Chŏng Yakchong (; 1760 – April 8, 1801), also known as ''Augustine Chong'', was a Korean

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

who contributed greatly to the spread of Catholicism in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. He was the older brother of

Chŏng Yagyong Chŏng Yagyong (; 1762 – 1836) was a Korean agronomist, philosopher, and poet. He is also known by his art name Tasan (). He was one of the greatest thinkers in the Joseon, later Joseon period, wrote highly influential books about philosophy, ...

and the father of Paul Chong Hasang. He wrote the first Catholic catechism using only Korean letters so that he could reach out to the common people as well as the nobles who were the only ones in Korean society who could read Chinese characters. He was first converted to Catholicism himself by the Chinese

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

Chou Wen-Mu.

References

1760 births 1801 deaths 18th-century venerated Christians 19th-century venerated Christians Converts to Roman Catholicism 19th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Korean beatified people People from Gwangju, Gyeonggi 18th-century Korean people Beatifications by Pope Francis {{RC-bio-stub