해평 길씨(海平 吉氏) — Said to be the representative seat of the Gil surname, which produced Gil Jae (Yaeun), one of the Three Eun of late Goryeo. Also called Seonsan Gil.
Said to be the representative seat of the Gil surname, which produced Gil Jae (Yaeun), one of the Three Eun of late Goryeo. Also called Seonsan Gil. In the 2015 Census the 해평 길씨 clan numbered about 35,823 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 길, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 해평) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
The Haepyeong Gil clan (海平 吉氏) takes its seat from Haepyeong-myeon in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province (the old Seonsan area). The Haepyeong Gil genealogy names Gil Dang (吉唐, also written 吉瑭), one of the eight scholars who came from Song China to Goryeo, as founder; he is said to have risen to Chamji Jeongdang Munhak under King Munjong and been made Count of Haepyeong, which gave the clan its seat. Some sources say he came from Tang China to Silla, so accounts differ. Because the generations after him are lost, the line is traced from Gil Si-u (吉時遇), a late-Goryeo licentiate of the Seonggyungwan, as first-generation ancestor. Gil Jae is described as Si-u's great-grandson (Gil Jae; Korean Wikipedia states his generation both as great-grandson and as fourth-generation descendant).
The "Seonsan Gil" clan is another name for the same lineage; statistics count the two spellings separately. In the 2015 census there were 22,187 Haepyeong Gil and 13,636 Seonsan Gil, 35,823 in all. The Gil surname as a whole had 38,173 members (74th); other seats were not confirmed here. The Silla figures Gil Mun and Gil Seon in the Samguk sagi are said to be unconnected to today's Gil.
The clan's representative is Gil Jae, one of the Three Eun of late Goryeo. He passed the civil examination in 1386 and served as Erudite of the Seonggyungwan, but returned home as Goryeo declined and refused office after the founding of Joseon. He taught in Seonsan, and his line passed through Kim Suk-ja, Kim Jong-jik, Kim Goeng-pil, Jeong Yeo-chang and Jo Gwang-jo, making him the root of the Joseon Sarim. His son Gil Sa-sun is said to have taken office under Sejong.
The clan produced six civil and fourteen military examination graduates in Joseon, among them Gil Hoe, who accompanied King Seonjo in the Imjin War.
When Gil Jae's father Gil Won-jin governed Geumju (Geumsan), Gil Jae went with him and, as son-in-law of Sin Myeon, settled around Buri-myeon; this is the start of the Geumsan settlement (from Yu Choe-gi's Buriangi). Seonggok-ri in Nami-myeon and Buri-ri in Buri-myeon are known as clan villages, with about 1,349 members in Geumsan County. Settlements are also reported in Yeoju and Paju, Hwacheon and Chuncheon, Jeongeup, Gochang and Muju, Jangseong, Suncheon and Gurye, and Sacheon, Hadong, Hamyang and Geochang, as well as in Pyeongan provinces such as Seoncheon and Yeongbyeon. This fits the northern origins of 20th-century figures such as Gil Seon-ju, Gil Yeong-hui, Gil Chang-deok and Gil Jae-ho.
In modern times the clan is known for Gil Seon-ju, a March 1st representative and leader of the Pyongyang Revival; Gil Yeong-hui, first principal of Jemulpo High School; Gil Jae-ho, a May 16 coup figure and party secretary-general; Gil Jeon-sik, a five-term assembly member; and the cartoonist Gil Chang-deok, creator of Kkeobeongi. Living figures are not introduced separately here.
Generation characters are set from the 22nd to the 38th generation: 植, 炳, 培, 鍾, 淳, 相, 烈, 在, 鉉, 源, 林, 炯, 奎, 鎬, 湜, 根, 煥 (per Wikipedia; to be confirmed with the clan).
Buri-pa, Songcheon-pa, Hakhyeon-pa, Geumsamdong-pa
The Buri branch centers on Buri-ri, Buri-myeon, Geumsan, South Chungcheong, and is tied to the settlement place of Gil Jae. The Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia lists it as a Haepyeong Gil branch, and another list gives it as Buri Hoein. The founder's name and dates were not confirmed.
Gil Jae is said to have come with his father Gil Won-jin when he governed Geumju, married into the family of Sin Myeon and settled around Buri-myeon, according to Yu Choe-gi's Buriangi.
Cheongpungsa (Buri Yeongdang) in Buri-ri enshrines his portrait and tablet and is a South Chungcheong cultural heritage item; its monument pavilion holds a memorial stele and a stele carved with the words Baeksae Cheongpung. Buri-ri and Seonggok-ri in Nami-myeon are known clan villages, with about 1,349 members in Geumsan. No branch association was confirmed.
The Songcheon branch is one of the Haepyeong Gil branches, named in a genealogy summary post. Its name may derive from a place, but no evidence was found.
The founder's name, dates, office, posthumous title and settlements were not confirmed and must be checked against the genealogy and clan sources.
It appears in the same list as the Hakhyeon and Geumsamdong branches, but their relations are not known.
The Hakhyeon branch is a Haepyeong Gil branch named in a genealogy summary post. It appears to be named for a place, but which place was not confirmed.
The founder's name, dates, office, notable descendants and clan villages were not confirmed.
Exact details should be checked against the Haepyeong Gil genealogy and clan materials.
The Geumsamdong branch is a Haepyeong Gil branch named in a genealogy summary post.
The founder's name, dates, office, posthumous title, settlements and notable descendants were not confirmed.
Branch genealogy and association should be checked directly in the Haepyeong Gil genealogy and clan materials.
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
길당(founder by tradition, one of the eight Goryeo scholars), 길시우(first-generation ancestor), 길재(Three Eun of late Goryeo, Yaeun), 길사순(son of Gil Jae), 길회(attendant of King Seonjo, Wonjong merit subject), 길선주(pastor and one of the 33 National Representatives), 길영희(first principal of Jemulpo High School), 길재호(May 16 coup figure and party secretary-general), 길전식(National Assembly member, 6th-10th terms), 길창덕(cartoonist, Kkeobeongi)
Tap a name for the full profile (life, career, grave, descendants).
해평 길씨 figures recognized as independence patriots (National Independence Hall / Gonghun public data). Tap a name for the citation.
The Haepyeong Gil clan (also Seonsan Gil) takes its seat from Haepyeong in Gumi and had 35,823 members in 2015. The founder is said to be Gil Dang, one of eight scholars from Song China, but since the intervening generations are lost the line is traced from Gil Si-u. Its most representative figure is Gil Jae, one of the Three Eun of late Goryeo.
Below Mt. Geumo in Gumi stand Geumo Seowon (Gyeongsangbuk-do Monument No. 60) and Chaemijeong (Scenic Site No. 52) in Gil Jae's memory. Geumo Seowon was begun around 1570, burned in the Imjin War and was rebuilt on its present site in 1609; it enshrines Gil Jae, Kim Jong-jik, Jeong Bung, Park Yeong and Jang Hyeon-gwang, and the date of its royal charter varies by source. Chaemijeong was built in 1768 by Seonsan magistrate Min Baek-jong. Gil Jae's tomb is said to be in Otae-dong, Gumi.
Cheongpungsa (Buri Yeongdang) in Buri-ri, Buri-myeon, Geumsan, enshrines his portrait and tablet and is a South Chungcheong cultural heritage item; the Seonggok Seowon site in Nami-myeon was Geumsan's first seowon (1613) before being demolished in 1871.
Branch lists vary by source and cannot be fixed. The Digital Geumsan Culture Encyclopedia gives ten (Buri, Yemi, Suchon, Jeongmun, Samseong, Doksan, Daemokdong, Gullima, Seodanggok, Doneui), while a genealogy-society post gives fourteen (Yulli Jongpa, Buri Hoein, Jangheung, Hwacheon, Chuncheon, Yeongbyeon, Okcheon, Yeoju, Seoncheon, Suan, Gimhae, Songcheon, Hakhyeon, Geumsamdong). Most seem to be named for settlement places. The cards below record only confirmed content.
The official clan association site and contact could not be confirmed here.
The 해평 길씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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