Ridel (1830–1884), who escaped from Joseon to avoid the Daewongun's persecution, reported the martyrdom of the nine French missionaries to Roze, the commander of the French East Asia Fleet stationed in Tianjin. Roze rejected the Qing's proposal for mediation and led a fleet of seven warships in an armed reprisal, and the French campaign against Korea broke out. Around 26 September they patrolled up to Seogang via Yanghwajin, then attacked Ganghwa Island while carrying out plunder, and withdrew in November.1415 Angered by this incident, Heungseon Daewongun said, "It is only right to wash the land defiled by the Western barbarians with the blood of Western learners," and set up an execution ground at Jamdubong beside Yanghwa Ferry, where Catholics were executed.16 At that time thousands of Catholics died there. Afterwards the name Jeoldusan was given to the site.17 It is said that the severed heads were thrown into the Han River, piling up like a mountain, and the waters of the Han River turned blood red.
Haemi Martyrdom (Live Burial)
In a valley called "Yeosutgol" in Johyeon-ri, Haemi-myeon, Seosan City, South Chungcheong Province, more than 1,000 Catholics were executed or buried alive. At that time the Haemi military camp was in charge of searching for and punishing Catholics, so Catholics arrested in the jurisdiction of the Haemi Hyeon government office, extending to Chungcheong Province and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, were brought to Haemi Fortress. They were confined in prison and then executed outside the west gate, but as the numbers became too large, for convenience in disposing of the bodies they dug a large pit along the Haemi Stream outside the fortress and buried them alive.18 These facts became known to the world through the investigation and excavation by Father Barraux (P. Barraux) of Seosan Church in 1935.
Aftermath and Evaluation
After more than 8,000 domestic Catholics and nine of the twelve French missionaries were executed in Joseon, Ridel, the sole survivor, escaped to Qing China and reported the persecution to Pierre-Gustave Roze, commander of the French fleet stationed in Tianjin, and this led to the French campaign against Korea that broke out in November of that year.719202122
Miscellaneous
The Byeongin Persecution was a famous event even among Westerners, to the extent that the British geographer Isabella Bird Bishop described Heungseon Daewongun in Korea and Her Neighbours as the figure who made Joseon a "land of martyrs" through the martyrdom of Christians.
This persecution unfolded in four waves. The first was in the spring of 1866, the second from summer to autumn of 1866, the third in 1868, and the fourth in 1871, and together they produced more than 8,000 martyrs. The third wave of 1868 is sometimes called the Musin Saok, and the fourth wave of 1871 the Sinmi Saok, but since they were continuously pursued by the Daewongun, it is customary to include them in the Byeongin Persecution. Therefore, the term Byeongin Persecution does not refer only to the persecution of the single year 1866 (Byeongin year), but to all of the persecution over the six years that followed.23
References
This article contains text based on the entry "Spread of Catholicism and Expansion of Its Influence" from the Global World Encyclopedia distributed under the GFDL or CC-SA license by Daum Communications (now Kakao).
Footnotes