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천안 전씨(天安全氏) — It is regarded as the Jeon clan lineage known for producing Jeon Bong-jun, the "Green Bean General" (Nokdu Janggun) who led the Donghak Peasant Movement.

Population — approx. 176,239 (2015 Census, Statistics Korea)

AI-generated illustration (imagined scene) — 들판이 내려다보이는 소나무 숲 언덕의 시조 제단과 사당 문을 멀리서 그린 수묵담채풍 그림

About the 천안 전씨 clan

It is regarded as the Jeon clan lineage known for producing Jeon Bong-jun, the "Green Bean General" (Nokdu Janggun) who led the Donghak Peasant Movement. In the 2015 Census the 천안 전씨 clan numbered about 176,239 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 전, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 천안) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.

Roots and History of the Cheonan Jeon Clan

Founder and Origin of the Clan Seat

The Cheonan Jeon clan (天安全氏) honors Jeon Seop (全聶), Lord Hwanseong, said to have been a founding merit subject of Baekje, as its distant progenitor, and Jeon Rak (全樂), a founding merit subject of Goryeo enfeoffed as Prince Cheonan (天安府院君), as its founder or restoring ancestor. According to Jeon family genealogies, Jeon Seop was one of the ten retainers who accompanied Onjo, third son of Goguryeo's King Dongmyeong, south to found Baekje. Some sources list Jeon Seop as founder and Jeon Rak as restoring ancestor, while others treat Jeon Rak as the founder of the Cheonan Jeon clan itself.

Clan tradition holds that Jeon Rak helped Wang Geon found Goryeo and died defending him alongside Sin Sung-gyeom at the Battle of Gongsan (today's Palgongsan near Daegu) in 927, after which he was posthumously made Left Executive of the Three Offices and Prince Cheonan; his descendants therefore took Cheonan as their clan seat. Goryeo is also said to have honored him, together with the brothers Jeon I-gap and Jeon Ui-gap, as the "Three Loyal Lords." However, the Goryeosa names the general who died with Sin Sung-gyeom at Gongsan as Kim Rak (金樂), so the account of Jeon Rak is best understood as genealogical and family tradition.

The clan seat, Cheonan, is today's Cheonan in South Chungcheong Province; the name first appeared when Cheonan Prefecture was established there in 930 (13th year of Goryeo's King Taejo). The largest Jeon (全) clan today is the Jeongseon Jeon, but the Cheonan Jeon clan is also sizable, numbering 176,239 in the 2015 census.

The Clan Through the Ages

In late Goryeo the clan produced a succession of civil officials. Jeon Seung (全昇), son of Jeon In-ryang, served as royal secretary and in the Privy Council under King Chungnyeol and supervised the state examination as chief examiner in 1300; his son Jeon Sin (全信) rose through Inspector-General and Grand Academician of Jinhyeongwan to Associate Privy Councillor and founded the Munhyo-gong branch. Descendants of Jeon Ik (全翊), Grand Academician of Bomungak, form the Daejehak-gong branch, and those of Jeon Ryeo (全呂) form the Dupyeong-gun branch, divided into Yeongam and Jinan lines. Several other branches are also recorded, including the Pangyeolsa-gong, Samjae-gong and Naju-gun branches.

Many lines moved early to the Honam region, as when Jeon Deok-rin of the Munhyo-gong branch, refusing to serve a second dynasty, moved to Gochang in 1414 after the founding of Joseon. As a result the clan is still concentrated in Gwangju and the two Jeolla provinces, and during Joseon it produced more notable figures in the military examinations and the righteous armies than in the civil service. During the second Japanese invasion in 1597 the brothers Jeon Mong-seong and Jeon Mong-jin of Yeongam raised a righteous army and died fighting, and Jeon Sang-ui of Gwangju died defending Anju fortress during the 1627 Later Jin invasion. Jeon Dong-heul, who passed the military examination under King Hyojong, is known as the magistrate of Cheolsan who exposed the wrongful deaths of the sisters Janghwa and Hongryeon, the basis of the tale "Janghwa Hongryeon jeon."

At the end of Joseon the clan produced Jeon Bong-jun, the "Mung Bean General" who led the 1894 Donghak Peasant Revolution and is the best-known member of the Cheonan Jeon clan.

Notable Figures

Jeon Seop (全聶) — Distant progenitor of the Jeon surname, said to have been one of the ten merit subjects who helped found Baekje and enfeoffed as Lord Hwanseong.
Jeon Rak (全樂) — Said to have been a founding merit subject of Goryeo who died at the Battle of Gongsan; his enfeoffment as Prince Cheonan gave the clan its seat.
Jeon Seung (全昇, ?-1302) — Served as royal secretary and in the Privy Council under King Chungnyeol, and as chief examiner in 1300 selected 33 graduates including Yi Ja-se.
Jeon Sin (全信, 1276-1339) — Son of Jeon Seung who served as Inspector-General, Grand Academician of Jinhyeongwan and Associate Privy Councillor; founder of the Munhyo-gong branch.
Jeon Ik (全翊) — Goryeo Grand Academician of Bomungak and founder of the Daejehak-gong branch, whose descendants spread through Honam centered on Gwangju.
Jeon Deok-rin (全德隣) — Grandson of Jeon Sin who, loyal to Goryeo, moved to Sangha-myeon, Gochang, in 1414 and became the clan's first settler there.
Jeon Mong-seong (全夢星, 1561-1597) — Military officer from Yeongam who fought at the Battle of Geumsan during the Imjin War and died leading a righteous army with his brother Jeon Mong-jin during the second invasion.
Jeon Sang-ui (全尙毅, 1575-1627) — Military officer from Gwangju who joined the 1617 embassy to Japan and helped repatriate captives and died defending Anju fortress during the 1627 invasion.
Jeon Dong-heul (全東屹) — Military officer who passed the military examination under King Hyojong and rose to Police Commander; as magistrate of Cheolsan he is said to have avenged the sisters Janghwa and Hongryeon.
Jeon Bong-jun (全琫準, 1855-1895) — Leader of the Gobu uprising and the 1894 Donghak Peasant Revolution, known as the "Mung Bean General."

Clan Villages and Heritage Sites

An altar to Jeon Seop, Lord Hwanseong, and the Three Loyal Lords (Jeon I-gap, Jeon Ui-gap and Jeon Rak) is said to stand in Imun-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. The "Jeon Family Loyalty and Filial Piety Gate" in Jangcheon-ri, Seoho-myeon, Yeongam, South Jeolla, honors the loyalty of the brothers Jeon Mong-seong and Jeon Mong-jin and the filial devotion of their youngest brother Jeon Mong-tae; it is a South Jeolla Provincial Monument, with steles for Jeon Mong-seong and Jeon Mong-tae beside it. In Hwaam-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, are General Jeon Sang-ui's state-funded tomb, a Gwangju Metropolitan City Monument, and Chungminsa Shrine dedicated to him. Jeon Bong-jun's old house in Jangnae-ri, Ipyeong-myeon, Jeongeup, North Jeolla, is designated a Historic Site as the "Jeon Bong-jun Historic Site in Jeongeup."

Clan villages are especially numerous in Honam: representative ones include Dongsan-dong in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju; Damyang, Boseong and Eomgil-ri in Seoho-myeon, Yeongam (South Jeolla); and Sindae-ri in Gongeum-myeon and Hagap-ri in Asan-myeon, Gochang, Seongsu-myeon in Jinan and Deokchi-myeon in Imsil (North Jeolla), with further settlements in Geumsan and Cheonan (South Chungcheong) and Daejeon. Around Gongeum-myeon in Gochang some 100 households of Jeon Deok-rin's descendants have lived for 20 generations, and on Jeju the descendants of Jeon U-seon, who arrived at Gimnyeong-ri in 1690, form the main body of the island's Jeon families.

Branch divisions and lineages can differ between family organizations and genealogies, so please check against your own family's jokbo.

Main branches (派)

Munhyo-gong-pa, Daejehak-gong-pa, Dupyeong-gun-pa, Pangyeolsa-gong-pa, Samjae-gong-pa, Naju-gun-pa, Chanseongsa-gong-pa, Ganui-daebu-gong-pa, Sangju-gun-pa, Deokseong-gong-pa, Deokwon-gong-pa

Munhyo-gong-pa (文孝公派)

The Munhyo-gong branch descends from the late Goryeo official Jeon Sin (全信, 1276-1339), son of the privy councillor Jeon Seung. He passed the civil examination in 1301 and, after posts including academician of the Bomungak, governor of Gyerim and magistrate of Bokju, rose to inspector-general and grand academician of the Jinhyeongwan and served as associate commissioner of the Royal Secretariat. The branch name is said to come from his posthumous title Munhyo (文孝).

He is enshrined at Geomgye Seowon in Cheonan, and his grandson Jeon Deok-rin (全德隣) is said to have moved to Sangha-myeon, Gochang in 1414, refusing to serve the new dynasty. A 2013 Yeongam newspaper article describes this branch as the line of Cheonan, where the founder's tomb lies.

Prof. Jeon Seong-jun, a Munhyo-gong descendant, is reported to be the ritual heir of Jeon Bong-jun since 2022. Branch systems differ among clan lines, so check your genealogy.

Daejehak-gong-pa (大提學公派)

The Daejehak-gong branch descends from Jeon Ik (全翊), who served as grand academician of the Bomungak in Goryeo. He is recorded as having passed both the Goryeo civil service examination and the licentiate examination.

His descendants settled in the Honam region, centered on Gwangju; his 10th-generation descendant Jeon Yu-seong (全有成), born in Gwangju in 1616, moved to Asan-myeon in Gochang, and the line spread across Jeolla. A Yeongam newspaper describes the branch as that of Gwangju, and a Gangjin newspaper says the Daejehak and Dupyeong-gun lines make up most of the clan in Gangjin.

Dupyeong-gun-pa (兜平君派)

The Dupyeong-gun branch descends from Jeon Ryeo (全呂). It is divided into the Yeongam line, from his eldest son, and the Jinan line, from his second son.

The Yeongam line is centered on Eomgil-ri and Jangcheon-ri in Seoho-myeon, Yeongam; the brothers Seung-mun and Seung-mu, great-grandsons of Samin, the first settler in Gangjin, are said to have moved from Gangjin to Yeongam around 1500. Branch rites are held at Jangcheon-ri on the first jeong day of the tenth lunar month, and the monument to the righteous-army leader Jeon Mong-seong stands in the area. The Jinan line settled in Jinan and Jeonju, North Jeolla, so long that the clan is locally called the "Jinan Jeon."

According to a Gangjin newspaper, Samin, a former governor of Jeju, settled at Toedong village in Jakcheon-myeon, Gangjin. A Yeongam newspaper introduces former minister Jeon Seok-hong as from Eomgil-ri.

Pangyeolsa-gong-pa (判決事公派)

The Pangyeolsa-gong branch is introduced by Wikipedia as descending from Jeon Gu (全煦). A 2013 Yeongam newspaper article places its main settlement in Hampyeong, South Jeolla.

Details such as the founder's dates and offices could not be confirmed, and a Gangjin newspaper lists a "Panseo-gong" branch with a founder named Hu instead.