A Goguryeo general handed down as the founding ancestor of the Jinju Kang clan (his historical existence is disputed)
| Era | 고구려 (전승) |
| Clan | 진주 강씨 |
Kang I-sik (姜以式) is a general of Goguryeo who is handed down as the founding ancestor of the Jinju Kang clan. However, his deeds are not confirmed in the official histories (jeongsa) and survive only through works such as Sin Chae-ho's Joseon Sanggosa (Ancient History of Joseon) and the Jinju Kang Clan Genealogy compiled in the late Joseon period.
According to the genealogical tradition, he was born in 550 in Guangdong of the Southern Dynasties in China, the son of the Vice Minister Kang Cheol-sang, and being gifted in martial arts and military strategy, he took first place at the Dongmyeong Assembly (東明大會) at the age of 24. As the commander-general of the western Liaodong command, he guarded the border together with Eulji Mundeok, and when Emperor Wen of Sui sent an insolent state letter, he is said to have argued for a hard-line response, declaring, "A letter like this should be answered not with a brush but with a sword." He is then said to have greatly repelled the Sui invasion in the vicinity of Imyu Pass (臨渝關), for which he rose to Supreme Commander of Troops (Byeongma Dowonsu, 兵馬都元帥).
However, the official histories closer to his own time, including the Samguk Sagi, contain no record whatsoever of Kang I-sik, and the Seogwak Jamnok and Daedong Unhae that Sin Chae-ho is said to have cited no longer survive. Moreover, the title "Byeongma Dowonsu" that he supposedly held appeared in China only after the fall of Goguryeo, and in Korea it was an official title introduced in the Goryeo period; for these reasons many point out that it is difficult to regard him as a real figure of the Goguryeo era. Accordingly, the prevailing view in today's scholarly community is that Kang I-sik was a figure of tradition shaped amid the late-Joseon movement to venerate ancestors (sungjo).
The Joseon Sanggosa relates that his tomb stood before Wonsurim Station (元帥林驛) in Shenyang, China, with a stele inscribed "Tomb of Lord Kang, Marshal of Troops (兵馬元帥姜公之塚)," but this is now difficult to confirm. At present his portrait and spirit tablet are enshrined at Bongsansa (鳳山祠) in Sangbong-dong, Jinju, and the Jinju Kang clan honors him as its founding ancestor.
It is said that his descendant Kang Jin (姜縉) was enfeoffed as Marquis of Jinyang (晉陽侯) and took Jinju as his ancestral seat, and today's Jinju Kang clan continues through that line.