함양 여씨(咸陽 呂氏) — A clan seated at Hamyang in South Gyeongsang, tracing to Yeo Eo-mae, a Tang academician said to have come to Silla in 877, with the Goryeo general Yeo Im-cheong as mid-dynasty ancestor. A native clan of Hamyang and the largest Yeo (呂) lineage, it produced Yeo Ching, Chief State Councillor Yeo Seong-je and independence activist Yeo Un-hyeong.
A clan seated at Hamyang in South Gyeongsang, tracing to Yeo Eo-mae, a Tang academician said to have come to Silla in 877, with the Goryeo general Yeo Im-cheong as mid-dynasty ancestor. A native clan of Hamyang and the largest Yeo (呂) lineage, it produced Yeo Ching, Chief State Councillor Yeo Seong-je and independence activist Yeo Un-hyeong. In the 2015 Census the 함양 여씨 clan numbered about 34,835 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 여, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 함양) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
Over the generations the 함양 여씨 clan divided into several branches (pa). Confirm which branch your family belongs to through your jokbo or clan association. See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
여어매(founder), 여임청(mid-dynasty ancestor, Goryeo general), 여칭(early-Joseon minister), 여자신(Minister of War), 여우길(envoy to Japan), 여이징(Inspector-General), 여성제(Chief State Councillor), 여규형(scholar), 여운형(independence activist), 여운홍(politician), 여운계(actress), 여홍철(Olympic gymnast)
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함양 여씨 figures recognized as independence patriots (National Independence Hall / Gonghun public data). Tap a name for the citation.
The Hamyang Yeo clan (咸陽 呂氏) takes Hamyang County in South Gyeongsang as its seat. Its founder Yeo Eo-mae (呂御梅) is said to have been a Hanlin academician of Tang China from Laizhou who fled the Huang Chao rebellion and came to Silla in 877. He reportedly served as a jeonseo official and first settled around present-day Seongju (old Seongsan).
His descendants later split into the Seongsan/Seongju Yeo and the Hamyang Yeo. The Seongju Yeo honour the late-Goryeo minister Yeo Yang-yu as mid-dynasty ancestor, while the Hamyang Yeo honour the Goryeo general Yeo Im-cheong (呂林淸). The early generations rest on genealogical tradition.
Fifteenth-century gazetteers list the Yeo among the native (toseong) clans of Hamyang. Imho village in Hyucheon-myeon was once called 'Yeo Im-cheong', after the second-generation general who settled there in mid-Goryeo. Legend says the magistrate Yi Seo-gu restored his neglected tomb and held rites, after which the county was at peace.
Yeo Ching (1351–1423) served as a late-Goryeo inspector and, after the founding of Joseon, as governor of Gangwon, Minister of Punishments and councillor; in 1404 he went to Ming as an envoy to correct the royal genealogy. His great-grandson Yeo Ja-sin became Minister of War and was honoured as an incorruptible official. Yeo U-gil travelled to Japan after the Imjin War to repatriate captives, and Yeo Seong-je (1625–1691) rose to Chief State Councillor under King Sukjong. The clan produced 33 civil and 27 military examination graduates in Joseon.
The scholar Yeo Gyu-hyeong was a noted poet and calligrapher. The independence activist Yeo Un-hyeong (1886–1947) is known as an 11th-generation descendant of Yeo U-gil; his brother Yeo Un-hong was also a politician. Actress Yeo Woon-kay and Olympic gymnast Yeo Hong-chul are also introduced as members.
Clan villages include Nugyo-ri in Yeongdong (North Chungcheong), Geumpyeong-ri in Gimcheon (North Gyeongsang) and Dongsan-ri in Damyang (South Jeolla). The 2015 census counted 34,835 Hamyang Yeo, who with the Seongju and Seongsan Yeo make up most of the Yeo (呂) surname.
From the 24th generation the listed generation characters run 永, 東, 燮, 圭, 鉉, 運, 九, 寅, 壽, 成 and onward; Yeo Un-hyeong's 運 is the 29th. They may differ by branch, so check your own family jokbo.
The 함양 여씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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