보성 선씨(寶城 宣氏) — The main ancestral seat of the Seon (宣) surname, based in Boseong, South Jeolla, taking as founder Seon Yun-ji, a late-Goryeo inspector of Honam.
The main ancestral seat of the Seon (宣) surname, based in Boseong, South Jeolla, taking as founder Seon Yun-ji, a late-Goryeo inspector of Honam. In the 2015 Census the 보성 선씨 clan numbered about 41,982 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 선, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 보성) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
The Boseong Seon (寶城 宣氏) have their ancestral seat in Boseong County, South Jeolla, and are the main seat of the Seon (宣) surname, counted at 41,982 in the 2015 census. The Gwangju Seon and Miryang Seon appear in the Jeungbo Munheon Bigo but are introduced as regional names of the Boseong Seon sharing the same origin. The similar-looking Seonu (鮮于) is an entirely different surname.
Wikipedia-based accounts trace the surname to descendants of King Xuan of Zhou, Shusun Qiaoru (posthumous name Xuanbo) and Ziji of Song (posthumous name Xuangong), who took the posthumous epithet 'Xuan' (宣) of their ancestors as their surname. No official source shows which of them the Boseong Seon descend from, and the Sejong Sillok Jiriji is said to record the Seon as native surname of Boseong in Jeolla.
The Boseong Seon head association instead takes Xuanbo, a grandee of Lu, as the original ancestor and has the founder Seon Yun-ji come to Goryeo from Ming China. With both a tradition of Chinese origin and a record as native surname of Boseong, neither can be settled from texts.
Seon Yun-ji (宣允祉), with the pen name Toehyudang, is said to have come to Goryeo as a Ming Academician of the Munyeongak, become Honam Inspector in the 8th year of King U (1382) and cleared Japanese raiders. When Goryeo fell he is said to have given up office and lived in Boseong, which became the seat. As no pre-founder records could be found, one explanation holds that when genealogies were compiled in the 17th century Seon Yun-ji, the great-great-grandfather of Seon Hyeong confirmed in official documents, was made founder.
After a draft in 1681, a meeting in 1738 led to the first genealogy, the Gisabo, in 1749. The Eulsabo (1785), Jeongmibo (1847), Muobo (1978) and Jeongchukbo (1997) followed. Some Seon people of Joseong and Dochon in Boseong took Seon Yong-sin as mid-founder and issued a separate genealogy in 1757, and lawsuits over the founder, including a 1768 ruling by the Jeolla inspector, are recorded. As the head association and the Jodo line disagree, both claims are set out in the branch cards below.
From the third generation the lines of Guryeo (Busa-gong), Hakryeong (Seonjeon-gong), Gwang-yu (Champan-gong), Myeong-yu (Chamui-gong) and Cheong-yu (Sunmusa-gong) divide. In the early Joseon, Seon Hyeong was enfeoffed Lord Yuseong for putting down the Yi Si-ae rebellion, and his great-grandson Seon Geo-i fought at Haengju and fell at Ulsan Fortress. With Seon Se-gang, who fell at Ssangnyeong in the Byeongja invasion, and Seon Yak-hae, who left a record of his Shenyang mission, they are the five loyal subjects of Boseong Ojungsa where the founder is also enshrined. Others include Seon Geuk-rye of the Ulsan battles and Seon Yeo-gyeong, who died escorting the king.
In modern times the baseball figure Seon Dong-yeol (introduced as a 14th-generation descendant of Seon Geo-i) and Seon Jun-yeong, the first Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, are known. Despite their small numbers the Boseong Seon are said to have produced seven civil and about thirty military examination passers (the military count varies from 24 to 31 by source).
The founder dispute and the ancestors' dates differ by source. Check your branch and lineage with the head association and your genealogy.
Busa-gong-pa, Seonjeon-gong-pa, Champan-gong-pa, Chamui-gong-pa, Sunmusa-gong-pa, Jodo line (Seon Yong-sin)
The Busa-gong branch is listed in the head association's genealogy chart as descending from the 3rd-generation Seon Gu-ryeong (宣龜齡) of the founder Seon Yun-ji. The name Busa-gong (府使公) follows the chart's notation; his office and dates were not confirmed.
The association's site has a separate entry for Busa-gong under 'figures by branch'. From the layout of the chart, the 4th-generation Okam-gong Seon Si-jung seems to belong to this line (an inference, not confirmed). The Pojungsa introduction says Seon Si-jung served as magistrate of Neungseong under King Sejong and later rose to Minister of Works; a monument to his good governance stands at Hwasun Neungju Hyanggyo, and the 6th-generation Seon U-bin (a jinsa known for filial piety) is enshrined with him at Jangheung Pojungsa. A separate genealogy of the Okam-gong branch (Imobo) is said to have been published in 1942.
The Seonjeon-gong branch takes the 3rd-generation Seon Hak-ryeong (宣鶴齡) as founder, with Seonjeon-gong as his honorific. A genealogy of the branch (Jeonghaebo) was published in 1947.
The head association explains that the Seonjeon-gong line entered Bongsan-ri, Boseong-eup, after the Imjin and Byeongja wars under the 11th-generation settler Seon I-byeok. Bongsan-ri is a clan village where about a third of 170 households are Boseong Seon, and the line is said to have moved there from central Boseong-eup because Japanese raiders appeared frequently.
The office and dates of the founder Seon Hak-ryeong were not confirmed.
The Champan-gong branch takes the 3rd-generation Seon Gwang-yu (宣光裕) as founder. Wikipedia introduces Gwang-yu as magistrate of Anak and posthumously made Vice Minister of Taxation, and his son Hwa as magistrate of Yeosan and posthumously Right Minister. A genealogy of the branch (Gyeongobo) was published in 1930.
The 5th-generation Seon Hyeong came from this line and was enfeoffed Lord Yuseong, and his great-grandson, the 8th-generation Seon Geo-i, became a famous general of the Imjin War (by the association's chart: Hyeong 5th, Suk-cheol 6th, Sang 7th, Geo-i 8th).
Hyeong's third son, the 6th-generation Seon Gye-cheol, served as magistrate of Uiseong and settled at Maehwajeong village in Gangmae-dong, Goyang, in the 1460s. Goyang Ojungsa and Yeongmoje, where Seon Hyeong's immovable ancestral tablet is honored, stand there, and in 2011 the Champan-gong clan moved Ojungsa from Gangneung to Gangmae-dong, holding rites with Goyang Confucians in spring and autumn.
The Chamui-gong branch is listed in the head association's genealogy chart as descending from the 3rd-generation Seon Myeong-yu (宣明裕); the line divides between the two sons of the 2nd-generation Seon An-hyeok, Myeong-yu (Chamui-gong) and Cheong-yu (Sunmusa-gong).
The association's site has a separate Chamui-gong entry under 'figures by branch', but its contents were not confirmed. Wikipedia says a Chamui-gong branch genealogy was published in 1930, while the association's publication table lists that year's Gyeongobo as the Champan-gong genealogy, so the two sources differ. The founder's office and settlements were not confirmed.
The Sunmusa-gong branch takes the 3rd-generation Seon Cheong-yu (宣淸裕) as founder. He was a son of the 2nd-generation Seon An-hyeok and split from his elder brother Myeong-yu (Chamui-gong).
The head association introduces the 9th-generation Seon Geuk-rye (Byeongsa-gong) as a descendant of this line. His grandson Seon Dae-gyu, who rose to Seonmurang, settled at Geumgok-ri, Samdong-myeon, Ulju, in the 1630s; the line flourished, with 15 households in Geumgok-ri and about a hundred in Ulsan and Ulju, and some in Gimhae and Busan.
Geumgok-ri has a shrine hall with the tablets and portraits of Seon Cheong-yu, Seon Geuk-rye and Seon Dae-gyu, and Ulju Wonmosa, built by descendants, held its plaque ceremony and memorial rite on 10 May 2006. A merit monument to Seon Myeong-gyu also stands in the village.
The Jodo line consists of Seon people living in Joseong and Dochon in Boseong, who took the jinsa Seon Yong-sin (宣用臣) as mid-founder and issued a separate genealogy (Jeongchukbo) in 1757. They are introduced as under 5% of all Boseong Seon (about 3,000).
The Jodo line has claimed, citing documents such as the Seon Jung-ui household register and the Seon Mun-hwan family record, that the founder Seon Yun-ji was Seon Yong-sin's grandson. The Boseong Seon head association, however, holds that these documents have inconsistent dates and explains that the 1749 Gisabo fixed Seon Yun-ji as founder and that the 1768 ruling by the Jeolla inspector and the 1783 ruling by the Boseong magistrate did not accept the Jodo claim. As the two sides disagree, both positions are given here without a judgment.
A known figure of this line is Seon Yeo-gyeong (born 1551), and the Monument of the Six Loyal Subjects of the Seon was erected at Hoeum-dong, Jeongheung-ri, Deungnyang-myeon.
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
선윤지(founder of the Boseong Seon), 선형(Jeokgae merit subject enfeoffed Lord Yuseong), 선거이(Deputy Commander at Haengju), 선세강(died at the Battle of Ssangnyeong), 선약해(author of the Shimyang Ilgi), 선극례(general at the battle of Ulsan), 선여경(died escorting the king in the Imjin War), 선동열(baseball player and manager), 선준영(first Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade), 선영제(Vice Chief of Staff of the Army)
Tap a name for the full profile (life, career, grave, descendants).
The Boseong Seon head association takes Xuanbo, a grandee of Lu in the Spring and Autumn period, as the original ancestor, and introduces as pre-founder stories that he wrote Tong Yi Xiang in Jin, and that in the Han Seon Byeong refused Wang Mang's call and was received by Emperor Guangwu of the Later Han as an imperial censor. It then cites records that Seon Chan came to Goryeo as an envoy under Emperor Qinzong of Song and that Seon Cheon-gye came on the order of Ming Taizu in 1368 and stayed in Songgyeong, while itself noting that their traces are not found in the Goryeosa. As these Chinese-origin accounts are hard to confirm from texts, they are best read as 'said to be'.
The family hill at Sangcheongnyongdeung, Wonbong-ri, Boseong-eup, is said to hold the founder's tomb and eleven in all: two of the 2nd generation, five of the 3rd, the 4th-generation Seon Si-jung and the 5th-generation Seon Sang-chung and Seon Sang-geun. A stele stands in the Dojegak, the clan association manages the site, and the seasonal rite is on the 5th day of the tenth lunar month. Two stone attendant figures at the tomb of Seon Si-jung (Okam-gong) are said to have been stolen.
Boseong Ojungsa: a shrine enshrining the founder Seon Yun-ji and Seon Hyeong, Seon Geo-i, Seon Se-gang and Seon Yak-hae. It received a royal plaque in 1831, was demolished under the late-1860s to 1871 shrine-demolition order and restored in 1960-61, and local Confucians hold rites in spring and autumn. Its lecture hall, Boseong Chungyidang, built in 1937, was designated Jeonnam Folk Cultural Heritage No. 48 in 2012.
Jangheung Pojungsa: built in 1846, it enshrines the tablets of the five loyal subjects, the 4th-generation Seon Si-jung and the 6th-generation Seon U-bin, with a rite on the 15th day of the third lunar month. Hwasun Neungju Hyanggyo has a monument to Seon Si-jung's good governance.
Goyang Ojungsa and Yeongmoje: Ojungsa at Daejeon-dong, Gangneung, was moved to Gangmae-dong, Deogyang-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi, in the 2000s, and the rite for Seon Hyeong's immovable ancestral tablet is held at Yeongmoje inside. Rites are said to be on the 22nd of the third and ninth lunar months.
Haengju Seowon, Goyang and Ulsan Chungyisa: Haengju Seowon enshrines Seon Geo-i as deputy of Gwon Yul, and Ulsan Chungyisa and Ulju Wonmosa honor Seon Geuk-rye and others who fought at Ulsan in the second invasion.
Monument of the Six Loyal Subjects: a monument at Hoeum-dong, Jeongheung-ri, Deungnyang-myeon honors the martyrdom of Seon Yeo-gyeong's family, and a loyal-subject gate for Seon Geo-i stands in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju. Jeongchungmyo in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, holds rites for Seon Se-gang.
Ppuri Park, Daejeon: a Boseong Seon origin monument (no. 198) was unveiled at Ppuri Park in Daejeon on 18 June 2016.
Seon Byeong-guk House, Boeun: a 99-kan hanok at Gaean-ri, Jangan-myeon, Boeun, North Chungcheong, said to have been built in 1919-1921 by Seon Jeong-hun of the Boseong Seon family whose home seat is Goheung, Jeonnam.
In Boseong itself: Bongsan-ri in Boseong-eup (about a third of 170 households are Boseong Seon; the Seonjeon-gong line settled after the Imjin and Byeongja wars under the 11th-generation Seon I-byeok), Bongneung-ri in Joseong-myeon and Jeongheung-ri in Deungnyang-myeon. Maehwajeong village in Gangmae-dong, Deogyang-gu, Goyang, is where the 6th-generation Seon Gye-cheol, third son of Seon Hyeong, settled in the 1460s, and some 60 of about 100 households are Boseong Seon. At Songam-ri in Daejeon-dong, Gangneung, the 11th-generation Seon Sun-ha settled in the 1650s, at Geumgok-ri, Samdong-myeon, Ulju, Seon Dae-gyu of the Sunmusa-gong line settled in the 1630s, and at Masan-ri, Yeonmu-eup, Nonsan, the line has been settled since the 1660s after the 9th-generation Seon Ui-chun. Dosan-dong in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, is also named.
Boseong is overwhelmingly the seat of the Seon surname, and Gwangju and Miryang are explained as regional names of Boseong. Whether other seats such as Yeonan Seon exist was not confirmed. The Seonu (鮮于) is a separate surname.
Clan affairs are handled by the Boseong Seon Head Association, whose office is listed at 80 Jungang-ro, Boseong-eup, Boseong, Jeonnam (official site boseongsun.or.kr; a phone number is shown there but may have changed, so please check). The Ojungsa Preservation Association, a youth association and a clan cafe are separately introduced. The genealogy section of the site has a preface, chronology, table of genealogies published, genealogy chart and generation-name chart.
The association's generation-name chart shows the unified names as Heum (欽) for the 17th generation, Yeong (永) 18th, Sik (植) 19th, Byeong (炳) 20th, Gyu (圭) 21st, Jong (鍾) 22nd, Won (源) 23rd, Dong (東) 24th, the Mu (戊) series 25th (Seong, Mu, Mu, Ui), the Gi (己) series 26th (Gi, Gi, Beom), the Gyeong (庚) series 27th (Gang, Gwang, Do, Gyeong), Sin (辛) 28th, Im (壬) 29th and Gye (癸) 30th. Parts of the table differ by branch and some characters are unreadable, so this summary is incomplete. The characters from the 17th generation (metal, water, wood, fire, earth) appear to follow the five-element cycle. These vary by branch and region, so check your genealogy and the head association.
Counts were 7,651 households and 33,105 people in 1985, 10,821 households and 34,842 people in 2000, 10,094 households and 38,849 people in 2005, and 41,982 in the 2015 census. Descendants of Seon Yun-ji are said to be about 95% and those of Seon Yong-sin (the Jodo line) under 5% (about 3,000).
In the Joseon period, seven civil (Seon Mun-ju, Seon Se-hwi, Seon Sun-bo, Seon Yak-bong, Seon Jun-chae, Seon Jin-gyu and Seon Heon), 29 to 31 military and many Saengwon and Jinsa passers are introduced. The relatively many military passers for their numbers earn the family a reputation as a house of soldiers.
The founder dispute and the designations and histories of sites differ by source. Confirm visits and rite schedules with the head association.
The 보성 선씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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