Late-Goryeo civil official; top graduate of the 1269 National Academy examination; mayor of Pyongyang
| Life | 1253 ~ 1321 |
| Era | 고려 후기 |
| Clan | 온양 방씨 |
Bang U-seon (方于宣) was a civil official of late Goryeo of the Onyang Bang clan. His original name was Bang Seon-ro and his pen name Gyeongjae. The genealogy says he was born in 1253 at Aenggye-ri in central Gaegyeong. As the 12th-generation ancestor whose sons founded the clan's main branches, he is the common ancestor of most of today's Onyang Bang.
According to the examination treatise of the Goryeosa, he placed first in the National Academy examination of April 1269 supervised by Won Bu. The Goryeosa biography of Won Bu records an anecdote: when Won Bu, now head of the state councillors, asked four or five of his former examinees how people judged him, none dared answer until Bang U-seon, seated last, said, "People say your governing is like your surname" (won, "round"). Won Bu laughed and joked back about Bang's own surname (bang, "square").
In 1302 he served with Jo Gan, Jeong Seon and Seol Cho as an examiner testing which national academy professors had mastered the Six Classics. In 1306, as director of the Office of Guest Reception and historiographer, he wrote the epitaph of Jeong In-gyeong; in 1307, as a Hallim academician, he accompanied Jo In-gyu to congratulate the Yuan emperor on his birthday, and the next year he wrote Jo In-gyu's epitaph. According to the annals of King Chungseon in the Goryeosa, he was appointed mayor of Pyongyang and pacification commissioner of Anjeong-do in 1311. The genealogy says he died in 1321 as a state councillor with the posthumous name Munjeong, and the Dongmunseon preserves a poem written that year by Hong Yak, back from Yuan, on visiting his old house in Aenggye-ri.
According to the genealogy he had four sons: Bang Seo, founder of the Pando Panseo-gong branch, Bang Hyeon of the Ganui-gong branch, Bang Hwon of the Allyeomsa-gong branch and Bang Jeok of the Taesanggyeong-gong branch; the Daejanggun-gong branch came from the line of his younger brother Bang U-beon.
His sons Bang Seo (Panseo-gong), Bang Hyeon (Ganui-gong), Bang Hwon (Allyeomsa-gong) and Bang Jeok (Taesanggyeong-gong) became branch founders; the Panseo-gong line produced Bang Sun, Bang Jin and Bang Jeong-hwan.