Jeong Yak-jong

Blessed Jeong Yak-jong
Martyr
Born	1760 Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Died	8 April 1801 (aged 41) Small West Gate, Seoul, South Korea
Venerated in	Roman Catholicism
Beatified	16 August 2014, Seoul, South Korea by Pope Francis
Feast	20 September

Jeong Yak-jong
Hangul	정약종 아우구스티노
Hanja	丁若鍾 아우구스티노
Revised Romanization	Jeong Yak-jong Auguseutino
McCune–Reischauer	Chŏng Yakchong Augusŭt'ino

Blessed Jeong Yak-jong (1760 – 8 April 1801), also known as Augustine Chong, was a Korean Roman Catholic martyr who contributed greatly to the spread of Roman Catholicism in Korea. He was an older brother of Jeong Yak-yong and the father of Saint 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 Chinese priest Chou Wen-Mu..^[1][2]

References

1. Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0802846807.
2. James T. Bretzke (2001). Bibliography on East Asian Religion and Philosophy. Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 0773473181.