밀양 손씨(密陽 孫氏) — Said to be the representative line of the Son surname, taking the Silla filial exemplar Son Sun as founder; about 306,895 members in 2015, divided into some 19 to 21 branches.
Said to be the representative line of the Son surname, taking the Silla filial exemplar Son Sun as founder; about 306,895 members in 2015, divided into some 19 to 21 branches. In the 2015 Census the 밀양 손씨 clan numbered about 306,895 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 손, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 밀양) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
Jwasabu-gong-pa, Jungseoryeong-gong-pa, Gunsa-gong-pa, Bongsundaebu-gong-pa, Myeongcheon-gong-pa, Donam-gong-pa, Moksa-gong-pa
The Jwasabu-gong branch descends from Son Tak. Son Gwang (孫洸), son of Son Bin (孫贇), who served as Jeongdang Munhak under King Chungnyeol of Goryeo and was made Prince Milseong, had four sons who founded the Jwasabu-gong, Bongsundaebu-gong, Jungseoryeong-gong and Gunsa-gong branches.
Son Tak's great-great-grandson Son Tae-ryang (孫台亮) moved from Miryang to Myeonggye village in Suryun-myeon, Seongju, to escape the Imjin War, becoming the first of the clan to settle in Seongju; his descendants still live around Junggeo-ri in Yongam-myeon.
The Jungseoryeong-gong branch descends from Son Ta, a son of Son Gwang (孫洸). It is one of the four branches that split off among the grandsons of Son Bin, Prince Milseong, and is among the 19 branches listed by the Miryang Son clan association.
The Gunsa-gong branch, also written Gunsa-gong-yeong-pa, descends from Son Yeong, the fourth son of Son Gwang (孫洸). The Milseong Son families of Jukdong in Dajuk-ri, Sanoe-myeon, Miryang, are mostly said to be his descendants.
Clan sites such as the Jugwon shrine house and Jukpo study hall remain in Jukdong.
The Bongsundaebu-gong branch descends from Son Ha, a son of Son Gwang (孫洸). Together with the Jwasabu-gong, Jungseoryeong-gong and Gunsa-gong branches, it is one of the four branches founded by the grandsons of Son Bin, Prince Milseong.
The Myeongcheon-gong branch descends from Son Yun-saeng (孫潤生), 30th-generation descendant of Son Sun. He became a third-rank Wonjong merit subject for service as a naval commander (domanho) at King Sejo's accession and served as governor of Chungcheong. While inspecting the Dangjinpo fort he was taken with a spring at Hancheon-dong in Godae-myeon and settled there, taking the pen name Myeongcheon (明泉).
For some 500 years his descendants have formed a clan village around Daechon-ri and Jingwan-ri in Godae-myeon, where they are counted as the major family of Dangjin; the late-Joseon righteous army leader Son Eung-hyeon (孫應鉉) belonged to this branch.
The Donam-gong branch descends from Son Gi-nam (孫起南, 1539-1606), pen name Donam (遯巖), a scholar from Uiheung county in Gyeongsang (now Uiheung-myeon, Gunwi, Daegu) and a descendant of the Goryeo founding merit subject Son Geung-hun.
During the Imjin War he carried the spirit tablets of the Five Sages and the classics out of the burning Uiheung Confucian school and kept them safe in a mountain cave for eight years, a deed said to have been recognised by King Seonjo after the war.
The Moksa-gong branch (牧使公派) is said to descend from Son Chaek (孫策), 25th-generation descendant in the Miryang Son line. A figure of the late Goryeo to early Joseon period, he is reported to have suffered misfortune for opposing the founding of Joseon; his sons later settled in Jeolla-do areas such as Naju, Boseong and Jeongeup, where the descendants flourished. The founder's generation number and career may differ between sources.
The Moksa-gong branch is among the 19 branches listed by the Miryang Son clan association; the Donghak leader Son Hwa-jung and the calligrapher Son Jae-hyeong are labelled as belonging to it. Other clans such as the Miryang Park may also have a branch of the same name; this card concerns the Miryang Son Moksa-gong branch.
Generation names (hangnyeol) — modern generation characters; "O" marks the other syllable of the given name.
| Generation | Generation character (hangnyeol) |
|---|---|
| 45세 | ○漢(한)·永○(영) |
| 46세 | 東○(동)·秉○(병) |
| 47세 | ○烈(열)·○燮(섭) |
| 48세 | 在○(재)·重○(중) |
| 49세 | ○鉉(현)·○種(종) |
| 50세 | 承○(승)·泰○(태) |
| 51세 | ○株(주)·○恒(항) |
These may differ by generation count and local clan association. The Miryang Son clan has no single unified table, so confirm with your own clan association.
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
구례마(ultimate ancestor), 손순(founder; Munhyogong), 손긍훈(restorer), 손화중, 손재형, 손병희, 손정도, 손원일, 손기정, 손석희, 손흥민
Tap a name for the full profile (life, career, grave, descendants).
밀양 손씨 figures recognized as independence patriots (National Independence Hall / Gonghun public data). Tap a name for the citation.
밀양 손씨 figures listed by the Presidential Committee or the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators (Minjok Munje Institute).
The Miryang Son clan (密陽 孫氏) has its ancestral seat in Miryang, South Gyeongsang. It takes as ultimate ancestor Gurema (俱禮馬), chief of Daesu village, one of Silla's six villages, who was granted the surname Son and posthumously honored as King Munui; the founder is the filial exemplar Munhyogong Son Sun (孫順) of King Heungdeok's reign.
According to the Samguk Yusa, when his child kept taking his aged mother's food, Son Sun dug the ground to bury the child and unearthed a stone bell whose sound reached the palace; the king rewarded his filial devotion with a house and grain. When Son Sun's grandson Son Ik-gam (孫翼減) was enfeoffed as Eungcheongun, his descendants took Miryang as their seat. The clan association regards itself as the senior line of all Son clans except the Ikjik Son, though some hold that the Gyeongju Son was the original senior line, so sources differ.
The 2015 census recorded 306,895 members, up from 243,473 in 1985 and 274,700 in 2000. Principal clan villages are Miryang (South Gyeongsang), Godae-myeon in Dangjin (South Chungcheong), Boseong (South Jeolla) and Yangdeok in South Pyongan (now North Korea).
The restorer Son Geung-hun (孫兢訓), seventh-generation descendant of Son Sun, helped Taejo of Goryeo unify the Later Three Kingdoms, rose to Bogukseungnokdaebu and was enfeoffed as Gwarigun, greatly raising the family's standing. Among the grandsons of Son Bin (孫贇), Prince Milseong under King Chungnyeol, the Jwasabu-gong, Bongsundaebu-gong, Jungseoryeong-gong and Gunsa-gong branches split off; the Moksa-gong branch is traced to Son Chaek (孫策), said to have suffered for opposing the founding of Joseon in the late Goryeo.
The clan produced 38 civil and 125 military examination graduates in Joseon, passing down as a military house. Son Bi-jang, who passed the civil examination in the 15th century and took part in compiling the Dongguk Tonggam, is known, and Son Gi-nam and Son Deok-sim are remembered for resistance and record preservation in the Imjin War. Son Gi-nam founded the Donam-gong branch described in the branch cards. In the late Joseon the Donghak leader Son Hwa-jung (labelled Moksa-gong branch) emerged.
The Miryang Son Central Clan Association lists 19 branches, including Jwasajeon-gong, Jeonnongsisa-gong, Jungseoryeong-gong, Gunsa-gong-yeong, Busa-gong, Ogok-gong, Ohan-gong, Gukjajinsa-gong, Myeongcheon-gong, Hyeongam-gong, Gunsu-gong, Moksa-gong, Giro-gong, Jeongseung-gong, Sabu-gong, Cheomjeong-gong, Chungui-gong, Gyeryun-gong and Huneung-chambong-gong; Wikipedia lists 21, adding Donam-gong and Paryong-gong. This page describes the Jwasabu-gong, Jungseoryeong-gong, Gunsa-gong, Bongsundaebu-gong, Myeongcheon-gong, Donam-gong and Moksa-gong branches.
These include the Cheondogyo leader Son Byeong-hui, the independence activists Son Ho, Son Byeong-seon and Son Jeong-do, Son Won-il (first Chief of Naval Operations), the Donghak leader Son Hwa-jung, the calligrapher Son Jae-hyeong, the marathoner Sohn Kee-chung, the journalist Sohn Suk-hee and the footballer Son Heung-min.
Known sites include the Jugwon shrine house and Jukpo study hall in Jukdong, Sanoe-myeon, Miryang (Gunsa-gong branch), the Myeongcheon-gong clan village around Daechon-ri and Jingwan-ri in Godae-myeon, Dangjin, and the Son Hwa-jung memorial tomb in Sangpyeong-dong, Jeongeup.
The clan body is the Miryang Son Central Clan Association. The clan has no single unified generation-name table; each branch and clan association sets its own. The general genealogy lists generation names from the 41st to about the 62nd-63rd generation (e.g. 41st 模·植, 45th 漢·永, 50th 承·泰, 53rd 純·載). See the individual branch cards, such as Moksa-gong, for branch tables.
The detailed branch and lineage divisions vary by clan and genealogy, so confirm your own family's history in the genealogy you hold.
For other branch associations, see the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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