Founder of the Damyang Jeon clan; Goryeo official under King Uijong who served as Left Assistant Minister and Participant in Governance and was enfeoffed as Lord of Damyang
| Era | 고려 중기 |
| Clan | 담양 전씨 |
Jeon Deuk-si (田得時) is honored as the founder of the Damyang Jeon clan (潭陽 田氏), a mid-Goryeo official said to have been active under King Uijong (r. 1146-1170). No birth or death dates survive. He is described as coming from a family of local clerks who had lived in Damyang for generations; nothing is known of earlier ancestors.
A Segye Ilbo series says he was selected through the civil examination under Uijong, passed through the posts of Participant in Governance and Left Assistant Minister, was enfeoffed as Lord of Damyang, and received the posthumous title Chungwon (忠元). Namuwiki says he passed the hyeollyang-gwa, but that examination was introduced in 1519 under Jungjong of Joseon, so it cannot belong to Uijong's reign; this is a point to confirm in clan records. His descendants took Damyang, his fief, as their seat.
The line is said to have passed through single heirs from the founder to the 6th generation. The same article notes that four ministers of chief-councillor rank and two lords were produced in that span, so the family was small in number but high in rank. It was in the generation of the three sons of the 6th-generation Jeon Hui-gyeong that the house truly flourished.
According to the Segye Ilbo series, the 2nd generation Jeon Ja-jon served as Privy Council envoy, the 3rd Jeon Seung-yun as Chief Minister, the 4th Jeon Gong-il as Pyeongjangsa, the 5th Jeon Yeong as Chief Councillor and the 6th Jeon Hui-gyeong as Uisa-in (Namuwiki gives Dongji Milchik-sasa for Hui-gyeong). The point made is that the line passed through single heirs yet produced several ministers. Goryeo office titles and generation counts were tidied in later genealogies, so compare with your own clan genealogy.
The distant roots of the Tian/Jeon (田) surname are linked to the tradition that Chen Wan (陳完), a noble of the state of Chen, received the land of Tian in Qi. Among Damyang Jeon genealogies, the preface of the Imjinbo says the line came east from Qi, while the Gapjabo calls them descendants of the Qi royal house. Another account has the line branching from the Gaeseong Wang clan, and some view a native Korean origin as likely since no earlier ancestry can be verified. None is settled, so it is safest not to state any one as fact.
The location of the founder's tomb could not be confirmed. The clan is known to hold a great rite each year for the founder Jeon Deuk-si and the three branch founders.
The line is said to continue through Jeon Ja-jon (2nd, Privy Council envoy), Jeon Seung-yun (3rd, Chief Minister), Jeon Gong-il (4th, Pyeongjangsa), Jeon Yeong (5th, Chief Councillor) and Jeon Hui-gyeong (6th, Uisa-in); the three sons of Jeon Hui-gyeong are the "Three Hermits" Jeon Rok-saeng, Jeon Gwi-saeng and Jeon Jo-saeng. Offices by generation may be written differently in clan records.