김해 허씨(金海 許氏) — A Heo clan seated at Gimhae in South Gyeongsang, said to descend from Heo Hwang-ok, queen of King Suro of Gaya and a princess of Ayuta, through its founder Heo Yeom, enfeoffed as Lord of Garak in mid-Goryeo. With the Yangcheon Heo it forms the bulk of the Heo surname, and is said to share roots with the Gimhae Kim and Incheon Yi.
A Heo clan seated at Gimhae in South Gyeongsang, said to descend from Heo Hwang-ok, queen of King Suro of Gaya and a princess of Ayuta, through its founder Heo Yeom, enfeoffed as Lord of Garak in mid-Goryeo. With the Yangcheon Heo it forms the bulk of the Heo surname, and is said to share roots with the Gimhae Kim and Incheon Yi. In the 2015 Census the 김해 허씨 clan numbered about 134,068 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 허, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 김해) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
The Hoeun-gong branch is said to descend from Heo Gi (pen name Hoeun), who is reported to have denounced Sin Don at the end of Goryeo, been exiled, and refused to serve the new dynasty. He is honored as the settling ancestor of the Gimhae Heo in Goseong, South Gyeongsang, and enshrined at Doyeon Seowon. His hanja and generation count could not be confirmed in the sources consulted.
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
Heo Hwang-ok(queen of Suro, ancestor of all Heo), Heo Yu-jeon(Goryeo chief minister), Heo Wi(late-Joseon righteous army leader), Heo Hun(righteous army), Heo Hyeong-sik(anti-Japanese fighter), Heo Man-jeong(independence supporter and businessman)
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The Gimhae Heo clan (金海 許氏) takes Gimhae in South Gyeongsang as its seat and is one of the Heo lines said to descend from Heo Hwang-ok, queen of Geumgwan Gaya's King Suro. Genealogies name Heo Yeom (許琰), said to have risen to Samjungdaegwang in mid-Goryeo and been enfeoffed as Lord of Garak, as the founder, counting him as a 35th-generation descendant of Heo Hwang-ok through the second prince Geochilgun. The Gimhae, Yangcheon, Taein and Hayang Heo are explained as sibling seats of one root, and Gimhae is said to have been the last to split off.
The Samguk Yusa (Garak-guk gi) tells that Heo Hwang-ok, a princess of Ayuta (阿踰陁國), crossed the sea in 48 CE and became King Suro's queen; two of their sons are said to have taken the mother's surname Heo, which is held to be the origin of the surname. The story that seven other princes entered Buddhist orders and attained enlightenment is linked to Chilbulsa temple in Hadong, but is noted to appear only in later records, not in the Samguk Yusa.
Where Ayuta was is debated: northern India (Ayodhya), southern India and a location in China have all been proposed. Many scholars regard the India theory as weakly supported and note the legendary character of the account, while others see it as a sign of ancient contacts with South Asia. Korea and India have issued joint stamps featuring the queen, but the historical facts cannot be stated firmly.
Because King Suro is the founder of the Gimhae Kim, the Kim and Heo are regarded as branches of one royal house, and an old custom discouraged intermarriage between them. This was a convention, not a legal ban. The Incheon Yi (仁川 李氏) are said to descend from Heo Gi (許奇), a 23rd-generation descendant of the queen who was supposedly granted the surname Yi by the Tang emperor after escorting Emperor Xuanzong during the An Lushan rebellion; his later descendant Yi Heo-gyeom is the clan's founder. This relies on genealogical tradition and cannot be treated as established. The Incheon Yi became maternal relatives of Goryeo kings under Munjong through Yi Ja-yeon, leading to Yi Ja-gyeom. See the Gimhae Heo / Incheon Yi lineage tree; another seat of the same root is the Yangcheon Heo.
In the 2015 census the Gimhae Heo numbered 134,068, and together with the Yangcheon Heo (149,505) they make up roughly 90% of all Heo (about 326,000). The 2000 count was 121,031.
They are said to live mainly in Gyeongsang, Gangwon and South Jeolla. Clan villages reported include Seungsan-ri in Jisu-myeon, Jinju, Uiryeong, Hapcheon, Goseong, Cheongdo, Imeun-dong in Gumi, Hongcheon and Hoengseong in Gangwon, and Jincheon in North Chungcheong.
The best-known Goryeo figure is Heo Yu-jeon (許有全), who is said to have passed the civil examination, risen through the chaechu ranks to chief minister, and been enfeoffed as Lord of Garak with the posthumous name Chungmok. He is reported to have tried and failed to bring the exiled King Chungseon back to Goryeo. Dusanjae on Ganghwa Island is associated with him. Heo Gi (pen name Hoeun), said to have denounced Sin Don and been exiled and later to have refused to serve Joseon, is known as the settling ancestor of the Gimhae Heo in Goseong and is honored at Doyeon Seowon; accounts differ in detail.
In mid-Joseon, Heo Eon-sim is introduced as a scholar-official said to have supported Gwak Jae-u's volunteer army in the Imjin War, and Heo Deuk-ryang and Heo Bok-ryang are said to have fallen at the Battle of Ssangnyeong in Gwangju in the Qing invasion of 1636, being honored at Yonggang Seowon in Daegu. Gucheon Seowon in Gimhae is associated with Heo Gyeong-yun. For details, consult each person's collected works and genealogy.
Heo Wi (pen name Wangsan), from Imeun-dong in Seonsan (Gumi), served as chief of staff of the Righteous Army of the Thirteen Provinces in the advance on Seoul and died at Seodaemun Prison in 1908; he was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation (Republic of Korea Medal) in 1962. Heo Hun (Bangsan) of the same family is known for raising a righteous army around Jinbo, and Heo Wi's cousin's son Heo Hyeong-sik is said to have fought in the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in Manchuria and fallen in 1942. Heo Man-jeong of Seungsan, Jinju, is known as an independence supporter and businessman who backed the Baeksan Trading Company and the Jinju Hyeongpyeong movement, and took part in founding Lak-Hui Chemical in 1947, regarded as a root of the LG and GS groups.
Accounts of the branches differ. One lists four (Sangseo-gong, Garak-gun, Sijung-gong and Jing), another eight (Garak-gun, Sijung-gong, Hoeun-gong, Jungseung-gong, Jeonjik-gong, Jeungseong-gun, Panseo-gong and Sangseo-gong). Founders and generation counts are only partly documented, so members should confirm their branch in their genealogy.
The tomb of Queen Heo in Gusan-dong, Gimhae, is a designated national historic site, and the Buin-dang shrine in Yongwon-dong, Changwon, is cited as where she is said to have landed. Related academies include Doyeon Seowon (Goseong), Yonggang Seowon (Daegu) and Gucheon Seowon (Gimhae).
The Gimhae Heo Daejonghoe is reported to have been founded in December 2015. A common generation-name (daedong hangnyeol) table exists, with characters such as 宇/萬 at the 26th generation and 九/良 at the 27th, but the characters and counts may vary by branch and source.
The 김해 허씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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