Goryeo founding merit subject; founder (or mid-founder) of the Cheonan Jeon clan, one of the "Three Loyal Lords"
| Life | 927 |
| Era | 고려 건국기 |
| Clan | 천안 전씨 |
Jeon Rak (全樂, d. 927) is traditionally regarded as a founding merit subject who helped Taejo Wang Geon of Goryeo, and his descendants honor him as founder or mid-founder of the Cheonan Jeon clan. Korean Wikipedia lists him as a 29th-generation descendant of the primal ancestor Jeon Seop (another source says 16th); generation counts vary, so check genealogies.
Clan tradition holds that at the Battle of Gongsan (Palgongsan, Daegu) in 927 he died protecting Wang Geon together with Sin Sung-gyeom and others, was posthumously made Samsa Jwabokya and was enfeoffed as Prince Cheonan (Cheonan buwongun, or "Cheonan-gun" in some sources); his descendants took Cheonan as their seat in his honor. He is said to have been called one of the "Three Loyal Lords" (Samchung-gong) with the brothers Jeon I-gap and Jeon Ui-gap. However, the Goryeosa names Kim Rak (金樂), not Jeon Rak, as the general who died with Sin Sung-gyeom at Gongsan, so these accounts should be read as genealogical and clan tradition.
The Three Loyal Lords are said to be Jeon I-gap, Jeon Ui-gap and Jeon Rak. Some Wikipedia passages call Jeon Rak a cousin of Jeon I-gap, so accounts of the lineage are not consistent. The Cheonan Jeon and the Jeongseon Jeon clans both honor Jeon Seop, one of the ten Baekje founding merit subjects, as primal ancestor, and in the Jeongseon line Jeon I-gap is revered as founder.
Lineages and records may differ by genealogy and clan tradition; check your own family genealogy.
An altar to Jeon Seop and the Three Loyal Lords (Jeon I-gap, Jeon Ui-gap and Jeon Rak) is said to stand in Imun-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul.
His line continued through late Goryeo figures such as Jeon Seung, Jeon Sin and the grand academician Jeon Ik, and branched into the many lines of the Cheonan Jeon clan. For the Three Loyal Lords tradition, including Jeon I-gap, see also the Jeongseon Jeon clan page.