제주 고씨 family tree

제주 고씨(濟州 高氏) — Said to be the representative ancestral seat of the Ko surname, taking as its founder Go Eul-la of the Tamna foundation myth.

About the 제주 고씨 clan

Said to be the representative ancestral seat of the Ko surname, taking as its founder Go Eul-la of the Tamna foundation myth. In the 2015 Census the 제주 고씨 clan numbered about 310,542 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 고, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 제주) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.

Roots and History of the Jeju Ko Clan

With about 310,000 members in the 2015 census, the Jeju Ko (濟州 高氏) account for most people surnamed Ko (Go) in Korea. They honor Go Eul-la (高乙那), one of the three divine founders of Tamna, as their founder, and their family is said to have held the hereditary title of seongju (星主, "star lord") of Tamna through Goryeo into early Joseon.

Founder and Origin of the Ancestral Seat

According to an old record quoted in the Goryeosa, in the distant past three divine men emerged from the Moheung Cave on the northern slope of Hallasan: Yang Eul-la, Go Eul-la and Bu Eul-la. They married three princesses who arrived from the land of Byeongnang, began farming and herding, and founded Tamna. The three holes are today's Samseonghyeol in Jeju City, and Go Eul-la has long been revered as the founder of the Jeju Ko.

Three brothers of the 15th generation, Go Hu, Go Cheong and Go Gye, are said to have crossed the sea to Tamjin (today's Gangjin) to pay court. There the eldest received the title seongju, the second wangja ("prince") and the youngest donae, and because they had landed at Tamjin the island came to be called Tamna. Records differ as to whether the court they visited was Silla or Goryeo.

The clan's mid-founder, Go Mal-lo (高末老), is said to have come to the court of King Taejo of Goryeo in 938 and received the titles of seongju and wangja along with recognition of Tamna's self-rule. His descendants governed Tamna under the title seongju into early Joseon. The ancestral seat, Jeju, is this land of Tamna, which became Tamna County under Goryeo and Jeju Province (moksa district) under King Taejong of Joseon.

The Clan Through History

Under King Munjong of Goryeo, Go Yu (高維) became the first of the Tamna Go to hold central office, serving as Right Remonstrant, Deputy Commander of the Northeastern Circuit and Vice Director of the Royal Library, and in 1071 he supervised the state examination; the family tradition counts him as a son of Go Mal-lo. Go Yu's son Go Jo-gi served Kings Yejong, Injong and Uijong and reached the rank of Jungseo-sirang-pyeongjangsa, and is counted as the first man from Jeju to join the ranks of chief ministers. From mid-Goryeo many descendants went up to the capital to serve, establishing a base around Gaeseong and Jangdan in Gyeonggi.

On the island the line of seongju continued. The late-Goryeo seongju Go In-dan (高仁旦) helped bring Tamna fully back under Goryeo in 1294. Go Bong-rye (高鳳禮), son of the late-Goryeo seongju Go Sin-geol (高臣傑), asked in 1402 that the titles seongju and wangja be changed to Left and Right Dojigwan, bringing Tamna's own titles within the Joseon system. Go Sin-geol's grandson Go Deuk-jong (高得宗) rose to Mayor of Hanseong and founded the Yeonggok-gong branch.

Besides these three, the clan's branches include the Munchung-gong branch of the Goryeo scholar Go Gyeong, the Hwajeon-gun branch of Go In-bi, and the Jangheung-baek, Munjeong-gong, Sangdang-gun and Yanggyeong-gong branches. Old records also mention more than ten offshoot seats (bun-gwan) such as Jangheung, Gaeseong, Yeonan, Sangdang and Andong; the righteous-army leader Go Gyeong-myeong and his sons, who died in the Imjin War, belonged to the Jangheung Ko.

Under Joseon the clan produced far more military than civil examination graduates, with one count giving some 220 military graduates. In modern times the Jeju Ko include Go Hui-dong, Korea's first Western-style painter; Goh Kun, who served as Prime Minister and Mayor of Seoul; and the poet Ko Un.

Notable Figures

• Go Eul-la (高乙那) — One of the three divine men of the Tamna founding myth, revered as founder of the Jeju Ko.
• Go Mal-lo (高末老) — Mid-founder, said to have come to the court of King Taejo of Goryeo and received the titles of seongju and wangja.
• Go Jo-gi (高兆基, ?–1157) — Son of Go Yu; served Kings Yejong, Injong and Uijong and became Jungseo-sirang-pyeongjangsa in 1149. He left the Chinese poem "Night Rain at a Mountain Villa".
• Go In-dan (高仁旦) — Late-Goryeo seongju of Tamna who received a red belt and ivory tablet from King Chungnyeol in 1294 and served as deputy in the Yuan-era Tamna Command.
• Go Yeo (高呂, ?–1402) — Named a third-rank Founding Merit Subject in 1392 for helping enthrone Yi Seong-gye; said to be the founder of the Goseong-gun branch.
• Go Bong-rye (高鳳禮, ?–1411) — Son of the seongju Go Sin-geol, credited with pacifying Jeju; in 1402 he asked that the titles seongju and wangja be changed to Left and Right Dojigwan.
• Go Deuk-jong (高得宗, 1388–1452) — Pen name Yeonggok. He went to Japan as envoy in 1439, served as Second Minister of the Privy Council and Mayor of Hanseong, and wrote the record of the rebuilding of the Jeju government office, Honghwagak-gi.
• Go Eon-baek (高彦伯, ?–1608) — A military officer who fought the Japanese as magistrate of Yeongwon in the Imjin War.
• Go Hui-dong (高羲東, 1886–1965) — Pen name Chungok. He studied Western painting at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts and on returning in 1915 became Korea's first Western-style painter.
• Go Hwang-gyeong (高凰京, 1909–2000) — Sociologist who founded Seoul Women's University; her colonial-era activity has placed her on collaboration lists and is discussed.
• Go Hyeong-gon (高亨坤, 1906–2004) — First-generation scholar of Western philosophy and assemblyman, father of Goh Kun.
• Goh Kun (高建, 1938–) — Administrator who served as Prime Minister and Mayor of Seoul.
• Ko Un (高銀, 1933–) — Poet, author of Maninbo (Ten Thousand Lives) and other works.
• Go Du-sim (高斗心, b. 1951) — Jeju-born actress known for Farmland Diary.
• Go Yu (高維) — Said to be the first man from Tamna to enter central office, placing first in the 1045 Namseong-si.
• Go Tae-pil (高台弼) — Eldest son of Go Deuk-jong; his descendants mostly lived on Jeju.

Clan Villages and Heritage Sites

Samseonghyeol in Ido 1-dong, Jeju City, a designated Historic Site, is the birthplace of the three clans Go, Yang and Bu. The Samseongjeon shrine, built in 1698, holds the tablets of the three founders, and spring and autumn rites are held there every 10 April and 10 October, with the three clans taking turns as officiants. On 10 December the Geonsi rite commemorating the founding of Tamna is held as a festival of all Jeju people. Honinji pond at Onpyeong-ri, Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo, where the three founders are said to have married the princesses of Byeongnang, is a designated Jeju Monument.

The tomb of Go Jo-gi in Ara-dong, Jeju City, is considered the earliest Jeju tomb whose occupant is known and was designated a Jeju Monument in 1977. It is distinguished by stone posts in place of the usual earthen enclosure, and descendants hold a rite there every September.

Beyond Jeju, the clan is spread throughout the country: around Gaeseong and Jangdan in Gyeonggi, in Okgu (now Gunsan) where the Munchung-gong branch settled, in Gurye where the Hwajeon-gun branch moved, and wherever Yeonggok-gong descendants spread. Among the Yeonggok-gong line, descendants of the eldest son Go Tae-pil mostly remained on Jeju.

Branch and lineage details can differ between family associations and genealogies, so please confirm them with your own family's jokbo.

Main branches (派)

Seongju-gong-pa, Jeonseo-gong-pa, Yeonggok-gong-pa, Munchung-gong-pa, Hwajeon-gun-pa, Jangheung-baek-pa, Sangdang-gun-pa, Yanggyeong-gong-pa

Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.

Notable figures

고을나(founder in the Tamna three-clan myth), 고유(first man of Tamna to enter central office), 고조기(Goryeo chief minister), 고인단(late-Goryeo seongju of Tamna), 고여(Joseon founding merit subject), 고봉례(seongju of Tamna and Left Dojigwan), 고득종(envoy to Japan and Mayor of Hanseong), 고태필(eldest son of Go Deuk-jong and Governor of Jeolla), 고언백(Imjin War commander and merit subject), 고희동(Korea's first Western-style painter), 고황경(founder of Seoul Women's University), 고형곤(philosopher and assemblyman), 고건(Mayor of Seoul and Prime Minister), 고은(poet of Maninbo), 고두심(actress of Farmland Diary)

Tap a name for the full profile (life, career, grave, descendants).

제주 고씨 — Pro-Japanese collaborators

제주 고씨 figures listed by the Presidential Committee or the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators (Minjok Munje Institute).

How to build your 제주 고씨 tree

1. Start with yourself — sign in to get your own tree. Enter your name, birth year and clan seat (제주).
2. Add older generations — add parents and grandparents. For accuracy see tracing ancestors with jejeok records (usually to about 5 generations).
3. Link siblings & children — sort by generational name (hangnyeol) to see each generation at a glance.
4. Export & share — save the finished tree as a PDF and invite family to manage it together.

Related reading

제주 고씨 clan association

The 제주 고씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.