Great-great-grandson of Seo Hui; Goryeo official who rose to Pansamsa-sa under King Uijong; envoy to Jin and frontier commander
| Life | 1101 ~ 1171 |
| Era | 고려 중기 |
| Clan | 이천 서씨 |
Seo Gong (1101-1171) was a mid-Goryeo official of the Icheon Seo clan, a great-great-grandson of Seo Hui (his epitaph says fourth-generation descendant). He died on 23 August 1171 (20 July by the lunar calendar); the History of Goryeo gives a day earlier, but Wikipedia follows the epitaph.
In 1145 he went as an envoy to the Jin eastern capital as Hapmun-tongsa-sain, and under King Uijong he entered office by hereditary privilege as Gyeongnyeongjeon-pangwan. He rose through Chumiwon-busa (1163), Minister of War and Dongji-chumiwon-sa (1164) and Jichumiwon-sa (1165) to Pansamsa-sa.
He was also skilled in the martial arts: while escorting Uijong to Seogyeong he won silk from the king for his archery, and he served six times as military commander of the northern and eastern frontiers, where soldiers are said to have followed him well. He died the year after the 1170 military coup.
Seo Gong lived under King Uijong (r. 1146-1170), when the aristocratic order peaked before collapsing in the 1170 military coup. He died a year earlier and is remembered as one of the last of the aristocratic-era ministers of the clan.
Wikipedia states that the Icheon Seo continued to produce many ministers and officials after the coup, over as many as fifteen generations.
Not confirmed in sources
Genealogies run Seo Jeong, Seo Gyun, Seo Gong, but Wikipedia gives no separate details on Seo Gyun or his sons. See also the Icheon Seo clan page.