Yi Pyà Âk (, 1754-1785) was a scholar of KoreaâÂÂs later Joseon period who, in 1784, played a leading role in the foundation of Korea's first Catholic community. It is reported in one source that his original name was Yi Taek-jo.
Yi Pyà Âk was born in 1754 in Hwahyeon-ri, Naechon-myeon, Pocheon-gun, Gyeonggi Province, Joseon. His courtesy name was Tà Âkjo (), his art name was Kwangam (). His father was Yi Puman (; 1727-1817) of the Gyeongju Yi clan. His mother was a member of the Cheongju Han clan. He was the second son among six children.
His grandfather Yi Kà Ân had held a high rank in the army, and his father, elder brother Yi Kyà Âk (ì´격; æÂÂæ ¼), and younger brother Yi Sà Âk (ì´ìÂÂ; æÂÂæ³) were also military officials. Yi Pyà Âk was remarkably tall, and his father tried to make a soldier of him; but from an early age he refused, earning himself the nickname Pyà Âk, (either èÂÂ, (corktree) or å», implying isolation and oddity) for his stubbornness.
His family belonged to the Namin faction, which included many families residing in Gyeonggi Province, and as such, except for a few years when Yi Pyà Âk was alive, were excluded from holding office by the factional politics of the Joseon period. This exclusion from power might explain why many of the scholars from these families pursued studies, which indicated their dissent from orthodox Neo-Confucianism. Yi Pyà Âk decided at an early age not to study for the national examinations, which were necessary for a career in government administration. Instead, he chose pure scholarship, focusing on the Chinese Confucian classics, studying the Four Books and the Five Classics as a matter of course.
Yi Pyà Âk's great-grandfather, Yi Kyà Ângsang, had accompanied Crown Prince Sohyà Ân (1612-1645) during the eight years that he spent in China. It is likely that he brought back books written by the Jesuit missionaries (âÂÂWestern LearningâÂÂ), including those about Catholicism which Yi Pyà Âk later studied.
The writings of Yi Ik inspired many of the scholars who adopted silhak. Yi Pyà Âk and the other scholars with whom he explored the tenets of Catholicism in the following years were surely no exception.
In 1777 (according to Dallet) or 1779 (according to Chà Âng Yagyong), the Namin scholar Kwà Ân Ch'à Âlsin (ê¶Âì² ì ; æ¬Âå²身, 1736-1801) seems to have started a series of study sessions for his pupils and other scholars that, like him, were influenced by the Silhak-inspired writings of his teacher, Yi Ik.
These meetings were held in a remote mountain hermitage, Jeonjinam, which belonged to the temple Jueosa near Gwangju, Gyeonggi.
The meetings were probably intended as an ongoing seminar to gain a better understanding of human life through renewed study of the Chinese classics, as well as the books introducing European knowledge that had been written in Chinese by Matteo Ricci and other Jesuits. If there were books about Catholicism among them, they seem only to have given a very shallow presentation of the faith. Dallet began his Histoire with a description of Yi Pyà Âk's difficult journey to join the group.
Among those present in the group were Chà Âng Yakchà Ân (ä¸ÂèÂ¥éÂÂ, 1758-1816), whose wife was Yi Pyà Âk's sister (who had died by 1784) and (perhaps) Mancheon Yi Sà Ânghun (èÂÂå· æÂÂæ¿è°, 1756-1801) whose wife was the sister of Chà Âng Yakchà Ân. Yi Pyà Âk's wife (Kwà Ân Ryuhandang) was a niece of Kwà Ân Ch'à Âlsin, being the daughter of his brother Kwà Ân Ilsin (æ¬Âæ¥身, 1742-1792).
Dallet reports that it was Yi Pyà Âk who, on hearing in 1783 that Yi Sà Ânghun was to accompany his father on the annual embassy to Beijing, urged him to contact the Catholic priests there and be baptized, then bring back more information. This he duly did, receiving baptism early in 1784. He returned to Korea bringing books and objects of devotion.
Yi Pyà Âk seems to have taken some time to study the books before declaring himself convinced. He then set about evangelizing those around him, including Kwà Ân Ch'à Âlsin and his younger brother Kwà Ân Ilsin.
In the Chach'an myojimyà Âng (autobiographical epitaph) written later by Chà Âng Yagyong there is an account of a moment in April 1784 when Yi Pyà Âk first told him about Catholicism and showed him a book. Chà Âng Yagyong had a very high opinion of Yi Pyà Âk's intellectual skills, especially after receiving his help in 1784 in formulating a reply to the king's questions about Confucian philosophy, a reply that greatly impressed the king by its âÂÂobjectivityâÂÂ.
Jean Sangbae Ri remarked that the theory regarding the emanation of Le and Ki had originated with Yi Pyà Âk, who was following Yi Hwang; Chà Âng Yagyong then began following the ideas expressed by Yi I. The baptism of these first converts, including Yi Pyà Âk, is said to have happened in September 1784, whereupon Yi Pyà Âk took the name Jean Baptist. It is not clear whether Chà Âng Yagyong was among those who were baptized then.
His older brother Chà Âng Yakchong was destined to become the main leader of the community along with Yi Sà Ânghun and died for his faith in the persecution of 1801.
There was an immediate hostile reaction to the new religion, about which little was as yet known, among the more strictly Confucianist scholars. There was opposition even among the Namin faction.
The silk letter written in 1801 to the Bishop of Beijing by Alexander Hwang Sayà Âng included a lengthy account of the origins of the Korean church. In it, he tells how Yi Kahwan (æÂÂ家砥, 1742-1801), who had risen to be Minister of Justice (ÃÂÂì¡°ÃÂÂìÂÂ; Ã¥ÂÂæ¹å¤æ¸), and was one of the most senior members of the faction and a very great scholar, tried to argue with Yi Pyà Âk, but ended up being converted by him. He was martyred in 1801.
Early in 1785, the growing group of believers and sympathizers moved their regular gatherings for worship from the house of Yi Pyà Âk to that belonging to another convert, Kim Pà Âmu, on the hill where Myeongdong Cathedral now stands. Kim was not an aristocrat as so many of the others were. Almost immediately, the authorities raided the house, suspecting it of being a gambling den, and were embarrassed on finding it full of nobles. A report by a government agent to the Minister of Justice lists those acting as leaders: Yi Sà Ânghun, the brothers Chà Âng Yakchà Ân, Chà Âng Yakchong, Chà Âng Yagyong, Kwà Ân Ilsin, with Yi Pyà Âk taking the leading role as teacher during the ceremony.
All were arrested, the books that were found were confiscated, and the nobles were then sent home with a warning not to continue. However, Kim PÃ Âmu was tortured, exiled, and finally executed since he was not of noble birth.
Dallet (Vol 1 pages 28âÂÂ9) says that Yi Pyà Âk was put under intense pressure from his father until finally, more or less, he gave up the faith. He was tormented by remorse until he died of the plague in 1786. A different account of his death is given by Antton Iraola who reported that he died on 14 June 1785, after 15 days of constant prayer, during which he neither ate nor slept. What seems clear is that his family, under strong pressure from the Confucian leaders that were hostile to the Namin and their newly found foreign faith, kept him more or less imprisoned in his home. There is no record of any communication addressed to the Catholic community emanating from him after the arrest.
The group's leadership was taken by Yi SÃ Ânghun, who seemed to have established a native hierarchy, at least before the Bishop of Beijing intervened to stop it.
Yi Pyà Âk's life is poorly documented and the main source for much information about him is the rather dramatized account in Dallet's Histoire de lâÂÂéglise de Corée (2 vols, 1874), which relied heavily on translations of documents sent to France by Bishop Daveluy (Dallet, Histoire, Vol.1, Introduction, page xi).
On June 21, 1979, the grave of Yi Pyà Âk was discovered by chance at his birthplace. His remains were reinterred alongside those of Yi Sà Ânghun, Yi Kahwan, the Kwà Ân brothers, and Chà Âng Yakchong at the Catholic shrine that was erected on the site of Jeonjinam.
Daum entry about Yi Pyà Âk
Online text of Seonggyo Yoji