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A Study on an Ancestral Record and the Making of the Progenitor in a Traditional Society -Focused on the Case of the Goseong Lees-

  • The Review of Korean History
  • 2009, (96), pp.91-123
  • Publisher : The Historical Society Of Korea
  • Research Area : Humanities > History

park hong gab 1

1국사편찬위원회

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Historically, there have been various kinds of ancestral records in Korea before the establishment of formal recordkeeping. They were made to enhance the familial pride of the ruling class, or to hand over family properties, and to go into government service. The tradition was influenced by the ancestral record of the royal family. From the Goryeo Dynasty to the Joseon Dynasty, it was common to record the family members from the 4 preceding generations (a great grandfather, a grandfather, a father, and a maternal grandfather) and the 4 ensuing generations in both paternal and maternal families, but since the mid-Joseon period, more generations tended to be recorded in the ancestral records. This means that the definition of family, previously extended only to the paternal second cousins, now expanded to include all relatives stemming from the same progenitor. It became increasingly common to include generations that stretched further back in time, and the results of such lengthy record-keeping can be seen today. Records from the late Goryeo dynasty were not difficult to locate for those seeking to bolster their family tree, however records predating the late Goryeo dynasty were not easily located. And among the forefathers the family, usually historically well-known ones tended to be recorded as the progenitor of the family so that it was very rare to record an actual founder of the family as the progenitor in the ancestral records. In the ancestral record of the Goseong Lees, it is possible to find other historical records about the descendents of the family after Lee Jin, who is the 6th generation of the family but any historical records about his ancestors have not been found. Lee Jin was the first one who passed the state examination and went to the capital to go into government service. His ancestors had served as local officials in the Goseong area for generations so they were not historically well-known. In fact, Lee Jon-bi, whose father was Lee Jin, has an unusual epitaph in that only his father was mentioned while his grandfather and great-grandfather were not mentioned. It was not because of the lack of records, it was because there were no famous ones to record about among Lee Jin’s ancestors. This also can be seen in the ancestral record of the Cheolseong Lees which was published in 1467. In 1597, 「Saseonggangmok」as published by Lee Ro, and Lee Soon made a draft of 「Cheollyeongchobo」. They recorded a different family line in their books even though they had met up and discussed it together. This means that it was very hard to locate records predating the late Goryeo dynasty. The ancestral records from the early 18th century became progressively longer as members of each generation maintained and added to them.

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