의령 옥씨(宜寧 玉氏) — The single remaining seat of the Ok surname, based in Uiryeong, South Gyeongsang, which traces itself to Ok Jin-seo, a scholar of Tang origin.
The single remaining seat of the Ok surname, based in Uiryeong, South Gyeongsang, which traces itself to Ok Jin-seo, a scholar of Tang origin. In the 2015 Census the 의령 옥씨 clan numbered about 22,452 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 옥, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 의령) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
The Uiryeong Ok clan (宜寧 玉氏) has its ancestral seat in Uiryeong County, South Gyeongsang Province. Records speak of seventeen seats for the Ok surname, but they are said to have been merged into the single Uiryeong Ok seat. The 2015 census counts 19,095 Uiryeong Ok plus 3,357 Uichun Ok, 22,452 in total.
The founder is Ok Jin-seo (玉眞瑞), said to have been one of eight scholars sent from Tang China to Goguryeo; after Goguryeo's fall he taught at Silla's national academy and was enfeoffed as Lord Uichun (宜春君), with the posthumous title Munhye. Because no records survive after him, the lineage cannot be verified, and the clan counts from Ok Eun-jong (玉恩宗), a Goryeo-period Changjeong official, as the 1st generation. A clan source presents Eun-jong, born in 1171, as the first verifiable ancestor, citing a household register found in Gimhae.
Wikipedia says that in the Goryeo period the clan split into a line from Ok Eun-jong and a line from Ok Yeo (玉汝), a pyeongjangsa (state councillor). A clan genealogy chart, however, lists Ok Yeo in the 5th generation under Eun-jong, so the two accounts are given side by side here. Ok Sa-on, a son of Ok An-deok (6th generation from Eun-jong), passed the civil examination in 1389; the son of his younger brother Ok Sa-mi, Ok Go, passed in 1399 and rose to Inspector. According to the Joseon ssijok tongbo, the Sa-mi line seems to have been registered as the Banseong Ok and the Sa-on line as the Uiryeong Ok, later merged into the Uiryeong Ok.
The 1389 graduate appears as 'Wang Sa-on' in one record and 'Ok Sa-on' in another, which has led to a theory that some Gaeseong Wang family members changed their surname to Ok to escape persecution after Yi Seong-gye's founding of Joseon. The 1918 genealogy of the Gaeseong Wang is said to record some Ok-users reverting to Wang. Linking the many clan villages on Geoje Island to this idea is conjecture, and some do not accept it. Other Ok lines such as the Gaeseong Ok are said to have different founders, so confirm which line your family belongs to in your genealogy.
The Joseon period produced 5 civil-exam, 6 military-exam, 4 saengwon and 4 jinsa graduates. Notable figures include the upright official Ok Go, and in modern times the independence activist Ok Gwan-bin, pastor Ok Han-heum, Air Force Chief of Staff Ok Man-ho, economist Ok Dong-seok, politician Ok Jo-nam, musician Ok Gil-seong, and the entertainers Ock Joo-hyun and Ok Taec-yeon.
Changjeong-gong Eun-jong line, Pyeongjangsa-gong Yeo line, Jeongeun-gong Sa-on line, Sa-mi line (merged Banseong Ok)
Changjeong-gong Ok Eun-jong (玉恩宗) is the mid-founder counted as the 1st generation in the clan's genealogy chart. He is said to have been born in 1171 and to have served as a Changjeong official in Goryeo; a household register found in Gimhae is cited as the basis for him as the first verifiable ancestor.
The chart runs through Gyun-ji (2nd), Mun-ryang (3rd) and Seong (4th), with Jeon-baek and the pyeongjangsa Yeo in the 5th, then the jinsa An-deok (6th) and Ok Sa-on, Jeongeun-gong (7th). Most of today's Uiryeong Ok belong to this line.
The official branch name was not confirmed, so 'line' is used. One source gives his birth as the 3rd year of King Gongyang (1389), so dating differs by source.
Pyeongjangsa-gong Ok Yeo (玉汝) held the Goryeo rank of pyeongjangsa, and Wikipedia describes a line that takes him as its first recorded ancestor. The clan's genealogy chart, however, lists him in the 5th generation under Changjeong-gong Eun-jong (the same generation as Jeon-baek), so accounts of the relation between the two lines differ.
Because documents after the founder were lost and the earlier line could not be traced, lines with differing first recorded ancestors are explained to have arisen. Verify descent against your own genealogy.
Ok Sa-on (玉斯溫) was a son of the jinsa Ok An-deok, a 6th-generation descendant of Eun-jong, and passed the civil examination in 1389. Clan material places Jeongeun-gong Sa-on in the 7th generation, followed by Byeolsiwi-gong Ho (8th) and Gamsa-gong Hwa (9th), with their graves at the ancestral cemetery in Sinjeon-ri, Daeui-myeon, Uiryeong.
He is also the figure who appears as 'Wang Sa-on' in the Deunggwarok jeonpyeon, which led to the theory that the Gaeseong Wang changed to Ok. The Joseon ssijok tongbo seems to register this line as the Uiryeong Ok.
Ok Sa-mi was magistrate of Jinseong, a son of Ok An-deok and elder brother of Ok Sa-on. His son was the upright official Ok Go. Since Ok Go is listed under the Banseong Ok in the Joseon ssijok tongbo, the elder brother's line seems to have been registered as the Banseong Ok and the younger brother's as the Uiryeong Ok; they are now merged as the Uiryeong Ok.
Ok Go studied under Gil Jae, rose to Inspector, and is said to be enshrined at Mukgye Seowon in Andong.
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
옥진서(founder by tradition), 옥고(upright official of early Joseon), 옥관빈(independence activist), 옥한흠(pastor of Sarang Community Church), 옥만호(Air Force Chief of Staff), 옥동석(economist), 옥조남(6th National Assembly member), 옥길성(composer), 옥주현(singer and musical actress), 옥택연(2PM member and actor)
Tap a name for the full profile (life, career, grave, descendants).
The clan has lived mainly in the Yeongnam region around Uiryeong (Uichun), where the founder was enfeoffed, and is said to have spread nationwide through wars and upheavals. Wikipedia lists clan villages at Sannam-ri and Sanbuk-ri in Chilgok-myeon, Uiryeong; Gido-ri in Anpyeong-myeon, Uiseong; Suwol-ri in Dosan-myeon, Tongyeong; and Geoje. Clan material also names the Sinban-ri area of Burim-myeon and Sannam-ri. Geoje is so strongly associated with the Ok that it is often called 'Geoje Ok', but the seat is Uiryeong.
According to clan material the ancestral graves lie around Sinjeon-ri, Daeui-myeon, Uiryeong, including those of the 7th-generation Sa-on (Jeongeun-gong), 8th-generation Ho and 9th-generation Hwa. The tombs of the founder and Changjeong-gong are unrecorded. In 1968 the then head of the clan association set up a founder's altar stele inside Gyeongmojae so that founder rites could be held, and in November 2012 a completion ceremony for the rebuilt Uichunsa shrine and an autumn rite took place. Schedules can change, so check with the clan association.
Mukgye Seowon in Gilan-myeon, Andong, is described as enshrining Ok Go together with Kim Gye-haeng (founded 1687, restored 1998).
Clan affairs are handled by the Uiryeong Ok Daejonghoe, and a foundation, the Uiryeong Ok Scholarship Society, has been reported awarding scholarships to descendants at university. The association's official website and contacts were not confirmed.
The generation characters given in Wikipedia are 有 (12th), 啓 (13th), 應 (14th), 成 (15th), 敬 (16th) and 得 or 炳 (17th). Generations appear to be counted with Ok Eun-jong as the 1st; practice may differ by region and lineage, so check against your own genealogy.
The Uiryeong Ok numbered 18,900 people in 4,622 households in 1985 and 19,368 in 6,157 households in 2000. The 2015 census counts 19,095 Uiryeong Ok plus 3,357 Uichun Ok, 22,452 in total. The entire Ok surname numbered about 22,964 in 2000, ranking 88th.
The founder Ok Jin-seo, the eight-scholars legend and the Wang-surname-change theory are traditions or hypotheses, not established fact. The clan's official branch (pa) divisions were not confirmed, so the 'lines' below summarize the lineage as laid out in genealogy charts.
The 의령 옥씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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