성산 이씨(星山 李氏) — A clan founded by Yi Neung-il, a late-Silla magnate of Seongju who helped Goryeo's Taejo, centred on Hangae village, and known for Yeongnam scholars and independence activists such as Yi Won-jo, Yi Jin-sang and Yi Seung-hui.
A clan founded by Yi Neung-il, a late-Silla magnate of Seongju who helped Goryeo's Taejo, centred on Hangae village, and known for Yeongnam scholars and independence activists such as Yi Won-jo, Yi Jin-sang and Yi Seung-hui. In the 2000 Census the 성산 이씨 clan numbered about 75,210 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 이, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 성산) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
The Seongsan Yi (星山 李氏) take Seongju County in North Gyeongsang as their seat. Seongsan was Seongju's Silla-era name; the founder Yi Neung-il was from Seongsan and was enfeoffed as Count of Seongsan, so his descendants took it as their seat. According to Korean Wikipedia the 1914 clan assembly fixed the seat as Seongsan, the Silla place name, following the founder's home; the 2000 census counted 75,210 (the 2015 figure was not confirmed).
Besides the Seongsan Yi, the Seongju area had the Seongju, Byeokjin, Gyeongsan, Gwangpyeong and Gari Yi. Wikipedia explains that when Jeongjo barred old ancestral seats from official records they were all for a time called the 'Seongju Yi', and although each later recovered its seat, confusion remains in records. Namu Wiki quotes a record that 'two Yi clans arose in Seongju, one descended from General Yi Chong-eon of Byeokjin and the other from Minister Yi Neung-il', and for this reason some writings list Seongsan Yi figures as 'Seongju Yi'. Jokbo World has a separate entry for the Seongju Yi, but it is a distinct seat with a different founder and lineage, so this entry treats the Seongsan Yi separately.
Yi Neung-il was a late-Silla magnate of the Seongju area who helped Wang Geon found Goryeo. He joined the 925 campaign against Gyeon Hwon and became a general of the headquarters; after the 936 reunification he was named a merit subject and the character il was added to his name, and he is said to have married Taejo's daughter Lady Jeongsun. Some accounts, however, mention lines unrelated to him, so the genealogy has several theories.
The Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia says the family first lived in Gyeongsan-ri, Seongju-eup, and in the fifth generation Yi Gyeon-su moved to Jeonggok in Bongye-ri, Byeokjin. The line of his eldest son Yi Gwang divided into the Inju-gong, Gimsan-gong, Jeongeon-gong and Bongik-gong branches, and that of the second son Yi Jik became the Giguk-gong branch. Within these, Yi U of the Jeongeon-gong branch and his descendants settled in Hangae village in Daesan-ri, Wolhang-myeon, which became the clan's central village. Wikipedia's article on Yi Won-jo adds that his ancestors lived in Seongju town until a post station arrived and people managing horses and relays gathered there, after which they moved to Daesan-ri as an unsuitable place for yangban, and in 1721 his great-great-grandfather Yi I-sin settled near today's Eungwa Head House. Hangae is counted with Yangdong in Gyeongju and Hahoe in Andong as one of the three great folk villages of Yeongnam and is a National Folk Cultural Heritage; Namu Wiki says it first formed in 1450 under Sejong and has 75 old houses.
In late Goryeo Yi Yeo-ryang was reportedly pushed out after being ordered not to follow King U's procession and retired to Mt. Geumo after Joseon's founding. In early Joseon Yi Hang served Jungjong as Inspector-General, Minister of Personnel and Left Second State Councillor, and in the Imjin War the father and son Yi Deuk-chun and Yi Dong-gil are said to have fought in the militia. Yi Sa-ryong, a soldier of the 1636 war, is enshrined at Chungjeolsa but his exploits were not confirmed. In late Joseon Hangae produced Yi Won-jo (Eungwa) and his nephew Yi Jin-sang (Hanju), opening the Hanju school of Yeongnam Neo-Confucianism, and Yi Jin-sang's son Yi Seung-hui worked for independence between the Hague, Paris and Manchuria. In modern times the monk Cheongdam (Yi Sun-ho) and the longest-serving Speaker Yi Hyo-sang are introduced as Seongsan Yi.
Inju-gong-pa, Gimsan-gong-pa, Jeongeon-gong-pa, Bongik-gong-pa, Giguk-gong-pa
The Inju-gong branch is one of four that split from the line of Yi Gwang, eldest son of the fifth-generation Yi Gyeon-su (Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia). The founder's name and career were not confirmed in other sources. A branch with the same name exists in the Suwon Baek clan, so do not confuse them and check the Seongsan Yi genealogy.
The Gimsan-gong branch split from Yi Gwang's line and is said to have lived in Jukgok in Hwajuk-ri, Gacheon-myeon, among other places. Namu Wiki writes it as 'Geumsan-gong', so the spelling differs by source and needs checking.
The Jeongeon-gong branch split from Yi Gwang's line; Yi U and his descendants settled in Hangae village in Daesan-ri, Wolhang-myeon, which is counted with Yangdong in Gyeongju and Hahoe in Andong as one of the three great folk villages of Yeongnam. Yi Won-jo, Yi Jin-sang and Yi Seung-hui are introduced as from Hangae, and Namu Wiki records Yi Seung-hui as of the 30th generation with the 'Hui' character in this branch.
The Bongik-gong branch is introduced as splitting from Yi Gwang's line. The founder's name and seats were not confirmed. Bongik daebu was a Goryeo-era honorary rank, so the branch name may derive from it, but this was not confirmed.
The Giguk-gong branch descends from Yi Jik, second son of Yi Gyeon-su (Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia). The Chinese characters of the branch name and the founder's deeds were not confirmed, so please check the genealogy and clan association.
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
이능일(founding ancestor, Count of Seongsan), 이항(Left Second State Councillor under Jungjong), 이원구(scholar in retirement), 이원조(Eungwa, magistrate of Jeju and Minister of Works), 이진상(Hanju, simjeuk-ri theorist), 이승희(independence activist), 청담 이순호(head of the Jogye Order headquarters), 이효상(Speaker of the National Assembly)
Tap a name for the full profile (life, career, grave, descendants).
성산 이씨 figures recognized as independence patriots (National Independence Hall / Gonghun public data). Tap a name for the citation.
The Digital Seongju Culture Encyclopedia lists the branches as Inju-gong, Gimsan-gong, Jeongeon-gong, Bongik-gong and Giguk-gong (Namu Wiki writes 'Geumsan-gong', so the spelling differs). The line of Yi Gwang, son of Yi Gyeon-su, continues as the first four and that of Yi Jik as the Giguk-gong branch. The specific deeds of each branch founder were not confirmed in other sources, so please consult the genealogy and clan association. The Gimsan-gong branch is said to have lived in Jukgok in Hwajuk-ri, Gacheon-myeon, among other places.
Wikipedia lists Hangae village in Wolhang-myeon, Daebong-ri in Yongam-myeon, Odo-ri in Seonnam-myeon, Gyeongsan-ri in Seongju-eup, Yongjeon-ri and Daeui-ri in Gogyeong-myeon, Yeongcheon, and Yungtong-ri in Angang-eup, Gyeongju, as clan villages. As of June 2010 the Digital Seongju encyclopedia records 138 households in Dongam 1-ri, Seonnam-myeon, 34 in Bongsan village of Daebong-ri, Yongam-myeon, and 168 in Daesan 1-ri and Anpo 4-ri, Wolhang-myeon.
The shrine Gyeongwonsa in Gyeongsan-ri, Seongju-eup, honours the founder Yi Neung-il, and Chungjeolsa in the same town honours Yi Sa-ryong. Hangae village in Daesan-ri, Wolhang-myeon, contains the Eungwa and Hanju head houses, and the Sambong Study Hall (built 1897) honouring Hanju Yi Jin-sang. The pavilion Mangwijeong in Pocheon valley, Gacheon, is known as built by Yi Won-jo after he returned home in 1851 and is North Gyeongsang Cultural Heritage Material No. 462. Designation numbers and names may be revised, so check the Korea Heritage portal.
Rather than great power as royal in-laws, the Seongsan Yi are widely known as a Yeongnam sarim family that kept learning alive around Hangae village. The Hanju school line from Yi Won-jo and Yi Jin-sang to Yi Seung-hui, and Yi Seung-hui's path from orthodox anti-Western thought to the independence movement, stand out. In modern times figures have come from politics, religion and business. Wikipedia's list also names Yi Su-bin, Yi Hae-seong and Yi Wang-geun among others, but living persons and figures with thin sources are not covered here.
The 2000 census counted 75,210; the 2015 figure and the association's official website were not confirmed. Generation characters differ by branch and are not given. Namu Wiki records Yi Seung-hui as of the 30th generation with the 'Hui' (熙) character in the Jeongeon-gong branch; generation names are set by branch and generation, so please check the genealogy.
Accounts of Yi Neung-il differ among Wikipedia, the Digital Seongju encyclopedia and Namu Wiki, so only points on which they agree are given. Yi Yeo-ryang, Yi Deuk-chun, Yi Sa-ryong, Yi Seok-mun and Yi Se-in are mentioned with their activities, but their seats and deeds could not be cross-checked in other sources, so no separate person entries were made. More figures can be added as sources are confirmed.
The 성산 이씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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