무안 박씨 family tree

무안 박씨(務安 朴氏) — An ancestral seat whose founder is said to be Park Jin-seung, a descendant of the line of King Gyeongmyeong of Silla who passed the civil service examination in the Goryeo period.

About the 무안 박씨 clan

An ancestral seat whose founder is said to be Park Jin-seung, a descendant of the line of King Gyeongmyeong of Silla who passed the civil service examination in the Goryeo period. In the 2015 Census the 무안 박씨 clan numbered about 90,785 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 박, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 무안) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.

Roots and History of the Muan Park Clan

Founder and origin of the clan seat

The Muan Park clan (務安 朴氏) is a branch of the Park surname that traces its origin to Bak Hyeokgeose, founder of Silla, and takes present-day Muan County, South Jeolla Province, as its ancestral seat. Its founder, Park Jin-seung (朴進昇), is said to have been a fifth-generation descendant of Grand Prince Wansan, a son of King Gyeongmyeong of Silla. He passed the civil examination in Goryeo and served as Gukja Jwaju (國子祭酒), head of the national academy. For his services he is said to have received Muan as a fief and been enfeoffed as Lord of Muan (務安君), and his descendants took Muan as their seat.

Muan was Muraheo county under Baekje and became Muan county under King Gyeongdeok of Silla. It passed through the name Mullyang under Goryeo before becoming Muan again, and in 1413 it became Muan-hyeon, which lasted through Joseon. One of its old names is Myeonseong (綿城), so the line descended from Park Jin-seung is sometimes also called the Myeonseong Park clan.

In the 2015 Statistics Korea census, Muan Park (90,785) and Myeonseong Park (7,666) are counted separately, while the genealogies of the two seats are usually combined under the name Muan Park. Family registers, however, record the two seats separately, so a family record reading "Myeonseong" most likely belongs to the same lineage as this page. Together they come to about 98,451. (Note: Wikipedia's article on the Myeoncheon Park clan adds the same 7,666 to Myeoncheon instead, so sources differ.)

The course of the clan

In early Goryeo the Muan Park became a family of central officials. In 1010, when the Khitan invaded, second-generation Park Seom (朴暹) escorted the fleeing King Hyeonjong as far as Naju and later rose to Right Executive of the Department of State Affairs. In 1052 his portrait was hung in the Hall of Merit Subjects for that service. His great-grandson Park Seung-jung helped compile the Haedong Birok and the Veritable Records of King Yejong. After Yi Ja-gyeom's fall he was exiled to Uljin, then moved to Muan, where he died.

The failed attempt to restore King Danjong in the 1450s changed the clan's course. Park Im-gyeong (14th generation) was a son-in-law of Seong Sam-mun, one of the Six Martyred Ministers, and is said to have recovered his father-in-law's body afterward. His son Amcheon Park Jeung refused office and withdrew to Noseong (today Sangwol-myeon, Nonsan), founding the Noseong-pa. Park Ik-gyeong of the same generation hid in Gojeol-ri, Muan, and became founder of the Muan-pa. In the late 15th century Park Ji-mong settled in Yeonghae, Gyeongsang Province, starting the Yeonghae-pa; his great-grandsons Park Ui-jang and Park Hong-jang won renown in the Imjin War. In Honam, the Haenam-pa of Park Jong-jeong and descendants in Jindo and Yeongam put down roots. Many other branches are recorded, including the Gaeseong, Hansan, Jangdan, Jipyeong, Hamyang, Jeokseong, Eumjuk, Yangju, Gongju and Hongsan branches and five branches in Dangjin. In Joseon the clan is counted as producing 22 civil-examination graduates.

In modern times Park Doo-sung, who created the Korean braille system Hunmaeng Jeongeum, opened the way for the education of blind people. The Dasan scholar Park Seok-mu is also of this clan. Clan villages are concentrated in southwestern South Jeolla, such as Cheonggye-myeon and Hyeongyeong-myeon in Muan, Donggang-myeon in Naju, Jisan-myeon in Jindo and Masan-myeon in Haenam. Others are found in Sangwol-myeon (Nonsan) and Dangjin in South Chungcheong, Yeonghae-myeon and Chuksan-myeon (Yeongdeok), Yeongyang and Bonghwa in North Gyeongsang, Yangpyeong and Icheon in Gyeonggi, and Hongcheon in Gangwon.

Notable figures

• Park Jin-seung (朴進昇) — Founder of the clan. He is said to have passed the civil examination in Goryeo, served as head of the national academy, and been enfeoffed as Lord of Muan.
• Park Seom (朴暹) — Said to be Park Jin-seung's son. He escorted King Hyeonjong to Naju during the 1010 Khitan invasion and rose to Right Executive of the Department of State Affairs. His portrait was hung in the Hall of Merit Subjects in 1052.
• Park Seung-jung (朴昇中) — Great-grandson of Park Seom and an early-Goryeo official. He took part in compiling the Haedong Birok in 1106 and served as a compiler of the Veritable Records of King Yejong.
• Park Ik-gyeong — He withdrew to Gojeol-ri, Muan, after the purge of the Six Martyred Ministers and founded the Muan-pa.
• Park Jeung (朴增, 1461-1517) — Pen name Amcheon. A maternal grandson of Seong Sam-mun, he honored his grandfather's loyalty by refusing office and living in seclusion at Noseong. He founded the Noseong-pa and is enshrined at Mogok Seowon.
• Park Ji-mong (朴之蒙) — The first settler of the Yeonghae-pa, who settled in Yeonghae in the late 15th century.
• Park Ui-jang (朴毅長, 1555-1615) — Courtesy name Sagang, posthumous title Mui. As assistant magistrate of Gyeongju in 1592 he helped Army Commander Bak Jin retake Gyeongju fortress, using weapons such as the bigyeok jincheonroe explosive shell. For this he was named a merit subject and posthumously made minister of taxation.
• Park Hong-jang (朴弘長, 1558-1598) — Younger brother of Park Ui-jang. In 1596, as magistrate of Daegu, he went to Japan as vice-envoy of the diplomatic mission with chief envoy Hwang Sin. He is credited with upholding Joseon's dignity despite Toyotomi Hideyoshi's slights.
• Park Doo-sung (朴斗星, 1888-1963) — An educator from Gyodong, Ganghwa. In 1926 he created and published Hunmaeng Jeongeum, the Korean braille system, and in 1957 he completed a braille translation of the whole Bible.
• Park Seok-mu (1942-) — A Dasan scholar from Muan. He served in the 13th and 14th National Assemblies, was the first president of the Institute for the Translation of Korean Classics, and chairs the Dasan Institute.

Clan villages and heritage sites

• Head house of the Mui-gong line, Yeongdeok — In Dogok-ri, Chuksan-myeon, Yeongdeok County, North Gyeongsang. Park Ui-jang's fourth son Park Seon is said to have completed it in 1644 for his eldest brother, and its shrine holds Park Ui-jang's permanent spirit tablet. A square courtyard house that preserves its mid-17th-century form, it was designated a National Folklore Cultural Heritage in 2016.
• Wongu-ri and Dogok-ri, Yeonghae — Wongu-ri in Yeonghae-myeon, where Park Ji-mong settled, was the first home of the Yeonghae-pa. In the 17th century some of Park Ui-jang's descendants moved to Dogok-ri, Chuksan-myeon, forming a new clan village. The brothers Park Ui-jang and Park Hong-jang are enshrined at Gubong Jeongsa in Yeonghae, and Park Ui-jang also at Jeongchungsa.
• Deokhuru (德厚樓) — Park Ui-jang's memorial hall in Changsu-myeon, Yeongdeok County.
• Sangwol-myeon, Nonsan — Home of the Noseong-pa, where Park Jeung lived in seclusion. Boindang was built on his old home site, and Mogok Seowon honors him.
• Muan County — Descendants live in the clan seat, in places such as Cheonggye-myeon and Hyeongyeong-myeon. Gojeol-ri, where Park Ik-gyeong is said to have hidden, is the home of the Muan-pa.

Branch lines and genealogies may differ by family and by jokbo, so please check your own family's jokbo.

Main branches (派)

Noseong-pa, Yeonghae-pa, Haenam-pa, Muan-pa

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

Notable figures

박진승(founder of the Muan Park clan; head of the national academy), 박섬(merit subject who escorted King Hyeonjong), 박승중(Goryeo civil official), 박익경(founder of the Muan-pa), 박증(founder of the Noseong-pa; scholar of principled loyalty), 박지몽(first settler of the Yeonghae-pa), 박의장(retook Gyeongju fortress in the Imjin War), 박홍장(vice-envoy of the 1596 mission to Japan), 박두성(creator of Hunmaeng Jeongeum the Korean Braille system), 박석무(Dasan scholar; member of the 13th and 14th National Assemblies)

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

Related Videos

How to build your 무안 박씨 tree

1. Start with yourself — sign in to get your own tree. Enter your name, birth year and clan seat (무안).
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

무안 박씨 clan association

The 무안 박씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.