파평 윤씨(坡平 尹氏) — The representative seat of the Yun surname, which takes the Goryeo general Yun Gwan as mid-founder, known for the Yongyeon legend of founder Yun Sin-dal, for queens and ministers, and for the Noseong house of Yun Jeung in Nonsan.
The representative seat of the Yun surname, which takes the Goryeo general Yun Gwan as mid-founder, known for the Yongyeon legend of founder Yun Sin-dal, for queens and ministers, and for the Noseong house of Yun Jeung in Nonsan. In the 2000 Census the 파평 윤씨 clan numbered about 713,947 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 윤, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 파평) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
The Papyeong Yun clan (坡平 尹氏) takes as its ancestral seat Papyeong, in present-day Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and is the largest seat of the Yun surname. The 2015 census counted about 770,932 members, and the 2000 census 713,947. Other Yun seats such as the Haepyeong Yun and Chirwon Yun have different founders and are separate clans.
The founder, Yun Sin-dal (尹莘達), was a founding merit subject who helped King Taejo Wang Geon unify the Later Three Kingdoms; he is said to have been named a Samhan Byeoksang merit subject and Grand Preceptor (taesa) with the rank of Samjung Daegwang. Family tradition tells of his birth at Yongyeon, a pond at the foot of Mt. Papyeong. On the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month of 893 (7th year of Queen Jinseong of Silla), amid thick cloud and thunder, a golden chest floated on the pond; an old woman named Yun-on pulled it ashore, and a radiant boy came out. He is said to have had a red mole on his shoulder, 81 scale-like marks under his arms and seven black spots on his feet, and to have taken the old woman's surname. This is a legend and should be read as such. Yongyeon still lies in Nullo-ri, Papyeong-myeon, and is preserved as Paju City Local Heritage No. 10, regarded as the clan's birthplace.
The founder's tomb is said to lie below Mt. Gubong in Bonggye-ri, Gigye-myeon, Pohang, tied to the tradition that he died at his post as governor of the Eastern Capital (Gyeongju). Bonggangjae, a shrine built in 1752 to tend the tomb, is designated Gyeongbuk Cultural Heritage Material No. 201.
The name Papyeong owes much to the mid-founder Yun Gwan (尹瓘, 1040-1111), a fifth-generation descendant of Yun Sin-dal. After passing the civil examination under King Munjong, he became commander in 1107 (2nd year of King Yejong), subdued the Jurchen and built nine fortresses in the northeast. For this he was enfeoffed as Earl of Yeongpyeong (another name for Papyeong), and his descendants took Papyeong as their ancestral seat. His posthumous name was Munsuk, and his tomb in Bunsu-ri, Gwangtan-myeon, Paju is Historic Site No. 323. A story also says carp formed a bridge to carry him across a river while he fled enemy troops, and some Papyeong Yun families are said to avoid eating carp.
Yun Gwan's son Yun Eon-i (尹彦頤, 1090-1149), posthumously Munkang, was learned in the Book of Changes and wrote Yeokhae; he took part in suppressing Myocheong's rebellion yet was demoted after clashing with Kim Bu-sik. His son Yun In-cheom (尹麟瞻, 1110-1176) put down Jo Wi-chong's rebellion under King Myeongjong. Three generations of eminent officials, Gwan, Eon-i and In-cheom, raised the family's standing in mid-Goryeo, and in King Chungseon's time it was counted among the 15 jaesangjijong houses permitted to marry into the royal house.
The clan association classifies the clan into 16 major branches: Namwonbaek (Yun Wi), Hamanbaek (Yun Don), Deoksan-gun (Yun Eun-hyeong), Munjeonggong (Yun In-cheom), Sinnyeong-gun (Yun In-jik), Daeeongong (Yun An-jeok), Bongnok-gun (Yun Jung-jo), Panseogong (Yun Ri), Yaseong-gun (Yun Hyeok), Jeonuigong (Yun Seung-hyu), Sojeonggong (Yun Gon), Wonpyeong-gun (Yun Mok), Sodogong (Yun Hyang), Pandogong (Yun Seung-rye), Sobugong (Yun Am) and Taewigong (Yun An-bi). About 80 percent of the clan is said to belong to the Sojeonggong and Pandogong branches, while the Namwon, Haman, Deoksan and Sinnyeong lines became separate Yun seats. Generation counts for branch founders differ by source, so check your own genealogy.
In Joseon the family, together with the Cheongju Han and Yeoheung Min, produced many queens. Queen Jeonghui (1418-1483), consort of King Sejo, was the daughter of Yun Beon, Lord Papyeong; after King Yejong died young she placed her second grandson Seongjong on the throne and ruled as regent from behind the screen from 1469 to 1476, the first queen to do so. Queen Jeonghyeon, second queen of Seongjong, was the daughter of Yun Ho; Queen Janggyeong, first queen of Jungjong, was the daughter of Yun Yeo-pil and bore Injong; and Queen Munjeong, second queen of Jungjong, was the daughter of Yun Ji-im and bore Myeongjong. Some sources count five queens. Yun Gon's great-grandson Yun Pil-sang became chief state councillor under Seongjong, Yun Sa-bun and Yun Sa-heun were right state councillors, and some sources cite 347 civil examination graduates in Joseon.
The success of royal in-laws split the family. Yun Im (1487-1545), Queen Janggyeong's brother and uncle of King Injong, led the faction called Daeyun (Great Yun), while Yun Won-hyeong (1503-1565), Queen Munjeong's brother and uncle of King Myeongjong, led Soyun (Lesser Yun), and they clashed over the succession. When Injong died after eight months on the throne and Myeongjong succeeded, the Eulsa Literati Purge of 1545 destroyed Yun Im and his sons; Yun Won-hyeong's group then ruled until it fell after Queen Munjeong's death. Yun Im was rehabilitated under Seonjo, and his son Yun Heung-sin died fighting as commander of Dadaepo in the Imjin War. This rivalry is often cited as a reason the Pandogong branch, once powerful through marriage ties, declined.
Noseong-myeon in Nonsan, South Chungcheong, is a principal home of the clan. A descendant named Yun Don is said to have moved south and Yun Chang-se to have settled at Noseong, and the lineage is often called the Noseong or Nojong family (not a separate surname but the Papyeong Yun house settled there). Yun Hwang (尹煌, 1572-1639) argued against peace in the Second Manchu Invasion and was exiled to Yeongdong; his son Yun Seon-geo (尹宣擧, 1610-1669) blamed himself all his life for surviving the fall of Ganghwa Island and never took office; and Seon-geo's son Yun Jeung (尹拯, 1629-1714), pen name Myeongjae, declined office to teach, was called a Chief Minister in commoner's clothes, and became the leader of the Soron faction when the Westerners split. His dispute with his teacher Song Si-yeol over his father's epitaph is known as the Hoeni controversy. Yun Hwang, Seon-geo and Jeung all received posthumous names. The Sojeonggong-line brothers Yun Ji-seon and Yun Ji-wan were also Soron ministers.
The family ran a clan school, Jonghakdang, said to have been founded by Yun Sun-geo in 1646, and Nonsan keeps Myeongjae's house, Nogang Seowon (which enshrines Yun Hwang, Yun Mun-geo, Yun Seon-geo and Yun Jeung), and Yun Hwang's old house and ancestral lodge.
Under Japanese rule the clan produced independence activists such as Yun Bong-gil of the Hongkou Park bombing and the resistance poet Yun Dong-ju. Yun Seok-yeol, the 20th President, belongs to the Papyeong seat and is described as a 20th-generation descendant of Yun Gon. By contrast, Yun Bo-seon, the 4th President, and Yun Du-su belong to the Haepyeong Yun, composer Isang Yun to the Chirwon Yun, and Yun Geuk-yeong, who wrote the children's song Banwal, to the Haepyeong Yun; none are Papyeong Yun.
Generation counts and lineage may differ by source, so check your own family genealogy.
Munjeong-gong-pa, Sojeong-gong-pa, Pando-gong-pa, Namwonbaek-pa, Hamanbaek-pa, Jeongjeong-gong-pa, Deoksan-gun-pa, Sinnyeong-gun-pa
The Munjeong-gong branch descends from Yun In-cheom (尹麟瞻, 1110-1176), a civil official of mid-Goryeo, originally named Yeong-cheom with courtesy name Tae-jo. He was the son of Yun Eon-i (尹彦頤), who served as jeongdang munhak, and a grandson of the clan's mid-founder Yun Gwan (尹瓘). It is one of the early branches, linked to the three eminent officials Gwan, Eon-i and In-cheom of the Yejong to Myeongjong era, and the clan association counts its founder as a seventh-generation descendant of the founder.
Yun In-cheom served as censor, vice-minister of punishments, military commissioner of the Northwest and director of the National Academy, rising to jungseo sirang pyeongjangsa. When the Western Capital commander Jo Wi-chong (趙位寵) rebelled in 1174 he was made commander-in-chief and suppressed the revolt in 1176; he was named a merit subject but died the same year. He was posthumously granted the rank of chief chancellor (munha sijung), enshrined in King Myeongjong's royal shrine, and given the posthumous name Munjeong (文定).
His three sons Yun Jong-ak, Yun Jong-ham and Yun Jong-yang are said to have all passed the civil service examination. The branch is said to use its own generation-name table, like the Sobu-gong and Taewi-gong branches. We could not confirm its clan villages or association, so check with your branch association and genealogy.
The Sojeong-gong branch descends from Yun Gon (尹坤, ?-1422), an early Joseon official with pen names Gukjae and Gugeum, son of Gaeseong magistrate Yun Seung-sun (尹承順). He served as magistrate of Wansan, deputy commander-in-chief and military commander of Gyeongju and Andong, and in 1401 was enrolled as a third-rank jwamyeong merit subject for helping Yi Bang-won (King Taejong) in the Second Strife of Princes and enfeoffed as Lord Papyeong (坡平君). He later served as state councillor, governor of Pyeongan and minister of personnel; his posthumous name was Sojeong (昭靖). His tomb at Yeonpung-ri, Paju, is Gyeonggi Monument No. 106.
Yun Gon's sons include Yun Hui-i and Yun Hui-je by his first wife of the Heungyang Ryu clan, and Yun Sam-san by his second wife of the Cheongju Han clan. Yun Sam-san's son Yun Ho (1424-1496) became father-in-law of King Seongjong with the title Lord Yeongwon, and his daughter was Queen Jeonghyeon, second queen of Seongjong. Yun Pil-sang (尹弼商, 1427-1504), a descendant of Yun Hui-je, became chief state councillor under Seongjong; he was put to death in the 1504 purge and rehabilitated after the Jungjong Restoration.
In later times Yun Ji-seon (尹趾善) became left state councillor and his younger brother Yun Ji-wan (尹趾完, 1635-1718) right state councillor; Yun Ji-wan led the 1682 envoy mission to Japan and is classed as a Soron minister. Some sources place Soron leader Yun Jeung (尹拯) in this line, and some descendants settled at Noseong in Nonsan, South Chungcheong. President Yun Seok-yeol is also described as a 20th-generation descendant of Yun Gon. Since about 80 percent of the clan is said to belong to this branch or the Pandogong branch, it is widespread nationwide, so check your exact line in your genealogy.
The Pando-gong branch descends from Yun Seung-rye (尹承禮), who served as minister of revenue (pando panseo) in late Goryeo. He is described as the 13th or 14th-generation descendant of the founder Yun Sin-dal (sources differ) and a younger brother of Yun Seung-sun, father of Sojeong-gong founder Yun Gon. The branch is said to have split in his sons' generation into the Jehak-gong, Buyun-gong and Jeongjeong-gong lines, the last being the one that produced queens.
His descendant Yun Beon (尹璠, 1384-1448) was posthumously made chief state councillor and Lord Papyeong, with the posthumous name Jeongjeong (貞靖). His seventh daughter was Queen Jeonghui (1418-1483), consort of King Sejo, who after Seongjong's accession ruled as regent from 1469 to 1476, the first Joseon queen to do so; her tomb is Gwangneung in Namyangju. Yun Beon's sons Yun Sa-bun and Yun Sa-heun both became right state councillor. Queen Janggyeong and Queen Munjeong, consorts of King Jungjong, are also linked to this line. Janggyeong seems to descend from Yun Beon's second son Yun Sa-yun, and her brother was Yun Im (尹任). Munjeong was the daughter of Yun Ji-im and her brother was Yun Won-hyeong (尹元衡).
The rivalry between Daeyun (Yun Im) and Soyun (Yun Won-hyeong) led to the Eulsa Literati Purge of 1545, in which Yun Im and his sons were killed, and some sources see this as the start of the branch's decline. Yun Im's son Yun Heung-sin died fighting as commander of Dadaepo in the Imjin War. Independence activist Yun Bong-gil is described as a 32nd-generation descendant of Pando-gong. The branch is spread nationwide, centered on Paju, Gyeonggi, so check your genealogy for your exact line.
The Namwonbaek branch descends from Yun Wi (尹威), said to be the 7th or 8th-generation descendant of the founder Yun Sin-dal (sources differ) and a great-grandson of Yun Gwan. He passed the civil service examination in 1176 (6th year of King Myeongjong) and served as instructor at the National Academy, court diarist, director in the Ministry of Personnel and vice-director of the Office of Guest Reception.
According to tradition, in 1200 (3rd year of King Sinjong) he put down a rebellion in Namwon while on duty in Jeolla and was ennobled as Earl of Namwon (南原伯). His descendants took Namwon as a separate seat, forming the Namwon Yun clan. The clan association now folds Namwonbaek into the Papyeong Yun clan, but the national census still counts the Namwon Yun as a separate seat.
Yun Hyu (尹鑴), a leading Namin figure in the reigns of Hyojong to Sukjong, is introduced as a Namwon Yun. Whether a family is listed as Namwon Yun or as Namwonbaek branch of the Papyeong Yun can differ by genealogy, so check your own. Its clan villages are said to be in Jeolla, including Namwon, and across the country, but we could not confirm specific villages.
The Hamanbaek branch descends from Yun Don (尹敦), grandson of Yun Wi, Earl of Namwon. The clan association counts him as a 10th-generation descendant of the founder. Tradition holds that he passed the civil service examination under King Wonjong of Goryeo, rose to vice-minister of personnel, and after putting down an uprising in Haman was ennobled as Earl of Haman (咸安伯) and granted Haman as his fief.
His son Yun Hui-bo (尹希甫) settled in Haman, and the descendants took Haman as a separate seat, forming the Haman Yun clan. The Papyeong Yun association folds this branch into the clan, but the national census still counts the Haman Yun separately. Some sources place Deposed Queen Yun, mother of Yeonsangun, in the Haman Yun line, which may be why some counts of Papyeong Yun queens reach five, but we could not confirm this.
Its clan villages are said to be in Haman, South Gyeongsang, and across Yeongnam, but we could not confirm specific villages or associations. If you descend from this branch, first check whether your genealogy is listed under the Papyeong Yun or the Haman Yun.
The Jeongjeong-gong branch is the line of Yun Beon (尹璠, 1384-1448), posthumously named Jeongjeong (貞靖), a descendant of Pando-gong Yun Seung-rye. Some sources say the Pando-gong branch split in his sons' generation into the Jehak-gong, Buyun-gong and Jeongjeong-gong lines.
Yun Beon was posthumously made chief state councillor and Lord Papyeong. His daughter Queen Jeonghui was consort of King Sejo and ruled as regent from 1469 to 1476, the first Joseon queen to do so; his sons Yun Sa-bun and Yun Sa-heun became right state councillors. Queen Janggyeong, second consort of King Jungjong, and her brother Yun Im are also placed in this line. One account says two queens came from this branch, but interpretations of the lineage differ, so check your genealogy.
The Deoksan-gun branch is a Papyeong Yun line founded by Yun Eun-hyeong, counted by the clan association as the 9th generation from the founder. His descendants are said to have taken Deoksan as a separate seat, forming the Deoksan Yun clan.
We could not confirm the founder's career, clan villages or notable descendants. Whether a family is listed under Deoksan Yun or the Papyeong Yun can differ by genealogy, so check with your genealogy and clan association.
The Sinnyeong-gun branch is a Papyeong Yun line founded by Yun In-jik, counted by the clan association as the 8th generation from the founder. His descendants are said to have taken Sinnyeong (in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang) as a separate seat, forming the Sinnyeong Yun clan.
We could not confirm the founder's career, clan villages or notable descendants. Whether a family is listed under Sinnyeong Yun or the Papyeong Yun can differ by genealogy, so check with your genealogy and clan association.
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
윤신달(founder of the Papyeong Yun clan), 윤관(celebrated Goryeo general), 윤필상(chief state councillor under Seongjong), 윤임(leader of the Daeyun), 윤원형(leader of the Soyun), 윤황(opponent of peace in the Manchu invasion), 윤선거(scholar), 윤증(Soron leader), 윤봉길(independence activist), 윤동주(poet), 윤석열(20th President of Korea)
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파평 윤씨 figures recognized as independence patriots (National Independence Hall / Gonghun public data). Tap a name for the citation.
파평 윤씨 figures listed by the Presidential Committee or the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators (Minjok Munje Institute).
The Papyeong Yun have clan villages across the country, including Beobwon-eup and Papyeong-myeon in Paju, Wolsan-ri in Namyangju, Guseong-dong in Yongin, Noseong-myeon in Nonsan, Yeoseo-myeon and Janggun-myeon in Sejong, Miwon-myeon in Cheongju, Tanbu-myeon in Boeun, Haebo-myeon in Hampyeong, Gumi, Yecheon and Okpo-eup in Daegu, and parts of Hwanghae Province. Density is high in the Chungcheong and Gyeongsang regions. Which branch lives where differs by branch, so check your genealogy.
Key sites include Yongyeon Pond on Mt. Papyeong (Paju Local Heritage No. 10), the tomb of General Yun Gwan (Historic Site No. 323), the founder's tomb and Bonggangjae in Pohang (Gyeongbuk Cultural Heritage Material No. 201), the tomb of Yun Gon (Gyeonggi Monument No. 106), and in Noseong, Nonsan, Myeongjae House (designated in 1984 as a national folk heritage), Nogang Seowon (founded 1675, a national historic site), Yun Hwang's ancestral lodge (South Chungcheong Cultural Heritage Material No. 391) and Jukrimjae in Changnyeong. Myeongjae House forms a square plan of main and men's quarters with a square pond in front; the surviving buildings show mid-19th-century style and were repaired in later times.
The Papyeong Yun Daejonghoe (clan association) is the central body, with regional and branch associations. We could not confirm its official website, so search for 파평윤씨대종회 to find official information. Generation-name characters (hangnyeol) differ by branch and line; the Munjeonggong, Sobugong and Taewigong branches are said to use their own tables, so ask your branch association or check your genealogy.
The 2015 census counted about 770,932, up from 713,947 in 2000. Though the clan divided into dozens of branches from Yun Gwan, about 80 percent now belong to the Sojeonggong and Pandogong branches, and the Namwon and Haman lines are also counted as separate seats.
The 파평 윤씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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