전주 류씨(全州 柳氏) — The Jeonju Ryu, said to be of native Baekje origin, consists of three lines honoring Ryu Hon, Ryu Seup and Ryu Ji. It is known for Ryu Yeong-gyeong, chief state councillor under Seonjo, the Confucian scholar Ryu Chi-myeong of the Andong Sugok branch, and many independence activists.
The Jeonju Ryu, said to be of native Baekje origin, consists of three lines honoring Ryu Hon, Ryu Seup and Ryu Ji. It is known for Ryu Yeong-gyeong, chief state councillor under Seonjo, the Confucian scholar Ryu Chi-myeong of the Andong Sugok branch, and many independence activists. In the 2015 Census the 전주 류씨 clan numbered about 78,690 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 류, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 전주) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
The seat of the Jeonju Ryu (全州 柳氏) is today's Jeonju in North Jeolla, and the clan is regarded as a native (to-seong) surname of Baekje origin. One strand of genealogy argues that it is older than the Munhwa Ryu, relying on the ancestors named in the epitaph of the early Goryeo chancellery executive Ryu Bang-heon (the gakgan Ryu Gi-hyu and the Later Baekje general Ryu Beop-ban), while another says Ryu Seup split from the Munhwa Ryu and moved to Jeonju, so opinion is divided.
The clan consists of three lines with different founders. The Chungsuk-gong line honors Ryu Gi-hyu as founder and Ryu Hon (柳渾) as central ancestor; the Jangnyeong-gong line honors Ryu Seup, posthumously Earl of Wansan in late Goryeo; and the Hyeongam-gong line honors Ryu Ji (柳池), a former chancellery executive. Today the Jangnyeong-gong line is the most numerous, and the name Jeonju Ryu usually means this line, which gave rise to the Hoeheon-gong (Ryu Ui-son), Nakbong-gong (Ryu Heon), Andong Sugok (from Ryu Bok-gi) and Yongin Mukgye-gong (Ryu Bok-rip) branches.
Home regions are Jeonju, Wanju (Banggyo in Iseo, Wondang in Sangwan, Myeongdeok in Soyang and others) and Gimje in North Jeolla, Sugok (Musil) and Samsan in Imdong-myeon, Andong, and Cheoin-gu, Yongin. The clan acts through the Jeonju Ryu Grand Clan Association (jjryu.co.kr), and each branch has its own association. Known sites include Yonggo Seowon in Hoeryong-dong, Iseo-myeon, Wanju (honoring Hoeheon, Jinilje, Nakbong and others), the Musil head house (Gyeongbuk Folk Cultural Property No. 47) and Jeongjae head house (Gyeongbuk Monument No. 170) in Andong, and the Pyeongjangsa altar in Soyang, Wanju. The 2015 census counted about 78,690 people.
Jangnyeong-gong-pa, Sugok-pa, Chungsuk-gong-pa, Hyeongam-gong-pa, Hoeheon-gong-pa, Nakbong-gong-pa, Mukgye-gong-pa
The Jangnyeong-gong branch descends from Ryu Seup (柳濕), who lived in Jeonju in late Goryeo, was posthumously named a censor (saheonbu jangnyeong) and was enfeoffed as Earl of Wansan. It is the most numerous of the three Jeonju Ryu lines, and the name Jeonju Ryu usually refers to it. All five of his sons (Geuk-gang, Geuk-seo, Geuk-su, Geuk-je, Geuk-geo) are said to have passed the examinations, and his son-in-law Sim Hyo-saeng was a Joseon founding merit subject. His tomb stood at Buntodong, Yulgok-ri, Gosan-myeon, Wanju, and in 2010 it was reportedly joined with that of his wife, Lady Choe, in Inhu-dong, Jeonju.
Ryu Bin (1370-1448), son of the second son Geuk-seo, and great-grandson Ryu Ui-son (柳義孫) rose to prominence in early Joseon. Ryu Ui-son's descendants form the Hoeheon-gong sub-branch and those of the chief remonstrator Ryu Heon (柳軒), a grandson of his younger brother Ryu Mal-son, the Nakbong-gong sub-branch. Ryu Sung-jo (柳崇祖), Ryu Bin's great-grandson and Ryu Heon's sixth-degree cousin, passed the same year's examination and headed the Sungkyunkwan; Ryu Heon's great-grandson Ryu Yeong-gyeong (柳永慶) became chief state councillor under Seonjo, and his grandson Ryu Jeong-ryang (柳廷亮) married Seonjo's daughter Princess Jeonghwi.
The Sugok branch of Andong (Ryu Bok-gi, Ryu Chi-myeong) and the Mukgye-gong branch of Yongin (Ryu Bok-rip) are also said to have split from this line. In Wanju there were clan villages at Banggyo-ri in Iseo and Wondang-ri in Sangwan, and Yonggo Seowon in Hoeryong-dong, Iseo-myeon, is said to honor Hoeheon, Jinilje, Nakbong and others (demolished 1878, rebuilt 1923). The branch acts through the Jeonju Ryu Grand Clan Association (jjryu.co.kr); check genealogy and generation names with the association and branch councils.
The Sugok branch is an Andong offshoot of the Jangnyeong-gong branch, also called the Andong Jeonju Ryu or Musil Ryu. It began when Ryu Seong (柳城, 1533-1560), an eighth-generation descendant of Ryu Seup (some sources say sixth), married into the family of Kim Jin (金璡, pen name Cheonggye) of the Uiseong Kim and around 1550 settled at Musil (today Sugok-ri, Imdong-myeon), where his in-laws had farmland. Ryu Seong's father Ryu Yun-seon is said to have branched off from Seoul to Yeongju.
Ryu Seong's eldest son Ryu Bok-gi (Gibong) studied under Kim Seong-il, fought in the righteous armies and defended Hwawangsan Fortress in the second invasion, and his second son Ryu Bok-rip (Mukgye) died at Jinju fortress. Most of the Andong Jeonju Ryu descend from Ryu Bok-gi, whose son Ryu U-jam (Dohon) is said to have set the clan rules. The branch became a leading Yeongnam family with a dozen or so civil examination graduates, thirty or so licentiates and some hundred volumes of collected works.
It produced Ryu Chi-myeong (Jeongjae, 1777-1861) of the Toegye tradition, Ryu Jang-won (Dongam) and the chief remonstrator Ryu Jeong-won (Samsan). In the late Joseon and colonial periods the righteous-army leader Ryu Si-yeon, Ryu In-sik (founder of Hyeopdong School) and the Paris Letter signers Ryu Pil-yeong and Ryu Yeon-bak were active, and some thirty or more descendants were recognized as independence merit holders. Sugok (Musil), Bakgok and Maryeong were submerged by the Imha Dam in 1987; some families moved to a hill resettlement village behind Sugok and others to Ilseon-ri, Haepyeong, Gumi.
Sites include the Musil head house (Gyeongbuk Folk Cultural Property No. 47, rebuilt 1988), the Jeongjae head house (Gyeongbuk Monument No. 170) and Manujeong, the Samsan old house and Samsanjeong, Giyang Seodang and Dongamjeong.
The Chungsuk-gong branch takes Ryu Gi-hyu (柳基休), said to have been a Silla gakgan, as founder and Ryu Hon (柳渾) as central ancestor, and is one of the three Jeonju Ryu lines with separate founders. Chungsuk is the branch name and appears to be Ryu Hon's posthumous title, but this draft could not confirm the title or his dates and offices.
The leading figure of this line is Ryu Bang-heon (柳邦憲, 944-1009), who rose to chancellery executive in early Goryeo. His epitaph (collected in the Goryeo epitaph compilation) names his great-grandfather Ryu Gi-hyu (gakgan), grandfather Ryu Beop-ban (right general of Later Baekje) and father Ryu Yun-gyeom (daegam) and records the family's base at Seunghwa county in Jeonju, and it is the main evidence for treating the Jeonju Ryu as a Baekje-rooted native clan. Ryu Bang-heon passed the Ministry of Rites examination in 972, served as vice minister of rites and Hallim academician, and received the title Jeonggan.
The line is reported to have issued the 1993 Hoeun-gong genealogy, suggesting a sub-branch of that name, though its founder could not be confirmed. A branch association site is reported. Because the founders of the three lines differ and each has kept its own genealogy, the lines are not normally joined into one; check generation names with the branch association.
The Hyeongam-gong branch takes Ryu Ji (柳池), a Goryeo chancellery executive (pyeongjangsa), as its founder and is one of the three lines that make up the Jeonju Ryu, alongside those of Ryu Hon and Ryu Seup. Korean Wikipedia lists his grandfather Ryu Bang-jik (an official of the Jedo regional office) and great-great-grandfather Ryu Un (a national academy student). The 1652 register lists Bang-jik and Un beside the founder, which is read as showing a split from the Munhwa Ryu, so the origin of this line is explained either as native or as split off.
The altar of the pyeongjangsa is said to be at Myeongdeok-ri, Soyang-myeon, Wanju, and the Soyang area is presented as this line's long-time home. The origin of the name Hyeongam-gong (magistrate), how descendants hold rites and the notable figures of this line were not confirmed here.
Because the three lines have different founders, each has kept its own genealogy, and this line is described as holding genealogies separate from the Jangnyeong-gong (Ryu Seup) and Chungsuk-gong (ancestors of Ryu Bang-heon) lines. Check the branch genealogy for notable figures, descent and generation names.
The Hoeheon-gong sub-branch consists of descendants of the early Joseon official Ryu Ui-son (柳義孫, 1398-1450, pen name Hoeheon) of the Jangnyeong-gong line. He was a great-grandson of the founder Ryu Seup, in the line of his grandfather Ryu Geuk-seo and father Ryu Bin, director of the Hall of Worthies. He passed the civil examination in 1426 and served as compiler and director of the Hall of Worthies, chief royal secretary, and vice minister of personnel and of rites, and Sejong is said to have valued him.
Known for gentle, careful character that earned him the name of an elder of integrity, he left the Hoeheon ilgo. His descendants honor him as founder of the sub-branch, and Yonggo Seowon in Hoeryong-dong, Iseo-myeon, Wanju is said to honor Hoeheon together with Nakbong and Jinilje. It was demolished under the 1878 order and rebuilt in 1923 with funds raised by Jeonju Confucians.
Ryu Ui-son's younger brother Ryu Mal-son was the grandfather of Ryu Heon, so the Hoeheon-gong and Nakbong-gong sub-branches descend from brothers; Ryu Bin's great-grandsons also include Ryu Sung-jo. Check generation names with the grand association and branch councils.
The Nakbong-gong sub-branch consists of descendants of the chief remonstrator Ryu Heon (柳軒, 1462-1506, courtesy name Baegyeo, pen name Nakbong) of the Jangnyeong-gong line. He was a great-grandson of Ryu Bin, in the line of his grandfather Ryu Mal-son (younger brother of Ryu Ui-son) and father Ryu Gye-jang (second-class councillor). He is said to have taken the pen name from the Nakbong (or Naksan) hill under which he lived; the branch name is sometimes written 洛峰.
He passed the licentiate examinations in 1486 and the civil examination in 1489 and served as Yemungwan censor, royal secretary, inspector and in the State Council, then as Chungcheong naval commander and chief remonstrator. Pushed out to the naval post for plain speaking under Yeonsangun, in 1504, at the Gapja purge, he protested Sin Su-yeong's false charge and was exiled to Jeju after slander by Im Sa-hong and Yu Ja-gwang. After the 1506 restoration he was ordered recalled but died at 45; one account says in exile, another that he met pirates on the way back. Jungjong posthumously made him vice minister of personnel, listed him among the incorruptible officials and ordered his descendants employed; he was later raised to minister of personnel.
Of his sons Se-bung, Se-rin (vice minister), Se-gu and Se-bong, the grandson of the second, Se-rin, was Ryu Yeong-gyeong (1550-1608), chief state councillor under Seonjo, and Yeong-gyeong's son Yeol's son was Ryu Jeong-ryang, who married Princess Jeonghwi. Yeong-gyeong was rehabilitated after the Restoration. Some accounts also place Ryu Gyeong-chang (inspector-general, incorruptible official) in this line, but the genealogical note calls him a grandson of Yeong-seong, so sources differ.
Descendants set a marker stone at his old site in Wondang-ri south of Jeonju, where a shrine to local worthies stood, and a shrine to him while alive stood at the Chungcheong naval command. He is enshrined at Yonggo Seowon in Hoeryong-dong, Iseo-myeon, Wanju, with Hoeheon and Jinilje (demolished 1878, rebuilt 1923), and a tomb with only his robes and cap is at Songsan-ri, Yangju. Under Sunjo his descendant Ryu Ui visited Jeonju to confirm the site, Ryu Eom set the stone and Eom's grandson Ryu Suk tended the land. A branch clan-council site is reported, and the branch acts together with the Grand Clan Association.
The Mukgye-gong sub-branch takes as its settler ancestor Ryu Bok-rip (柳復立, 1558-1593, pen name Mukgye), who fought in the righteous armies in the Imjin War and is said to have died in the second battle of Jinju fortress. Its descendants are reported to have lived around Cheoin-gu, Yongin. He was the second son of Ryu Seong, who settled the family in Andong, and the younger brother of Ryu Bok-gi, and is presented as splitting from the Jangnyeong-gong line, as the Andong Sugok branch did.
The second battle of Jinju in June 1593 saw a large Japanese army take the fortress, with great loss of soldiers and civilians, and his death there is mentioned in Andong local sources. Korean Wikipedia names Cheoin-gu, Yongin as the branch's home and notes that Ryu Gi-su (1902-1986), a member of the second National Assembly, was born in Yongin and that his grandson Yu Gi-hong served in the 17th, 19th and 21st; whether they belong to this branch was not confirmed here.
How and when descendants moved from Andong to Yongin differs by source and was not confirmed. Check descent and generation names with the grand association and branch council genealogy.
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
Ryu Yeong-gyeong(chief state councillor under Seonjo), Ryu Ui-son(vice minister of rites, Hoeheon), Ryu Chi-myeong(Yeongnam scholar Jeongjae), Ryu Bok-gi(righteous army, Sugok Gibong), Ryu Bok-rip(righteous army, died at Jinju), Ryu Rim(independence activist Danju), Ryu Seup(founder of the Jangnyeong-gong line), Ryu Bang-heon(Goryeo chancellery executive), Ryu Sung-jo(head of the Sungkyunkwan, Jinilje), Ryu Heon(chief remonstrator, incorruptible official Nakbong), Ryu Jeong-ryang(Prince Consort Jeonchang), Ryu Gyeong-chang(inspector-general, incorruptible official), Ryu Jeong-won(chief remonstrator, Samsan), Ryu In-sik(principal of Hyeopdong School), Yu In-chon(actor and culture minister), Yu Il-ho(deputy prime minister), Yu An-jin(poet)
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전주 류씨 figures recognized as independence patriots (National Independence Hall / Gonghun public data). Tap a name for the citation.
The seat Jeonju (全州) is today's Jeonju, North Jeolla. The Jeonju Ryu consists of three lines honoring Ryu Hon (柳渾), Ryu Seup (柳濕) and Ryu Ji (柳池) as founders or central ancestors. The Chungsuk-gong line names Ryu Gi-hyu (柳基休), reportedly a Silla gakgan, as founder and Ryu Hon as central ancestor and is said to have issued the 1993 Hoeun-gong genealogy. Wikipedia and popular sites sometimes count the Nakbong-gong as a fourth branch, but it is a sub-line of the Jangnyeong-gong, and the founders are described as three lines.
It is regarded as a native surname of Baekje origin, and the epitaph of the early Goryeo chancellery executive Ryu Bang-heon (944-1009) lists his great-grandfather Ryu Gi-hyu (gakgan), grandfather Ryu Beop-ban (Later Baekje general) and father Ryu Yun-gyeom, which some use to argue the clan is older than the Munhwa Ryu. By contrast the 1952 genealogy says it split from the Munhwa Ryu, and the 1652 register is read as supporting a split, so opinion is divided. A tradition also names Ryu Jung-gwang, a Baekje craftsman said to have gone to Japan under King Mu to help build Shitenno-ji, as the earliest ancestor, but this is better treated as legend.
Ryu Seup lived in Jeonju in late Goryeo and is said to have been posthumously named a censor and enfeoffed as Earl of Wansan. All five sons (Geuk-gang, Geuk-seo, Geuk-su, Geuk-je, Geuk-geo) are said to have passed the examinations, and his son-in-law Sim Hyo-saeng became a Joseon founding merit subject, raising the family greatly. His tomb stood at Buntodong, Yulgok-ri, Gosan-myeon, Wanju, with a large ritual lodge, Sisajae, and in 2010 it was reportedly joined with the grave of his wife in Inhu-dong, Jeonju. The Ryu Seup (1367-1439) of Korean Wikipedia is a different man of the Goheung Ryu.
Geuk-seo's son Ryu Bin (1370-1448) and grandson Ryu Ui-son rose in early Joseon, and Ryu Bin's great-grandsons Ryu Sung-jo (Jinilje) and Ryu Heon (Nakbong), sixth-degree cousins, passed the civil examination in the same year, 1489. These descendants are said to be enshrined together at Yonggo Seowon in Hoeryong-dong, Iseo-myeon, Wanju.
The 2015 census is reported to have counted about 78,690 people; the clan grew from about 47,000 in 1985 to about 61,650 in 2000.
The Jeonju, Wanju and Gimje area of North Jeolla is the home region. According to the Digital Wanju Culture Encyclopedia, there were clan villages at Banggyo-ri in Iseo (about 100 households), Jangdong-ri in Jochon and Wondang-ri and Wa-ri in Sangwan, and 1,430 members lived in Wanju County in 2015. Ryu Seup's descendant Ryu Gil-an is said to have settled at Yuri in Samrye, and a branch of his line moved into Soyang. The Sugok branch of the Jangnyeong-gong line is associated with Sugok (Musil) in Imdong-myeon, Andong, the Mukgye-gong branch with Cheoin-gu, Yongin, and descendants also live in Jinju.
Ryu Bang-heon passed the Ministry of Rites examination in 972 and rose to chancellery executive; Ryu Sin (reaching jeongdang munhak) and Ryu Gwang-sik (a senior minister under the military regime) are also named. Ryu Ji, founder of the Hyeongam-gong line, is said to have been a pyeongjangsa, with a grandfather Ryu Bang-jik (an official of the Jedo regional office) and a great-great-grandfather Ryu Un (a national academy student); the altar of the pyeongjangsa is reported at Myeongdeok-ri, Soyang-myeon, Wanju.
In late Goryeo all five sons of Ryu Seup are said to have passed the examinations, and they were posthumously named censors along with the son-in-law Sim Hyo-saeng, greatly raising the family.
In early Joseon Ryu Ui-son (Hoeheon) rose to chief royal secretary and vice minister of rites, and Ryu Sung-jo (Jinilje) became head of the Sungkyunkwan and received the title Munmok for promoting Neo-Confucianism. Ryu Heon (Nakbong), chief remonstrator under Yeonsangun, was exiled to Jeju in the Gapja purge and is listed among the incorruptible officials. Under Seonjo Ryu Yeong-gyeong became chief state councillor, and his grandson Ryu Jeong-ryang married Seonjo's secondary daughter Princess Jeonghwi and was named Prince Consort Jeonchang. Ryu Gyeong-chang (inspector-general, incorruptible official) and Ryu Jeong-won (chief remonstrator under Yeongjo) are also named.
During the Imjin and Jeongyu wars Ryu Bok-gi (Gibong) joined the righteous armies and defended Hwawangsan Fortress, and his younger brother Ryu Bok-rip (Mukgye) is said to have died in the second battle of Jinju fortress.
The Jangnyeong-gong line (founder Ryu Seup) is the most numerous, with sub-lines such as Hoeheon-gong (descendants of Ryu Ui-son), Nakbong-gong (descendants of Ryu Heon, a grandson of Ryu Mal-son), Sugok and Mukgye-gong. The Chungsuk-gong line honors Ryu Gi-hyu and Ryu Hon, and the Hyeongam-gong line Ryu Ji. Terms differ between texts, so check your clan register.
The Andong Sugok branch (Musil Ryu) began when Ryu Seong (1533-1560), an eighth-generation descendant of Ryu Seup (some sources say sixth), married into the family of Kim Jin of the Uiseong Kim and around 1550 settled at Musil (today Sugok-ri, Imdong-myeon). Most of the branch descends from his eldest son Ryu Bok-gi, and it is said to have produced a dozen or so civil examination graduates and thirty or so licentiates. It is a leading Yeongnam Confucian family of the Toegye tradition, with Ryu Chi-myeong (Jeongjae), Ryu Jang-won (Dongam) and Ryu Jeong-won (Samsan).
In the late Joseon and colonial periods descendants such as Ryu Si-yeon (a righteous-army leader who died for the cause), Ryu In-sik (founder of Hyeopdong School) and the Paris Letter signers Ryu Pil-yeong and Ryu Yeon-bak were active, and some thirty or more were later recognized as independence merit holders. The Andong-born Jeonju Ryu activist Ryu Rim (Danju) was a member of the Provisional Government's State Council. Sugok, Bakgok and Maryeong were submerged by the Imha Dam; some families moved to a resettlement village and others to Ilseon-ri, Haepyeong, Gumi, and the Musil head house was rebuilt at its present site in 1988.
Generation (hangnyeol) characters are set by generation and differ by branch. Korean Wikipedia gives a table for generations 14 to 45, but it is garbled; characters such as 錫, 來, 根, 秀, 熙 and 漢 appear. Check the branch genealogy or the grand association for the exact characters.
The Jeonju Ryu Grand Clan Association (jjryu.co.kr) runs a site, and branch sites such as those for the Chungsuk-gong association and the Nakbong-gong clan council are also reported.
Modern figures presented as Jeonju Ryu include the actor and former culture minister Yu In-chon, former finance minister Yu Il-ho and the poet Yu An-jin. Politicians include Ryu Cheong (4th-6th and 8th National Assembly; founder of Yuil Girls' High School), Yu Chi-song (6th and 9th-12th), Ryu Gi-su (2nd; born in Yongin, grandfather of Yu Gi-hong of the 17th, 19th and 21st) and the journalist-official Ryu Hyeok-in.
The 전주 류씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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