흥덕 장씨(興德 張氏) — A clan seated at Heungdeok-myeon, Gochang County, North Jeolla, also called Heungseong Jang. The founder Jang Yu came from Sangjil county in Later Baekje and is said to have served as Gwangpyeong Sirang.
A clan seated at Heungdeok-myeon, Gochang County, North Jeolla, also called Heungseong Jang. The founder Jang Yu came from Sangjil county in Later Baekje and is said to have served as Gwangpyeong Sirang. In the 2015 Census the 흥덕 장씨 clan numbered about 59,396 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 장, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 흥덕) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
The Heungdeok Jang clan (興德 張氏) takes Heungdeok-myeon, Gochang County, North Jeolla, as its seat and is also called Heungseong Jang. Korean Wikipedia and Namuwiki report a 2015 census total of 59,396 (Heungdeok 37,423 plus Heungseong 21,973), against 44,705 people in 14,023 households in 2000 and 37,691 in 8,837 households in 1985. The census records the two spellings separately, but since the founder and origin are the same they are generally regarded as one family, although local branches such as Sunchang and Sejong keep their own settlers and branch founders.
The founder Jang Yu (張儒) came from Sangjil county (present Heungdeok-myeon) in Yeongju (Gochang) under Later Baekje and is said to have served as Gwangpyeong Sirang in Goryeo. He fled the late-Silla upheavals to Wuyue where he learned Chinese, returned after Taejo unified the peninsula, and under Gwangjong handled Chinese envoys at the Board of Guest Reception.
Sangjil county, where he grew up, became Heungseong, and when his 6th-generation descendant Jang Gi was enfeoffed as Prince Heungsan the descendants took Heungseong as their seat; when Heungseong was renamed Heungdeok, the seat became Heungdeok. Sources give the renaming as 1308 (Chungseon 1) or 1298, and the Sejong encyclopedia says it was changed because the king's given name "Jang" (璋) sounded the same, so the years are given side by side.
Heungdeok is the area of present Heungdeok-myeon, Gochang. Korean Wikipedia traces it from Sangchil (Sangchon) county under Baekje, renamed Sangjil in 757 (Gyeongdeok of Silla) and attached to Gobu, then Jangdeok in 1018 (Hyeonjong 9), governed together with Gochang, and Heungdeok in 1308 (Chungseon 1). It became an independent Heungdeok county in 1401 (also called Heungseong county), passed through Jeonju prefecture and Jeonnam in 1895-1896, and was merged into Gochang as Heungdeok-myeon in 1914. The two forms of the clan seat, Heungseong and Heungdeok, are explained by this naming history.
Gamsa-gong-pa, Saseong-gong-pa, Jinsa-gong-pa, Naju Jang (split-off seat)
The Gamsa-gong branch descends from Jang Yun-hwa (1367-1422), who served as Governor (Gamsa) of Jeolla. The Heungseong Jang of Wachon-ri, Yeonseo-myeon, Sejong belong to it, and the settler was his son Jang Gyeong-ji (b. 1394), whose mother was a Haman Yun and wife a Gangneung Kim; he served as Jongbusi Jikjang and Sangseo Nokssa.
After he settled at Beonam-teo in Wachon-ri the village was at one time called "Jang-clan village", and his grave lies on the ancestral hill in front of Daesil in Wachon-ri. The exact reason for the move is not recorded but is thought to have been marriage. Descendants moved to Nosong-ri, Yeondong-myeon in the mid-19th century, and Jang Seung-jung, Magistrate of Yesan, is known. Because the founder was dismissed for misconduct and died in exile, he should be read together with the Sejong Sillok assessment. Lineage and generation counts differ among Wikipedia and regional cultural encyclopedias, so confirm exact descent in the genealogy of the Heungdeok Jang head association; settlement dates and branch membership vary by family.
The Saseong-gong branch is the one to which most of the Heungdeok Jang of Sujeong-ri, Donggye-myeon, Sunchang belong; the Sunchang encyclopedia treats both the Saseong-gong and Jinsa-gong branches as descendants of Jang Gyeong-se. Saseong is a senior 3rd-rank post of the Seonggyungwan, so the founder may have held or been granted it, but his name could not be confirmed in this survey.
The Sunchang Heungdeok Jang branched from the native Namwon clan and made Sujeong-ri their base after Jang Gyeong-se. Before liberation they numbered over a hundred households, but industrialization and moves for school and work reduced them to 121 households and 329 people in 2000 and 52 households in Donggye-myeon in 2011. There are a hall Jeonseongjae and ancestral graves below Hyangnobong on Mt. Pungak. Lineage and generation counts differ among Wikipedia and regional cultural encyclopedias, so confirm exact descent in the genealogy of the Heungdeok Jang head association; settlement dates and branch membership vary by family.
The Jinsa-gong branch is introduced as the rest of the Sujeong-ri, Donggye, Sunchang Heungdeok Jang who do not belong to Saseong-gong. The Sunchang encyclopedia says both branches are descendants of Jang Gyeong-se rooted at Sujeong-ri. Jinsa is the title for lesser-examination graduates, so the founder was probably one, but his name and generation were not confirmed.
Besides Sujeong-ri, Heungdeok Jang also live in Dongsim-ri, Sunchang; the settler and date there are unknown and the line is considered an offshoot of Sujeong-ri. The year of household formation at Sujeong-ri could not be confirmed because the regnal-year label in the source does not match. Lineage and generation counts differ among Wikipedia and regional cultural encyclopedias, so confirm exact descent in the genealogy of the Heungdeok Jang head association; settlement dates and branch membership vary by family.
Korean Wikipedia says the Naju Jang were founded when the 22nd-generation descendant Jang Se-dong of the founder Jang Yu, a Gaseon Daebu under King Injo, took his place of residence, Naju, as his seat. It is therefore less a branch than a separate seat split from the Heungdeok Jang, and the Naju Jang are understood as descendants of the Heungdeok Jang.
Naju lies in the same southwestern Jeolla region near Heungdeok. That Jang Ji-ryang was born in Naju and Jang Byeong-wan is introduced as from Naju hints at the family's ties to the area. Which seat each person belongs to follows the seat written in the person's article, and details of Jang Se-dong's career were not confirmed in this survey. Lineage and generation counts differ among Wikipedia and regional cultural encyclopedias, so confirm exact descent in the genealogy of the Heungdeok Jang head association; settlement dates and branch membership vary by family.
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
장유(founder), 장연우(escorted King Hyeonjong during the Khitan invasion), 장윤화(Governor of Jeolla), 장경세(author of Ganghoyeongunga), 장지량(9th Air Force Chief of Staff), 장명선(Korea Exchange Bank president), 장영달(lawmaker), 장태평(Agriculture Minister), 장대환(Maeil Business chairman), 장병완(Minister of Planning and Budget)
Tap a name for the full profile (life, career, grave, descendants).
The founder's son Jang Yeon-u (954-1015) stayed with King Hyeonjong throughout the 1011 Khitan invasion and became Jungchusa and Pan Eosadaesa, rising to Minister of Revenue in 1015 and being posthumously made Sangseo Ubokya. A memorial hall and stele for him are said to stand in Seongnae-myeon, Gochang.
In early Joseon Jang Yun-hwa passed the civil examination in 1388 and rose to Governor of Jeolla, was dismissed for misconduct and died at Buyeo; he is the founder of the Gamsa-gong branch of Sejong. In mid-Joseon Jang Gyeong-se left the twelve-song Ganghoyeongunga and the Sachonjip, is known as settler-ancestor at Sujeong-ri, Donggye, Sunchang, and was enshrined at Juam Seowon in Namwon. Korean Wikipedia says the clan produced 14 civil examination graduates in Joseon while the Sunchang encyclopedia says eight, so sources differ.
In modern times Jang Ji-ryang took part in founding the air force and was its 9th Chief of Staff; his son Jang Dae-hwan chairs the Maeil Business Newspaper. Jang Myeong-seon was a president of Korea Exchange Bank and of Honam University, and Jang Yeong-dal, Jang Tae-pyeong and Jang Byeong-wan are known in politics and administration. For living persons only publicly reported facts from sources such as Wikipedia are given.
The Heungdeok Jang were a native surname of Namwon, hence "the Namwon Heungdeok Jang". Sujeong-ri, Donggye-myeon, Sunchang is the best-known settlement: Jang Gyeong-se is said to have settled after mourning for his grandfather Jang Eung-ryang, and in 2000 the Sunchang Heungdeok Jang numbered 121 households and 329 people. There is a hall, Jeonseongjae, rebuilt in 1960, and ancestral graves below Hyangnobong on Mt. Pungak. In Sejong, Jang Yun-hwa's son Jang Gyeong-ji settled at Beonam-teo in Wachon-ri, Yeonseo-myeon, forming a clan village, and descendants also live at Nosong-ri, Yeondong-myeon.
Villages listed by Korean Wikipedia are in North and South Jeolla: Saengam-ri in Daegang-myeon and Daesan-myeon in Namwon, Junggwang-ri in Soseong-myeon, Jeongeup, Nodan-ri in Beonam-myeon, Jangsu, Gyeokpo-ri in Byeonsan-myeon and Seokpo-ri in Jinseo-myeon, Buan, Banwol-ri in Yuchi-myeon, Jangheung, Guwon-ri and Jangseon-ri in Gokseong-eup, Wolsan-ri in Beopseong-myeon, Yeonggwang, and Gilseong-ri in Buk-myeon, Hwasun. Mangwijeong in Gwangju (Gwangju Cultural Property Material No. 5) is also mentioned in connection with the family.
The 22nd-generation Jang Se-dong, a Gaseon Daebu under King Injo, took Naju as his seat and founded the Naju Jang. The generation names are listed as "Jin, Seok, Jeon" for the 19th generation, "Sun, Taek" for the 20th and "Sik, Ju, Geun, Byeong" for the 21st, but these may differ by branch, so confirm in the clan genealogy.
Jang families with different seats have different founders and roots. This site covers the Andong, Indong, Danyang, Deoksu and Jincheon Jang separately, so confirm the seat before mixing figures of different clans.
First confirm in the family genealogy the generation count after Jang Yu, the branch name and the settler. For the Sunchang-Namwon line, Jang Gyeong-se and the Saseong-gong and Jinsa-gong are the anchors; for Sejong, Jang Yun-hwa and the Gamsa-gong. Place yourself by generation name and then ask the Heungdeok Jang head association and the local clan association.
Korean Wikipedia lists 25 branches: Sijung-gong, Dunam-gong, Jungjik-gong, Jikjang-gong, Chambong-gong, Yau-gong, Songjeong-gong, Jinsa-gong, Saseong-gong, Gyeongnyeok-gong, Seoyun-gong, Sajik-gong, Hyeollyeong-gong, Jwarang-gong, Sagwa-gong, Bujang-gong, Gamsa-gong, Jeju, Gokseong, Jubu-gong, Donam-gong, Gijang-gong, Chamgun-gong, Panseo-gong and Mungan-gong. Founders and histories were confirmed in this survey only for the Gamsa-gong, Saseong-gong and Jinsa-gong; the rest are names only.
Some sources list the favorite consort of Yeonsangun, Sugyong Jang (Jang Nok-su), as Heungdeok Jang, but Korean Wikipedia's text gives no support, so her seat is treated here as unconfirmed and she is not included. Some twenty branches known only by name, such as Sijung-gong and Dunam-gong, have no founder or history confirmed and are not described. Note also that some independence-activist dictionaries mention "Heungdeok Jang" as a mother's clan, which should not be confused with the person's own surname.
The 흥덕 장씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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