Ju Mun-mo (Chinese: 周文谟, traditional: 周文謨, pinyin: Zhōu Wénmó 저우원모\[\*\], 1752 – 31 May 1801) was a Chinese-born Roman Catholic priest who was martyred in Joseon. He was the first foreign Christian missionary to enter Joseon in the history of the Korean Church, and his baptismal name was Jacobus and
Born~Died 1752 ~ May 31, 1801Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 2:51 PM
He was born in 1752 in Kunshan County, Suzhou, Jiangsu, in the Qing dynasty.3 He lost his mother at the age of seven and his father at the age of eight. He spent a poor childhood under the care of his aunt, and though he took the civil service examinations, he repeatedly failed, so he married at the age of 20. After three years, he lost his wife and lived alone. Later, at a late age, he entered the seminary of the Beijing Diocese and became a member of its first graduating class.4
Entry into Joseon
Yi Seung-hun, a who was the first Joseon person to receive in China and returned home, established the Catholic Church in 1786. However, in 1790, Bishop Gouvea of the Beijing Diocese informed them that operating an autonomous church under a without clergy who had received apostolic succession was a violation of canon law. At the same time, along with a promise to send missionaries, he issued an order prohibiting ancestral rites to Joseon Catholics. In 1791, the occurred, in which , a Joseon scholar who had burned ancestral tablets in accordance with religious doctrine, was executed on charges of impiety, disloyalty, and disruption of social morality. The Beijing Diocese suspended the dispatch of missionaries because of this incident.
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In 1792, Yun Yu-il, who had been entrusted as a secret envoy from Joseon, came to Beijing and requested the dispatch of a missionary.8 In spring 1794 (the 18th year of King Jeongjo), Father Ju left Beijing under the bishop's orders. On the 3rd day of the 12th lunar month of that year (24 December in the solar calendar),9 with the help of Joseon believers Ji Hwang and Yun Yu-il (尹有一), he crossed the frozen Yalu River and secretly entered Joseon.10 The following January, he entered Seoul,11 and hid in the house of Choi In-gil, an interpreter, in Bukchon (present-day Gye-dong), where he celebrated Mass, administered baptism, and counseled believers.
Eulmyo Persecution
Until June 1795, he secretly evangelized using the house of the interpreter Choi In-gil as his base. Then, because the apostate Han Yeong-ik (韓永益) informed on him,12 on 27 June an arrest order was issued by Police Commissioner Jo Gyu-jin, acting under the command of the court.1314 When the police officers raided the house of the interpreter Choi In-gil, Choi In-gil pretended to be Father Ju and was arrested in his place, thereby helping Father Ju escape.15 Ju succeeded in escaping and took refuge in the house of the female believer Kang Wan-suk. However, Choi In-gil, who had provided a hiding place and obstructed the arrest, along with Yun Yu-il and Ji Hwang, who had helped Ju enter the country secretly, were arrested and beaten to death together, and their bodies were thrown into the river.1516
Missionary activities
Father Ju baptized Kang Wan-suk and appointed her as the first female leader of the Catholic Church in Korea, directing her to spread the Gospel among women.17 As a result, Kang Wan-suk led many women, including her female servant, to Catholicism, and by using her Yangban status, she arranged for the wife of Prince Eon-eon, Lady Song, and his daughter-in-law, Lady Shin, to receive baptism from Father Ju.18 Father Ju founded Myeongdohoe (明道會), a study group on doctrine, appointed Jeong Yak-jong as its head, and assigned Hwang Sa-yeong, Hong Pil-ju, Hyeon Gye-heum, Hong Ik-man, and others as leaders of the six subgroups under Myeongdohoe, the Yukhoe (六會), to devote themselves to doctrinal study and evangelization.1
Lady Song and Lady Shin also joined Myeongdohoe and were so ardent in their faith that they brought all of their slaves into the faith. This was because, due to the misfortune of her husband and father-in-law, Prince Eon-eon, being exiled to Ganghwa Island, they had nowhere else to turn their hearts. How deeply they devoted themselves to their faith can be inferred from the death sentence handed down by Queen Jeongsun, who ordered Lady Song and Lady Shin to be given poison and die together, and who condemned them, saying, "The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have both fallen into heterodoxy, associated with the wicked outsider (Father Ju), and did not fear the strict prohibitions of the state," as recorded in the Sunjo Sillok, entry for the 16th day of the 3rd month of the 1st year of Sunjo, and in the record of the Chuan of Lee Gi-yang, a Catholic martyr.19
As Father Ju grew confident in his pastoral work through Kang Wan-suk's evangelization in Seoul, he also turned his steps toward the provinces. He visited the family of Yun Yu-il, who had died while trying to protect him, to comfort them,20 and evangelized in Yeoju in Gyeonggi Province, Onyang, Gongju, Nampo, Naepo in Chungcheong Province, and Jeonju in Jeolla Province, growing the number of believers from about 4,000 to 10,000 in five years. Regarding this growth of the church, Hwang Sa-yeong stated in the 'Silk Letter' that there was no one in the Joseon Catholic Church comparable to Kang Wan-suk, thereby stating that her help had been great.20
Martyrdom
When the Sinyu Persecution broke out, following Queen Jeongsun's proclamation of the Edict Strictly Prohibiting Heterodoxy (《사학엄금교서》), which stated, "Catholic believers are those who believe in the heterodoxy that destroys human morality, and they are like beasts that threaten human morality; let them turn their hearts and abandon the heterodoxy, and if they still do not repent, punish them," Father Ju escaped with the protection of Kang Wan-suk (Columba), who refused to reveal his whereabouts.21 However, Father Ju went to Hwanghae Province's Hwangju, intending to flee to his homeland, the Qing dynasty, but upon learning that the situation was very dire, he returned to Hanyang on 12 March of the lunar calendar in 1801 (24 April in the solar calendar) and surrendered to the Uigeumbu, saying, "I am the Catholic priest you are looking for." On 19 April of the lunar calendar that year (31 May in the solar calendar), he was martyred by beheading at Saenamteo on the Han River, and he left the words, "Since I am of no use while alive, I wish to die." At the time, some in the Joseon court were concerned about diplomatic relations with China and argued for commuting the sentence to exile, but the death sentence was confirmed.22 It is said that the remains of Father Ju, who was martyred by beheading at Saenamteo, were secretly buried to prevent believers from holding a funeral.23
Beatification
He was beatified on 16 August 2014.
Legacy
Believing that what the Joseon Catholic Church, which had been led by laypeople who had not received systematic theological education before his entry into Joseon, needed most was doctrinal texts and devotional guides, Father Ju wrote works such as the Guide for Lent and Easter and a guide to the sacrament of penance. His literary mission played a major role in expanding the power of the Catholic Church.1
〈Ju Mun-mo〉. 《Encyber Encyclopedia》. Accessed 24 September 2008. ↩
Lee Deok-il (2003) "Ju Mun-mo... was raised by his grandmother and married at the age of twenty, but after three years he lost his wife and lived alone. He was also the first graduate of the Beijing Diocese seminary, and ..." ↩
Lee Deok-il, <이덕일의 여인열전>, Gimm-Young Publishers, 2003, p. 346. ↩
[Naver Knowledge Encyclopedia] Choi In-gil [崔仁吉] (Biographical Dictionary, 10 January 2002, Editorial Committee of the Biographical Dictionary)..... Pretending to be Father Ju, he was calmly arrested. Because he spoke Chinese well but had no beard, it was revealed that he was not Ju Mun-mo, but he did not confess Ju Mun-mo's hiding place until the end, and along with Ji Hwang and Yun Yu-il and other believers who had guided Ju Mun-mo's entry into the country, he was beaten to death at the Jwapocheong on 28 June, and his body was thrown into the Han River. ↩
Lee Deok-il, <이덕일의 여인열전>, Gimm-Young Publishers, 2003, p. 351. ↩
Lee Deok-il, <이덕일의 여인열전>, Gimm-Young Publishers, 2003, p. 353. ↩
He was born in 1752 in Kunshan County, Suzhou, Jiangsu, in the Qing dynasty.3 He lost his mother at the age of seven and his father at the age of eight. He spent a poor childhood under the care of his aunt, and though he took the civil service examinations, he repeatedly failed, so he married at the age of 20. After three years, he lost his wife and lived alone. Later, at a late age, he entered the seminary of the Beijing Diocese and became a member of its first graduating class.
Yi Seung-hun, a Korean who was the first Joseon person to receive baptism in China and returned home, established the Catholic Church in 1786.5 However, in 1790, Bishop Gouvea of the Beijing Diocese informed them that operating an autonomous church under a pseudo-clerical system without clergy who had received apostolic succession was a violation of canon law. At the same time, along with a promise to send missionaries, he issued an order prohibiting ancestral rites to Joseon Catholics.6 In 1791, the Sinhae Persecution occurred, in which Yun Ji-chung, a Joseon scholar who had burned ancestral tablets in accordance with religious doctrine, was executed on charges of impiety, disloyalty, and disruption of social morality. The Beijing Diocese suspended the dispatch of missionaries because of this incident.7
In 1792, Yun Yu-il, who had been entrusted as a secret envoy from Joseon, came to Beijing and requested the dispatch of a missionary.8 In spring 1794 (the 18th year of King Jeongjo), Father Ju left Beijing under the bishop's orders. On the 3rd day of the 12th lunar month of that year (24 December in the solar calendar),9 with the help of Joseon believers Ji Hwang and Yun Yu-il (尹有一), he crossed the frozen Yalu River and secretly entered Joseon.10 The following January, he entered Seoul,11 and hid in the house of Choi In-gil, an interpreter, in Bukchon (present-day Gye-dong), where he celebrated Mass, administered baptism, and counseled believers.
Eulmyo Persecution
Until June 1795, he secretly evangelized using the house of the interpreter Choi In-gil as his base. Then, because the apostate Han Yeong-ik (韓永益) informed on him,12 on 27 June an arrest order was issued by Police Commissioner Jo Gyu-jin, acting under the command of the court.1314 When the police officers raided the house of the interpreter Choi In-gil, Choi In-gil pretended to be Father Ju and was arrested in his place, thereby helping Father Ju escape.15 Ju succeeded in escaping and took refuge in the house of the female believer Kang Wan-suk. However, Choi In-gil, who had provided a hiding place and obstructed the arrest, along with Yun Yu-il and Ji Hwang, who had helped Ju enter the country secretly, were arrested and beaten to death together, and their bodies were thrown into the river.1516
Missionary activities
Father Ju baptized Kang Wan-suk and appointed her as the first female leader of the Catholic Church in Korea, directing her to spread the Gospel among women.17 As a result, Kang Wan-suk led many women, including her female servant, to Catholicism, and by using her Yangban status, she arranged for the wife of Prince Eon-eon, Lady Song, and his daughter-in-law, Lady Shin, to receive baptism from Father Ju.18 Father Ju founded Myeongdohoe (明道會), a study group on doctrine, appointed Jeong Yak-jong as its head, and assigned Hwang Sa-yeong, Hong Pil-ju, Hyeon Gye-heum, Hong Ik-man, and others as leaders of the six subgroups under Myeongdohoe, the Yukhoe (六會), to devote themselves to doctrinal study and evangelization.1
Lady Song and Lady Shin also joined Myeongdohoe and were so ardent in their faith that they brought all of their slaves into the faith. This was because, due to the misfortune of her husband and father-in-law, Prince Eon-eon, being exiled to Ganghwa Island, they had nowhere else to turn their hearts. How deeply they devoted themselves to their faith can be inferred from the death sentence handed down by Queen Jeongsun, who ordered Lady Song and Lady Shin to be given poison and die together, and who condemned them, saying, "The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have both fallen into heterodoxy, associated with the wicked outsider (Father Ju), and did not fear the strict prohibitions of the state," as recorded in the Sunjo Sillok, entry for the 16th day of the 3rd month of the 1st year of Sunjo, and in the record of the Chuan of Lee Gi-yang, a Catholic martyr.19
As Father Ju grew confident in his pastoral work through Kang Wan-suk's evangelization in Seoul, he also turned his steps toward the provinces. He visited the family of Yun Yu-il, who had died while trying to protect him, to comfort them,20 and evangelized in Yeoju in Gyeonggi Province, Onyang, Gongju, Nampo, Naepo in Chungcheong Province, and Jeonju in Jeolla Province, growing the number of believers from about 4,000 to 10,000 in five years. Regarding this growth of the church, Hwang Sa-yeong stated in the 'Silk Letter' that there was no one in the Joseon Catholic Church comparable to Kang Wan-suk, thereby stating that her help had been great.20
Martyrdom
When the Sinyu Persecution broke out, following Queen Jeongsun's proclamation of the Edict Strictly Prohibiting Heterodoxy (《사학엄금교서》), which stated, "Catholic believers are those who believe in the heterodoxy that destroys human morality, and they are like beasts that threaten human morality; let them turn their hearts and abandon the heterodoxy, and if they still do not repent, punish them," Father Ju escaped with the protection of Kang Wan-suk (Columba), who refused to reveal his whereabouts.21 However, Father Ju went to Hwanghae Province's Hwangju, intending to flee to his homeland, the Qing dynasty, but upon learning that the situation was very dire, he returned to Hanyang on 12 March of the lunar calendar in 1801 (24 April in the solar calendar) and surrendered to the Uigeumbu, saying, "I am the Catholic priest you are looking for." On 19 April of the lunar calendar that year (31 May in the solar calendar), he was martyred by beheading at Saenamteo on the Han River, and he left the words, "Since I am of no use while alive, I wish to die." At the time, some in the Joseon court were concerned about diplomatic relations with China and argued for commuting the sentence to exile, but the death sentence was confirmed.22 It is said that the remains of Father Ju, who was martyred by beheading at Saenamteo, were secretly buried to prevent believers from holding a funeral.23
Beatification
He was beatified on 16 August 2014.
Legacy
Believing that what the Joseon Catholic Church, which had been led by laypeople who had not received systematic theological education before his entry into Joseon, needed most was doctrinal texts and devotional guides, Father Ju wrote works such as the Guide for Lent and Easter and a guide to the sacrament of penance. His literary mission played a major role in expanding the power of the Catholic Church.1
〈Ju Mun-mo〉. 《Encyber Encyclopedia》. Accessed 24 September 2008. ↩
Lee Deok-il (2003) "Ju Mun-mo... was raised by his grandmother and married at the age of twenty, but after three years he lost his wife and lived alone. He was also the first graduate of the Beijing Diocese seminary, and ..." ↩
Lee Deok-il, <이덕일의 여인열전>, Gimm-Young Publishers, 2003, p. 346. ↩
[Naver Knowledge Encyclopedia] Choi In-gil [崔仁吉] (Biographical Dictionary, 10 January 2002, Editorial Committee of the Biographical Dictionary)..... Pretending to be Father Ju, he was calmly arrested. Because he spoke Chinese well but had no beard, it was revealed that he was not Ju Mun-mo, but he did not confess Ju Mun-mo's hiding place until the end, and along with Ji Hwang and Yun Yu-il and other believers who had guided Ju Mun-mo's entry into the country, he was beaten to death at the Jwapocheong on 28 June, and his body was thrown into the Han River. ↩
Lee Deok-il, <이덕일의 여인열전>, Gimm-Young Publishers, 2003, p. 351. ↩
Lee Deok-il, <이덕일의 여인열전>, Gimm-Young Publishers, 2003, p. 353. ↩