hankyoreh

By Cho Yeon-hyun, religion correspondent

The Catholic Church purchased Gyeongcheon (敬天), a scroll of calligraphy drawn by independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun (1879-1910).

The scroll was written by Ahn, who was a Catholic, in the prison in Ryojun, also known as Port Arthur, in March 1910, shortly before his execution. The previous year, Ahn had assassinated Ito Hirobumi, the former Japanese resident governor-general of Korea.

In addition to the Chinese characters “大韓國人 安重根,” meaning “Ahn Jung-geun of Great Korea,” the scroll shows a print of Ahn’s right hand, including his ring finger, which famously is missing a joint.

A Buddhist monk named Park Sam-jung purchased the scroll in Japan and put it up for auction in Seoul with an opening price of 700 million won (US$681,100) in March, but it failed to sell. After this, the Jamwon Cathedral in Seoul bought it for 500 million won and decided to donate it to the Archdiocese of Seoul, reports say. (The head priest at Jamwon Cathedral is Joseph Yeom Soo-ui, the younger brother of Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, Archbishop of Seoul.)

The Archdiocese of Seoul is planning to exhibit the scroll at the Church History Museum at the Seodaemun martyrdom site after construction is completed in 2017.

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