행주 기씨(幸州 奇氏) — A venerable surname whose ancestral seat is Haengju-hyeon of Goryeo (present-day Goyang, Gyeonggi Province), counted along with the Cheongju Han clan and the Taewon Seonu clan among the Samhan Gapjok (三韓甲族), the noblest families of the Three Han.
A venerable surname whose ancestral seat is Haengju-hyeon of Goryeo (present-day Goyang, Gyeonggi Province), counted along with the Cheongju Han clan and the Taewon Seonu clan among the Samhan Gapjok (三韓甲族), the noblest families of the Three Han. In the 2015 Census the 행주 기씨 clan numbered about 27,379 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 기, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 행주) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
The descendants of Gi Won and Gi Jin, who settled in Honam (Gwangju and Jangseong) after the Gimyo Literati Purge, form the main body, and those recorded in the genealogy today generally descend from the third son, Gi Pil-seon (奇弼善).
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
Empress Gi(Empress Bohyeon Sukseong, Empress of Emperor Huizong of Yuan), Gi Dae-seung(Neo-Confucian scholar, Gobong), Gi Jeong-jin(Neo-Confucian scholar of the Nosa School), Gi Ja-heon(Chief State Councillor under King Gwanghaegun), Gi Geon(incorruptible official of early Joseon), Gi Hyeong-do(poet), Ki Sung-yueng(footballer), Ki Bo-bae(archer)
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The Haengju Gi clan is counted, along with the Cheongju Han clan and the Taewon Seonu clan, among the so-called Samhan Gapjok (三韓甲族) — one of the surnames of the oldest origin in Korea. Its ancestral seat, Haengju-hyeon (幸州縣), corresponds to the area of present-day Deogyang-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, and the family is thought to have begun from a small-to-mid-sized local gentry that took root around Mount Deogyang and Haengju Fortress from the early to mid Goryeo period. Genealogies also transmit a shared-origin (同本) tradition holding that the clan shares a common founder with the Cheongju Han and Taewon Seonu clans.
As for the surname's actual origin, Won-yun (元尹) Gi Eon (奇言), who took part in the Battle of Illicheon in 936, is counted among the early records of the Gi surname, followed by figures such as Gi Jeong-eop (奇貞業), royal physician to King Mokjong. Because early figures started mainly as low-ranking military officers and physicians, and given records of the submission (歸附) of Balhae refugees, some scholars suggest the clan originally migrated south from a Balhae/Goguryeo lineage.
According to genealogical traditions such as the Haengju Gissi-bo (幸州奇氏譜), the founder is said to be Gi U-seong (奇友誠), a descendant of Gija (箕子), who founded Gija Joseon; the three sons of King Won (元王) of Mahan are said to have gone respectively to Baekje, Goguryeo, and Silla to become the founders of the Haengju Gi, Taewon Seonu, and Cheongju Han clans (→ What is Samhan Gapjok). However, this is a tradition difficult to cross-verify against documentary sources. The figure actually honored as the first-generation ancestor (一世祖) in the genealogy is Gi Sun-u (奇純祐), who served as Munha Pyeongjangsa during the reign of King Injong of Goryeo; he was fixed as such when the genealogy was revised in 1688 on the basis of the biographical record (行狀) of Gi Ja-o (奇子敖), father of Empress Gi.
During the military regime period, Deputy Commander Gi Tak-seong (奇卓誠) raised the family's fortunes by suppressing the rebellion of Jo Wi-chong, and is also said to have been the one who recruited Choe Chung-heon. During the period of Yuan interference, Gi Ja-o's daughter went to the Yuan dynasty as a tribute woman and became the Empress of Emperor Huizong, Empress Bohyeon Sukseong (Empress Gi), at which point the family enjoyed the height of power. However, when the empress's elder brother Gi Cheol (奇轍) abused his power as a member of the entrenched aristocracy, the clan suffered great calamity in the coup of King Gongmin, who pursued an anti-Yuan (排元) policy. Not all members of the Gi clan had sided with Gi Cheol's faction, and some took different paths; among their descendants was Gi Geon (奇虔), renowned as an incorruptible official in early Joseon.
During the reign of King Jungjong, the 13th-generation descendant Gi Jun (奇遵) lost his life when he was implicated, together with his teacher Jo Gwang-jo, in the Gimyo Literati Purge (己卯士禍); as a result, the already small clan scattered to the provinces following the households of their in-laws and maternal kin. Thereafter the descendants of Gi Chan (奇襸), a civil official of King Seongjong's reign — especially the descendants of the brothers Gi Won and Gi Jin, who moved to Honam — flourished greatly. Gi Jin's son was the great scholar Gobong Gi Dae-seung (奇大升), who debated the Four-Seven (四端七情) theory with Toegye Yi Hwang, and Gi Jeong-jin (奇正鎭), who founded the Nosa School (蘆沙學派) in late Joseon, also belongs to this line. For that reason, the Haengju Gi clan today is overwhelmingly concentrated in the areas of Gwangju Metropolitan City and Jangseong County, South Jeolla Province.
According to the 2015 Statistics Korea Population and Housing Census, the clan numbers about 27,379 people; though few in number, it is a surname of great historical weight. Modern figures include the poet Gi Hyeong-do, the footballer Ki Sung-yueng, and the archer Ki Bo-bae. Incidentally, in old documents the surname was often written as '竒' with 立 (standing) on top; this is the same character (a variant form) as the '奇' used today, not a different surname.
In the area of Haengju Fortress in the ancestral seat of Goyang, traditions survive of the Gigamcheon (奇甘泉) well from which the ancestors are said to have drunk, and of the Gijaam (奇子岩, Giga Rock) where an ancestor is said to have been born. The detailed branches and lineage (世系) vary by clan and genealogy, so please check your own family history in the genealogical record you hold.
The 행주 기씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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