정선 이씨(旌善 李氏) — A clan seated at Jeongseon, Gangwon, said to descend from Yi Yang-hon, a Vietnamese Ly dynasty prince who reached Goryeo. It produced the Goryeo military ruler Yi Ui-min, though scholars have raised doubts about the Ly descent claim.
A clan seated at Jeongseon, Gangwon, said to descend from Yi Yang-hon, a Vietnamese Ly dynasty prince who reached Goryeo. It produced the Goryeo military ruler Yi Ui-min, though scholars have raised doubts about the Ly descent claim. In the 2015 Census the 정선 이씨 clan numbered about 3,657 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 이, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 정선) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
Seungji-gong branch and others
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
Yi Ui-min(Goryeo military ruler), Yi Ran(Ministry of Rites official), Yi Hui-min(general, titles vary by source), Yi U-won(9th-generation Jeongseon settler)
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The Jeongseon Yi clan (旌善 李氏) takes Jeongseon County, Gangwon, as its seat, and its genealogy is said to honor Yi Yang-hon (Ly Duong Con) as founder. It is a separate seat from the Jeongseon Jeon clan and from the Jeonju Yi.
According to the genealogy, Yi Yang-hon was a son of the Ly emperor Nhan Tong who left for Song China over a succession dispute and then, to avoid the Jin war, settled in Gyeongju in Goryeo around 1127.
Scholars do not accept this account as it stands. Vietnamese chronicles record that Nhan Tong had no sons, Than Tong was born in 1116 so the timeline does not fit, and a link to Yi Ui-min as a sixth-generation descendant is hard to sustain. Some research suggests the story was constructed later to elevate the Yi Ui-min line's ancestry (as presented in Cho Hung-guk's 2013 study).
The 2000 census is reported to give 3,657; a 2015 figure could not be confirmed. Ties are reported to Jeongseon and parts of Gangwon and Gyeongsang.
Yi Yang-hon's son Yi Ran is said to have held a Ministry of Rites post under Injong, and his grandson Yi Mu-jeong a senior civil post. Yi Ui-min (died 1196), introduced as the sixth-generation descendant and recorded as of lowly origin, joined the 1170 military coup, became Goryeo's strongman and was killed by the Choe brothers. A cousin Yi Hui-min is said to have become a general, though titles vary by source.
The 9th-generation Yi U-won is said to have settled in Jeongseon. No specific Joseon figures were found in public sources.
A Seungji-gong branch exists and is said to use its own generation names. Its founder and generation were not confirmed, so no branch card is given.
In 1995 a Jeongseon Yi delegation is said to have visited Vietnam with the Hwasan Yi delegation on the invitation of Ly descendants. The two origin accounts present different genealogies and scholarly views are divided.
Yi Ui-min is the best known; Yi Ran, Yi Hui-min and Yi U-won are listed from the genealogy.
The Jeongseon Yi genealogy exists and generation-name tables are used, with the Seungji-gong branch following its own; specific characters were not found in public sources.
The 정선 이씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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