ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
THE CHOSON STATE AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LAW
PENAL LAWS AND CATHOLICISM
The Chinsan incident: a strange precedent
The progressive emergence of an anti-Christian legislation
The state crisis, 1866-1871
DECODING EXECUTIONS
Factional struggles and Catholicism
Decapitation in Choson legal culture
Choson literati and their views of Catholicism in East Asia
USE AND ABUSE OF THE GREAT MING CODE
Fear and apostasy
Abuse of the Code and arbitrary executions
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES