During the 1801 anti-Catholic Persecution\, the Korean court executed the Chinese priest Zhou Wenmou (1752–1801). Korean officials justified this unprecedent ed move by accusing him of “illicit border-crossing” and attempting to invo ke “The Yongzheng Emperor’s Last Testament.” These strategies raise importa nt questions: Why did border transgression and an imperial edict matter in legitimizing the execution of a Qing subject? How did Qing–Chosŏn relations shape Korea’s anti-Catholic policies?
This lecture examines the over looked centrality of Sino-Korean relations in government-led anti-Catholic campaigns in late Chosŏn Korea. It begins by tracing the origins of the Kor ean Catholic Church\, which emerged through annual tributary missions to Be ijing. It then turns to the 1801 Persecution\, analyzing why Father Zhou’s execution required such legal justification and how this case molded the pe nalties applied to Korean converts. Finally\, it explores the ways in which Zhou’s precedent and Qing imperial authority were repeatedly appropriated to legitimize later persecutions\, including the execution of French priest s in 1839. By revisiting these episodes through the lens of interstate rela tions\, the talk highlights how Qing–Chosŏn diplomatic dynamics served as a driving force in shaping Korea’s anti-Catholic policy.
About
the Speaker:
Meng-Heng Lee is a Korea Found
ation Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of British Columbia. H
is research focuses on the legal and political history of Chosŏn Korea (139
2–1910)\, borderlands studies\, and premodern Sino-Korean relations. His do
ctoral studies reexamine Chosŏn’s legal suppression of Catholicism\, illumi
nating how Korean ruling elites viewed the religion not only as a domestic
threat but also as a political and diplomatic crisis. By linking diverse\,
and even weaponized\, legal accusations and punishments of converts to the
court’s concerns about Qing-Chosŏn relations and possible foreign intervent
ion\, his research highlights the broader geopolitical dimensions of Korean
anti-Catholicism.