서산 류씨(瑞山 柳氏) — A clan seated at Seosan in South Chungcheong, said to descend from Ryu Seong-gan, enfeoffed Prince Seoryeong. It is known for Ryu Suk, a merit subject under King Gongmin, and Ryu Bang-taek, an astronomer who took part in making the Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido.
A clan seated at Seosan in South Chungcheong, said to descend from Ryu Seong-gan, enfeoffed Prince Seoryeong. It is known for Ryu Suk, a merit subject under King Gongmin, and Ryu Bang-taek, an astronomer who took part in making the Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido. In the 2015 Census the 서산 류씨 clan numbered about 31,933 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 류, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 서산) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
Jeongsuk-gong-pa, Munhui-gong-pa, Taejae-gong-pa
The Jeongsuk-gong branch descends from Ryu Bang-taek (posthumous name Jeongsuk), a late-Goryeo head of the Office of Astronomy who took part in making the Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido. Wikipedia places under it the Sayong-gong (Seongju), Sijik-gong (Gwangju, with Bocheon-gong and Seolgang-gong below), Nokssa-gong (Namwon) and Mudong Cheosa-gong (Cheongju) branches.
Generation counts and the founders of sub-branches were not confirmed, so members should check their genealogy.
The Munhui-gong branch descends from Ryu Suk (posthumous name Munhui), who is said to have been named a merit subject several times under King Gongmin. Wikipedia places under it the Seocheon Gunsu-gong (Seosan), Gwangpungjeong-gong (Gyeongju), Hyeongam-gong, Taejae-gong (Yeongcheon) and Champhan-gong (Seosan) branches.
The generation count was not confirmed.
The Taejae-gong branch, also called the Yeongcheon branch, takes Ryu Bang-seon (pen name Taejae) as its founder. He was a poet who studied under Byeon Gye-ryang and Gwon Geun and is said to have taught Seo Geo-jeong and Han Myeong-hoe. Wikipedia places it under the Munhui-gong branch.
The generation count was not confirmed.
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
Ryu Suk(Goryeo official), Ryu Bang-taek(astronomer, Goryeo to early Joseon), Ryu Baek-yu(official), Ryu Bang-seon(early-Joseon scholar), Ryu Yun-gyeom(Joseon official)
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The Seosan Ryu clan takes Seosan in South Chungcheong as its seat and is also called the Seoryeong Ryu. Its founding ancestor is Ryu Seong-gan (柳成澗), who is said to have been enfeoffed Prince Seonyeong, after which his descendants kept Seoryeong or Seosan as their seat. He is presumed to be a son of Wang Gi, Earl of Hoean and a grandson of King Munjong of Goryeo.
Some scholars suggest royal kin who left the court took a maternal surname, and explain the Ryu name as following that of Princess Daeryeong, a daughter of King Sukjong. The 1740 Gyeongsin genealogy of the Munhwa Ryu recorded the clan as an adopted line of Ryu Sun of the Munhwa Ryu, but dating shows Ryu Seong-gan lived about a century before Ryu Sun, so it is widely held not to be a Munhwa branch. Ryu Bang-taek and Ryu Suk are cited as central ancestors.
The 2015 census is cited as about 31,933 members. Wikipedia explains that this figure combines 6,172 recorded as Seosan Ryu with Seoryeong, Seonyeong and Seoyeong Ryu and several Seosan, Seonyeong, Seoryeong and Seoyeong Yu variants.
Clan villages are listed in Jamhong-dong, Buseok-myeon and Inji-myeon in Seosan, as well as Cheonan, Daejeon and Gwangsan-gu in Gwangju; the clan is also said to have once lived in Sinchon, Hwanghae.
Ryu Suk (柳淑, 1316-1368), presented as a great-grandson of the founder, is the leading Goryeo figure. Ryu Suk passed the examination in 1340 and under King Gongmin is said to have been named a merit subject for accompanying the king to Yan, for removing Ki Cheol's faction and for resisting the Red Turbans, and was enfeoffed Lord Seonyeong. Slandered by Sin Don, he returned home in 1365 and was strangled in Yeonggwang; in 1376 he was enshrined in King Gongmin's shrine, with the posthumous name Munhui.
Ryu Bang-taek (柳方澤, 1320-1402), described as Ryu Suk's cousin, was an astronomer who headed the Office of Astronomy (Seoun-gwan). He is said to have worked with Gwon Geun on the Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido star chart in 1395. His son Ryu Baek-yu topped the civil examination in 1369 and is said to have been exiled in 1391 for criticizing land reform.
Ryu Bang-taek, honored for refusing to serve a second dynasty, is said to have been enshrined at Samungak in Donghaksa on Gyeryongsan in 1621; his posthumous name is Jeongsuk. Ryu Baek-yu is recorded as a left remonstrator-general in 1407.
Ryu Bang-seon (柳方善, 1388-1443), pen name Taejae, studied under Byeon Gye-ryang and Gwon Geun, excelled at poetry, and is said to have taught Seo Geo-jeong, Han Myeong-hoe and Gwon Ram. Implicated in the case of Min Mu-gu through his father Ryu Gi, he spent long years in exile, including in Yeongcheon. His son Ryu Yun-gyeom (b. 1420) passed the examination in 1462 and is said to have served as vice director of the Hongmungwan and remonstrator-general.
Namuwiki lists 17 branches: Yongheon-gong, Jeongsuk-gong, Daesagan-gong, Munsuk-gong, Pangwan-gong, Munhui-gong, Hanseong Jwayun-gong, Gwangpungjeong-gong, Gunsu-gong, Taejae-gong, Champhan-gong, Jaan-gong, Songam-gong, Cheosa-gong, Seolgang-gong, Yesan-gong and Bocheon-gong.
Wikipedia groups them in two lines. Under Ryu Bang-taek's Jeongsuk-gong branch are Sayong-gong (Seongju), Sijik-gong (Gwangju, with Bocheon-gong and Seolgang-gong below), Nokssa-gong (Namwon) and Mudong Cheosa-gong (Cheongju); under Ryu Suk's Munhui-gong branch are Seocheon Gunsu-gong (Seosan), Gwangpungjeong-gong (Gyeongju), Hyeongam-gong, Taejae-gong (Yeongcheon, Ryu Bang-seon) and Champhan-gong (Seosan). Founders and generations are not documented for many branches, so members should check their genealogy.
The best known from Goryeo and Joseon are Ryu Suk, Ryu Bang-taek, Ryu Baek-yu, Ryu Bang-seon and Ryu Yun-gyeom. Namuwiki also lists Ryu Baek-sun (d. 1420), said to have served as chief academic in 1406 and left remonstrator-general in 1408 before becoming governor of Illyeong, though his relation to Ryu Baek-yu is unclear in the sources.
Modern figures mentioned include Hanyang University professor Yu Byeong-seok, Chungnam National University professor emeritus Yu Byeong-ju and Seoul Family Court chief Yu Won-gyu.
Ryu Bang-taek is said to be enshrined at Samungak on Gyeryongsan together with Jeong Mong-ju, Yi Saek and Gil Jae, and an observatory and meteorology science museum in Seosan bears his name. He is said to have asked that no mound or stele be built for his grave; its exact location could not be confirmed.
The clan association is the Seosan Ryu Daejonghoe, with a site at ssryu.com. On the genealogy side, the 1740 Munhwa Ryu Gyeongsin record has long been debated. Please contact the association for contacts and publication schedules.
For other branch associations, see the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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