월성 박씨(月城 朴氏) — A clan seated at Wolseong-dong in Gyeongju, said to descend from Park Eon-ui, Grand Prince Wolseong and youngest son of Silla's King Gyeongmyeong. It is a distinct seat from the Gyeongju Park clan, whose genealogy differs.
A clan seated at Wolseong-dong in Gyeongju, said to descend from Park Eon-ui, Grand Prince Wolseong and youngest son of Silla's King Gyeongmyeong. It is a distinct seat from the Gyeongju Park clan, whose genealogy differs. In the 2015 Census the 월성 박씨 clan numbered about 26,565 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 박, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 월성) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
Chamui-gong, Sajeong-gong, Goam-gong, Jeonjeok-gong, Sema-gong, Jinsa-gong, Seolbong-gong, Champan-gong, Hyeongam-gong, Busa-gong, Songgye-gong branches
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
박언의(founder·traditionally Grand Prince Wolseong), 박휘(Goryeo panyeolsa·first mid-founder), 박인육(Goryeo official under Hyeonjong), 박을규(founder of the Uiheung Park clan)
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The Wolseong Park clan (月城 朴氏) takes Wolseong-dong in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, as its seat. Wolseong ("Moon Fortress") was the site of the Silla royal palace and is also an old name for Gyeongju. The clan reveres Silla's founder Park Hyeokgeose as its remote ancestor and Park Eon-ui (朴彦儀), said to have been the youngest of King Gyeongmyeong's eight sons and enfeoffed as Grand Prince Wolseong, as its founder. Wikipedia notes that this account was shaped when genealogies were compiled in later times, so the Silla-prince stage is best treated as tradition.
Documented descent begins in early Goryeo. Park Hwi (朴徽), said to have served as a pangyeolsa under King Hyejong, is counted as the first mid-founder, while some sources treat Park In-yuk (朴仁育), a minor Goryeo official under King Hyeonjong, as the second mid-founder or the "true first generation". Sources differ on which of the two is called the mid-founder.
Tradition, as summarized on Namuwiki and similar sources, holds that Gyeongmyeong-line Park seats branched from the king's eight sons: Miryang (eldest, Grand Prince Milseong), Goryeong, Hamyang, Juksan, Chungju/Sangju, Muan, Chuncheon, and finally Wolseong from the youngest, Grand Prince Wolseong Park Eon-ui. Other seats, such as Bannam, do not accept the "eight princes" story, so this is a tradition held by some seats, not an agreed genealogy of all Parks.
The Wolseong Park clan is a separate seat from the Gyeongju Park clan. The Gyeongju Park clan descends from a line traced to King Pasa and takes Park Sang (first named Park Ang), a 38th-generation descendant, as founder (see Gyeongju Park), whereas Wolseong Park traces to Park Eon-ui of the Gyeongmyeong line. Because both names point to Gyeongju, older materials and everyday usage sometimes mix them, but current statistics and genealogies keep the two apart. Some texts say Gyeongju Park is "also called Wolseong Park"; this appears to be a trace of the older mixing and does not match the present distinction.
According to Wikipedia, the clan counted 5,120 households and 20,506 people in 1985, 7,251 households and 22,917 people in 2000, and 26,565 people in the 2015 census. No separate description of home regions could be confirmed in public sources; the clan is presumably concentrated around Gyeongju and the Yeongnam region.
The Uiheung Park clan is said to have separated from Wolseong Park. Its founder Park Eul-gyu (朴乙規) was originally Wang Eul-gyu of the Haeju Wang family and served as Minister of Military Affairs in late Goryeo. After the dynasty fell he is said to have hidden in Uiheung (now Gunwi) to escape persecution and in 1401 took his maternal family's surname, Wolseong Park, changing his name to Park Eul-gyu and adopting Uiheung as his seat. The Joseon official Park Su-geom (1629-1698) is among known descendants.
Wikipedia, citing the Wolseong Park Daedong Sebo, lists some thirty branches, including Chamui-gong, Sajeong-gong, Goam-gong, Jeonjeok-gong, Sema-gong, Jinsa-gong, Seolbong-gong, Champan-gong, Hyeongam-gong, Busa-gong and Songgye-gong. Founder names, generations and lines could not be confirmed in public sources, so no branch cards are provided here. Please check your branch in your family genealogy.
The clan uses generation-name characters from the 59th to 74th generations, with characters such as 祚, 斗, 鉉, 永, 海, 相, 根, 熙, 炳, 在, 培, 鎭, 鎬, 泰, 淵, 柱 and 植 rotating through the Five Elements. An exact generation-by-generation table could not be read reliably from public sources.
Wikipedia's Wolseong Park entry links Park Cheol-jun as a notable member but gives no detail. Other notable figures could not be confirmed in public sources, apart from Park Su-geom of the Uiheung line mentioned above.
The 월성 박씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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