덕수 장씨(德水 張氏) — A clan seated at Deoksu in Gaepung (historically Gyeonggi, now North Hwanghae), whose founder Jang Sun-ryong (張舜龍) is said to have come from the Yuan realm in the retinue of Princess Jeguk, consort of Goryeo's King Chungnyeol. He is widely described as a naturalized Uyghur, though sources differ on details of his origin.
A clan seated at Deoksu in Gaepung (historically Gyeonggi, now North Hwanghae), whose founder Jang Sun-ryong (張舜龍) is said to have come from the Yuan realm in the retinue of Princess Jeguk, consort of Goryeo's King Chungnyeol. He is widely described as a naturalized Uyghur, though sources differ on details of his origin. In the 2015 Census the 덕수 장씨 clan numbered about 24,185 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 장, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 덕수) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
Branch divisions are not confirmed in public sources
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
Jang Sun-ryong(founder), Jang Yu(writer; father of Queen Inseon), Queen Inseon(consort of Hyojong), Jang Sin(Restoration merit subject), Gwi-in Jang(concubine of Injo), Gwi-in Jang(concubine of Gojong)
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The founder of the Deoksu Jang clan (德水 張氏) is Jang Sun-ryong (張舜龍, 1255-1297), known in youth as Samga. His father Jang Baek-chang is said to have held the Yuan post of bichechi (secretary) under Kublai Khan. Jang Sun-ryong is said to have come to Goryeo in 1275 in the retinue of Princess Jeguk, consort of King Chungnyeol, and was appointed a colonel; he later held posts in the Royal Secretariat. Granted Deoksu county as a fief and enfeoffed as Internal Prince of Deoksu (also written Deokseong), he gave his descendants the seat Deoksu, an old place name in the Gaepung area; sources variously place it in Gaeseong's Panmun district or Gaepung county.
Jang Sun-ryong is usually presented as a naturalized Uyghur, sometimes described as descended from Central Asian Turkic peoples, with the Deoksu Jang genealogy and the Goryeosa cited as the basis. Namuwiki, however, calls him a native of Hoehoe (回回), a Yuan-era term broadly meaning Muslims from Central and West Asia, and how this fits the Uyghur account is not made clear. Other naturalized Uyghur-linked founders, such as Yi Hyeon of the Imcheon Yi and Seol Son of the Gyeongju Seol, are mentioned alongside him, but the sources admit that the exact ethnic line is hard to confirm. This story should therefore be read as resting on tradition and interpretation of records. Note too that the Deoksu Yi clan shares the place name Deoksu but is a different surname and lineage.
In the 2015 census the Deoksu Jang numbered 24,185. Clan villages are reported at Paengseong-eup in Pyeongtaek and in Bucheon, Gyeonggi; other regions are not confirmed in public sources.
Jang Sun-ryong was sent to Goryeo as a member of the princess's retinue (kheshig), rose from colonel to general, and was also given Yuan military titles. He became vice commissioner of the Royal Secretariat in 1292, assistant commissioner in 1294 and Cheomui Chamni, dying in office in 1297. He handled liaison with the Yuan court, including sending tribute women and buying pearls for the princess's ornaments. Anecdotes record his rivalry with other favorites such as In Hu and Cha Sin, and a lavishly decorated house wall that became known as the "Jang family wall". Detailed Goryeo-era descendants are not confirmed in public sources.
The clan is described as having produced 14 civil-examination graduates, one queen and two royal concubines in Joseon. The most prominent figure is Jang Yu, pen name Gyegok, counted among mid-Joseon's four great prose writers and enfeoffed Lord Sinpung. His daughter Queen Inseon was consort of Hyojong and mother of Hyeonjong. Jang Yu's younger brother Jang Sin won a third-class merit title in the 1623 Restoration but, as Ganghwa magistrate, was held to blame for the island's fall in 1637 and took his own life. Gwi-in Jang, a concubine of Injo, is also given as a clan daughter.
Gwi-in Jang, concubine of Gojong and mother of Prince Imperial Uichin, is recorded as a Deoksu Jang. In the modern era, jurists such as Jang Do (1876-1950), author of an early Korean criminal law textbook and a pioneering lawyer, appear, though several members who served in the colonial-era Central Advisory Council are listed among pro-Japanese collaborators and are judged divisively. The politician Jang Gyeong-u is also given as a Deoksu Jang. The painter Jang Uk-jin shares the surname but is recorded as of the Gyeolseong Jang, a different seat.
Branch divisions and their founders were not found in the public sources consulted. Members should check with the clan association and their own genealogy.
The tomb and spirit-way stele of Jang Yu stand in Jonam-dong, Siheung, and are listed as a city-designated heritage item. Queen Inseon rests with Hyojong at Yeongneung in Yeoju.
The Deoksu Jang genealogy is cited for the Uyghur-origin tradition, but the clan association and generation-name characters are not confirmed in public sources.
The 덕수 장씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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