정선 전씨(旌善 全氏) — The senior line (daejong) of the Jeon surname, descended from Jeon Seop, a Baekje meritorious subject, and taking Jeongseon as its seat after mid-founder Jeon Seon was enfeoffed there; Chaemiheon Jeon O-ryun, collector Jeon Hyeong-pil and labor activist Jeon Tae-il are introduced as members.
The senior line (daejong) of the Jeon surname, descended from Jeon Seop, a Baekje meritorious subject, and taking Jeongseon as its seat after mid-founder Jeon Seon was enfeoffed there; Chaemiheon Jeon O-ryun, collector Jeon Hyeong-pil and labor activist Jeon Tae-il are introduced as members. In the 2015 Census the 정선 전씨 clan numbered about 166,965 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 전, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 정선) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
The Jeongseon Jeon (旌善 全氏), whose seat is Jeongseon County in Gangwon, is called the senior line (daejong) among the Jeon (全) surname clans. The clan association says every Jeon clan takes Jeon Seop (全聶), a Sipje meritorious subject who helped found Baekje, as first ancestor, with Jeongseon as the senior seat. Jeon Seop is said to have helped Onjo in 18 BCE and been made Prince Hwanseong; an altar at Imun-dong, Dongdaemun, Seoul hosts a rite each year on 3 October. The Cheonan, Damyang, Okcheon and Jeonju Jeon are likewise described as lines from this one first ancestor.
Amid the wars of the Three Kingdoms the record of Jeon Seop's descendants broke off for seven generations and resumes with his eighth-generation descendant Jeon Seon (全愃). He is said to have gone to Tang China in the 22nd year of King Seongdeok of Silla (723), risen to Minister of Law and been enfeoffed as Lord of Jeongseon; his descendants honor him as the mid-founder who gave the clan its seat. His tomb is on Seounsan in Nakdong-ri, Nam-myeon, Jeongseon, with a rite on the 15th of the ninth lunar month.
The founding merit subject of early Goryeo Jeon I-gap (全以甲), with his brother Jeon Ui-gap and cousin Jeon Rak, is called one of the Three Loyal Lords and is said to have died at the Battle of Gongsan in 927 fighting for Wang Geon. Jeon Rak's descendants are described as becoming the Cheonan Jeon, and I-gap's son Jeon Bo-in is said to have become Left Vice-Minister. Some sources present I-gap as a mid-founder; terms for founder and mid-founder differ by source, so check them against the genealogy.
By branch founder the Jeongseon Jeon are divided into six: Panseo-gong (Jeon Su-song), Bogya-gong (Jeon Gil), Chaemiheon-gong (Jeon O-ryun), Seongneung-gun (Jeon Yun-jang), Sanghogun (Jeon Yeong-bu) and Hu-seongneung-gun (Jeon Ryong). The last, also called the Imhagun branch, is the sixth in Wikipedia's order. A clan head once told a newspaper that about 80% of Jeongseon Jeon belong to the Seongneung-gun line, but this figure is unverified (Gangwon Domin Ilbo, 2002).
The association says the Jeon split into eighteen seats such as Jeongseon, Cheonan and Seongsan, all descended from Jeon Seop. Jeon Rak, founder of Cheonan, is presented as his 16th-generation descendant and a cousin of Jeon I-gap, though some on the Cheonan side do not fully accept the Jeongseon-side genealogy above. The exact relations of other seats such as Pyeonggang, Yonggung, Gyeongsan and Naju were not confirmed.
Wikipedia lists clan villages across Jeongseon County (Gohan, Sabuk, Jeongseon-eup, Nam-myeon, Bukpyeong, Yeoryang, Hwaam and more), Hoedong-ri in Pyeongchang, Cheorwon, Ganseong in Goseong, Bangdong-ri in Inje, Hwangdun-ri in Wonju, Daeneung-ri in Paju, Dongnyang in Chungju, Donam-dong in Buk-gu Daegu, Dongno in Mungyeong, Bukhu in Andong, Hajeo-ri in Yeongdeok (Bogya-gong), Muhak-ri in Seongju (Hu-seongneung-gun), Wolgye-ri and Yeongseung-ri in Mari-myeon, Geochang (Chaemiheon-gong), Seoha in Hamyang, Dumo-ri in Hapcheon and Mang-gyeong-dong in Jinju. In North Korea there were clan villages in Jeongju, Anbyeon, Bukcheong, Dancheon, Icheon, Pyeonggang and Geumcheon. In Gangneung, Jeon Chung-hyo (1433-1492), a 23rd-generation descendant, settled at Yongji village.
The Chaemiheon-gong branch, founded by Jeon O-ryun, has been rooted in Geochang and Jeongseon since his eldest son Jeon Maeng-gyeom settled at Yeongseung-ri, Mari-myeon, Geochang. See the branch descriptions below.
On Seounsan in Nakdong-ri, Nam-myeon, Jeongseon are the clan graveyard with the tomb of mid-founder Jeon Seon and the tombs of Jeon O-ryun, Lord Seongneung and Lord Dowon, the Seoun-jae and Sungmosa halls, and a spirit-path stele pavilion put up in 1925 (Gangwon Domin Ilbo; clan association). Geochilhyeon-dong in the same village has the Chilhyeonsa shrine, the seven-worthies monument and a Goryeo loyalists' monument. At Yeongseung-ri in Geochang stand Yeongseung Seowon (1932, enshrining Yi Hwang, Song Jun-gil and Jeon Cheol), Sarakjeong, Gyeongmojae, Iyodang and Nongwoldam (Digital Geochang Culture Encyclopedia). At Muhak-ri, Seongju are the Pyochungjae shrine honoring Jeon Ryong and a 1936 stele.
The Jeongseon Jeon Imhagun-pa Jongchinhoe (jsjc.kr, for the Hu-seongneung-gun line) runs a public website. A Chaemiheon-gong council is said to exist but no official address was confirmed. A 2020 genealogy (Gyeongja-bo) is reported. Ask your own clan for the association of your branch.
Wikipedia lists generation characters from the 47th generation: 47 hyeong (鎣), 48 u (雨), 49 in (寅), 50 byeong (炳), 51 yeong (瑛), 52 tak (鐸), 53 je (濟), 54 pyo (杓), 55 chan (燦), 56 jae (宰), 57 sang (商), 58 gu (求), 59 gye (桂), 60 hyu (烋), 61 gyu (珪), 62 tae (兌), 63 han (澣), 64 mok (穆), 65 hyeong (炯), 66 sun (珣), 67 yong (鏞), 68 jun (濬), 69 jang (樟), 70 do (燾), 71 jeong (珽), 72 il (鎰), 73 hong (泓), 74 hwan (桓), and so on. Actual use varies by branch and region, so always check your genealogy.
The 2015 census counts 166,965 Jeongseon Jeon. Another tally of the same census, 176,226, is explained in some sources as including 8,858 Seonseon Jeon and 403 Siseon Jeon with similar-looking characters, probably through clerical error, so both are given with their sources. The figures were 124,993 (30,623 households) in 1985 and 141,380 (44,316 households) in 2000 (Wikipedia). The association gives about 500,000 Jeon in all and about 140,000 Jeongseon (2000 basis).
Notable people include Chaemiheon Jeon O-ryun, merit subject Jeon Ryong, Pastor Jeon Deok-gi, collector Jeon Hyeong-pil and labor activist Jeon Tae-il. Wikipedia's list also names Jeon Gun-pyo (16th Commissioner of the National Tax Service), Jeon Taek-bo (12th Minister of Commerce and Industry) and Jeon Ye-yong (4th Minister of Construction).
Jeon Bong-jun of the Donghak Peasant Revolution is usually described as belonging to the Cheonan Jeon (a descendant of Jeon Rak). Confirm your seat from your genealogy.
Panseo-gong-pa, Bogya-gong-pa, Chaemiheon-gong-pa, Seongneung-gun-pa, Sanghogun-pa, Hu-seongneung-gun-pa
The Panseo-gong branch, the first of the Jeongseon Jeon branches, descends from Jeon Su-song (全守松), a 25th-generation Jeongseon Jeon who is said to have served as Minister of the Board of Taxation (Hobu Sangseo) under King Sinjong (r. 1197-1204). The board handled households, tribute and grain, and the title sangseo was later renamed panseo, which is how the branch name is explained.
The clan association gives his father as the merit subject and general Jeon Jon-geol and his elder brother as Jeon Su-ryong, Military Commissioner of Gyeongsang. His tomb is said to be at Majeon-dong, Sangneung-ri, Chaseo-myeon, Bukcheong in Hamgyeong, a place not currently reachable.
Descendants are said to have lived mainly around Seoncheon in North Pyeongan and, after the division, to have spread across the south. No official information on present clan villages or an association of this branch was confirmed; check your branch with your clan genealogy.
The Bogya-gong branch, the second Jeongseon Jeon branch, descends from Jeon Gil (全佶) and was centred on Jeongju county in North Pyeongan. A 28th-generation Jeongseon Jeon, he is said by the clan association to have led his troops against the Mongol general Sartaq at Uiju in 1231 (Gojong 18) while serving as Deputy Royal Secretary, and to have been made Left Vice-Minister (Jwabogya) of the Cheomuibu for his deeds.
Bogya was a second-rank post of the Sangseo-doseong, next below its head, and gave the branch its name.
A Bogya-gong clan village stands at Hajeo-ri, Ganggu-myeon, Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang. Jeongseon Jeon villages are also reported at Munin-dong and Dongno-dong in Jeongju, North Pyeongan, but the present state of descendants who moved south was not confirmed.
The Chaemiheon-gong branch, the third Jeongseon Jeon branch, descends from the late-Goryeo loyalist Chaemiheon (採薇軒) Jeon O-ryun (全五倫). Jeon O-ryun (1334-1425), a 29th-generation Jeongseon Jeon with courtesy name Jungji, is said to be the son of Grand Academician Jeon Bun (some sources give Jeon Bin). After passing the civil examination under King Gongmin he served as magistrate of Hapcheon, governor of Jinju and Circuit Inspector of Gyeongsang, and in 1391 was Right Policy Critic, Left Royal Secretary and Minister of Justice. He is said to have joined Yi Saek and Jeong Mong-ju in impeaching misgovernment.
When Goryeo fell in 1392 he entered Dumundong at the foot of Gwangdeoksan near Gaeseong, refused King Taejo's overtures and was ordered to live in his home district, Jeongseon. After release he withdrew to Seounsan; his pen name comes from Boyi and Shuqi, who lived on bracken rather than serve the new dynasty. He is counted among the Dumundong 72 and is said to have been enshrined at Seosan Seowon in Anui, South Gyeongsang. He died in 1425 (Sejong 7) at the house of his son Jeon Maeng-gyeom.
Geochilhyeon-dong in Nakdong-ri, Nam-myeon, Jeongseon is the valley where seven worthies (Jeon O-ryun, Kim Chung-han, Go Cheon-u, Yi Su-saeng, Sin An, Byeon Gwi-su and Kim Wi) lived in seclusion. It has the Chilhyeonsa shrine, a monument raised in June 1985 by the Jeongseon Joyanghoe and a Goryeo loyalists' monument carved with their poems. A tradition calls the place the birthplace of Jeongseon Arirang and the clan credits him with the lyrics about the dark clouds over Mansusan; as oral literature it has no written record, and Jeongseon Arirang was designated Gangwon Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 1 in 1971.
The branch is centred on Geochang and Jeongseon, and most members today descend from his eldest son Jeon Maeng-gyeom (全孟謙), who after serving as magistrate of Hapcheon (Gangyang) settled late in life at Yeongseung-ri, Mari-myeon, Geochang. Jeon Cheol (33rd generation) was a maternal uncle of Yi Hwang's wife and Yi Hwang is said to have visited in 1543; in 1932 local scholars founded Yeongseung Seowon to honor Yi Hwang, Song Jun-gil and Jeon Cheol. Around Yeongseung are Sarakjeong, Dongwonjae (for the 43rd-generation Jeon Jeong-neung), Nongwoldam (stone of the 33rd-generation Jeon Sik), Gyeongmojae and Iyodang, a stele for Jeon Maeng-gyeom, Usujae (36th-generation Jeon Si-eon), the 1765 memorial gate for the filial Jeon An-taek, Samudang, Sungmojae and a chaste-woman gate. Jeon Byeong-su, a Korean resident in Japan, contributed to rebuilding the academy, Gyeongmojae and Iyodang.
A 2000 count gives 155 households and 407 Jeongseon Jeon in Geochang with 18 households left at Yeongseung-ri; Hakdong in Wolgye-ri and Songnim in Malheul-ri were once clan villages (Digital Geochang Culture Encyclopedia). Descendants also live in Jeongseon and hold a yearly rite at the Seounsan graveyard. His grave was first at Bongsan-myeon, Hapcheon, and was moved because of the dam to the Seounsan graveyard in Nakdong-ri, with the year given as 1986 (Wikipedia) or 1994 (Gangwon Domin Ilbo). The clan association says a Chaemiheon-gong council exists but no official address was confirmed. A clan elder once claimed that about 20% of Jeongseon Jeon belong to the Chaemiheon line, but the figure is unverified.
The Seongneung-gun branch, the fourth Jeongseon Jeon branch, descends from Jeon Yun-jang (全允臧), a 30th-generation Jeongseon Jeon who, the clan association says, began service under King Chungsuk and served five reigns through Gongmin. He was named a second-rank merit subject for escorting the king as Sanghogun during Jo Jeok's revolt in 1342, served as Inspector of Seohae-Pyeongyang in 1343, surveyed the population of Ssangseong in 1347, was Chamui Pyeongni in 1348 and, after accompanying Prince Gangneung (later King Gongmin) to the Yuan court in 1349, became Chamui Chanseongsa in 1351.
Gangwon Domin Ilbo, quoting clan elders, presents him as Lord Seongneung who served as Munha Sijung and could be counted as a mid-founder; the posts differ by source. Clan elders say the Seounsan graveyard holds the tombs of Jeon O-ryun, Lord Dowon Jeon Yeong-bo and, next to them, Lord Seongneung Yun-jang.
Descendants are centred on Jeongseon County in Gangwon, with many around Chungju and northern North Chungcheong. A clan head once told a newspaper that about 80% of Jeongseon Jeon belong to this line, an unverified figure. No official address for the branch association was confirmed. It is a separate line from the Joseon-era Hu-seongneung-gun branch of the Hoseong merit subject Jeon Ryong.
The Sanghogun branch, the fifth Jeongseon Jeon branch, descends from Jeon Yeong-bu (全英富) and is said to have lived mainly in Gyeongseong county, North Hamgyeong. A 30th-generation Jeongseon Jeon, he is said to have been chosen among nine men selected for their command of the classics in Goryeo, and the clan association notes that his name appears, as Cheomjeoljesa, among the officers ordered on 11 July 1397 (Taejo 6) with Yi Ji, Yi Cheon-u and Jang Cheol to take royal guards and stone-throwers to sea against Japanese pirates. He is said to have served as Sanghogun for repelling them.
Cheomjeoljesa was a third-rank provincial military office, head of a major garrison in the early-Joseon jin-gwan system. He should not be confused with Lord Dowon Jeon Yeong-bo of late Goryeo.
Descendants lived mainly in Gyeongseong, North Hamgyeong, and those who moved south are scattered nationwide. Present clan villages and association details were not confirmed; check your branch with your genealogy.
The Hu-seongneung-gun branch, the sixth Jeongseon Jeon branch, also called the Imhagun branch, descends from Jeon Ryong (全龍, b. 1559), named a third-class Hoseong merit subject in the Imjin War and enfeoffed as Lord Seongneung. A 42nd-generation Jeongseon Jeon with courtesy name Yeogyeon and pen name Seokcheon, he is said to have escorted King Seonjo to Uiju and, despite a severe wound to his left cheek and ear from Japanese troops while bringing the royal ancestral tablets, to have completed his task. In 1604 he was named a third-class Hoseong merit subject and, the clan association says, was promoted two grades and given seven slaves, 60 gyeol of land, a horse and silver. His son Jeon Dae-ik reportedly served as magistrate of Cheongsong and Byeokdong.
The merit roll puts Yi Hang-bok and Jeong Gon-su in the first class, Yi Won-ik, Yun Du-su and Yu Seong-ryong in the second and Jeon Ryong, Heo Jun and Jeong Tak in the third; the clan says the roll can be seen at Yu Seong-ryong's house in Hahoe, Andong. The name Hu-seongneung-gun ("later Seongneung") distinguishes the line from the Goryeo-era Lord Seongneung Jeon Yun-jang.
Descendants are centred on Siheung in Gyeonggi and also live in Seongju and Chilgok in North Gyeongsang, Daegu and Gangneung. During the Imjin War (1592) his fourth son Jeon Dae-bung (Eomojang-gun, Buhogun) and fifth son Jeon Dae-bong (Gunjagam-jeong) moved from Siheung to Seongju as the settlers, and for over 400 years the line has lived around Seonam (Baewi Rock) in Muhak-ri, Geumsu-myeon, spreading to Junggeo-ri in Yongam-myeon, Inchon-ri in Wolhang-myeon and Bongjeong-ri in Chojeon-myeon. Muhak-ri holds the Pyochungjae shrine honoring his loyalty and a spirit-path stele composed in 1936 by Prince Uihwa Yi Gang; the Gyeongsajae of Jeon Seom-bong (1727-1774) in Junggeo-ri and the Suinjae of Jeon Yeong-yun (1871-1944) in Inchon-ri are also noted. About 203 people live around Seongju (2015; Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia).
The Jeongseon Jeon Imhagun-pa Jongchinhoe, with an office on Imun-ro in Dongdaemun, Seoul, publishes genealogy and rite schedules at jsjc.kr. A report on the site says a rite is held on the first Sunday of November at the Lord Seongneung graveyard in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi (as of 2017; confirm the schedule with the association).
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
전섭(first ancestor, Baekje subject), 전선(mid-founder), 전이갑(Goryeo founding subject), 전오륜(founder of Chaemiheon-gong branch, Dumundong loyalist), 전수송(founder of Panseo-gong branch), 전길(founder of Bogya-gong branch), 전윤장(founder of Seongneung-gun branch), 전영부(founder of Sanghogun branch), 전룡(founder of Hu-seongneung-gun branch, Hoseong merit subject), 전맹겸(settler of Geochang), 전덕기(Sangdong Church pastor, independence activist), 전형필(founder of Gansong Art Museum), 전태일(labor activist)
Tap a name for the full profile (life, career, grave, descendants).
정선 전씨 figures recognized as independence patriots (National Independence Hall / Gonghun public data). Tap a name for the citation.
The Chaemiheon-gong branch is founded by Jeon O-ryun, one of the Dumundong 72 loyalists of late Goryeo, whose loyalty is tied to the Jeongseon Arirang tradition. Geochilhyeon-dong, where he and the seven worthies lived in seclusion on Seounsan after Goryeo fell in 1392, is in Nakdong-ri, Nam-myeon, Jeongseon, with the Chilhyeonsa shrine and a seven-worthies monument. His eldest son Jeon Maeng-gyeom settled at Yeongseung-ri, Mari-myeon, Geochang, from where the line spread; Jeon Cheol (33rd generation) was a maternal uncle of Yi Hwang (Toegye)'s wife, and Yi Hwang is said to have visited Yeongseung in 1543 and written a poem. In 1932 Confucian scholars founded Yeongseung Seowon there to honor Yi Hwang, Song Jun-gil and Jeon Cheol, and the Japan-resident Jeon Byeong-su helped rebuild the academy and the Gyeongmojae and Iyodang halls.
On the people pages: first ancestor Jeon Seop, mid-founder Jeon Seon, founding subject Jeon I-gap, the six branch founders Jeon Su-song, Jeon Gil, Jeon O-ryun, Jeon Yun-jang, Jeon Yeong-bu and Jeon Ryong, and in modern times Jeon Deok-gi, Jeon Hyeong-pil and Jeon Tae-il.
Statements about founders, mid-founders and branch founders combine the clan association with Wikipedia, Namuwiki and local culture encyclopedias, which differ in characters, generations and dates. Always check against your own genealogy.
The 정선 전씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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