Lee (Korean name)

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Lee (Korean name)
Hangul이 (리 applies only to 李)
Hanja李; 異 and 伊 are rare
Revised RomanizationI (Ri)
McCune-ReischauerYi (Ri)
Note: North Korean usage is in parentheses

Lee is the common English spelling of 이 (pronounced [iː]), a common Korean family name. 이 (李) is the second most common (after Kim) in Korea, 이 (異) and 이 (伊) being relatively rare. The name is sometimes also transliterated as Yi, Ri, Rhie, or Rhee. The pronunciation of 李 as 리 is still common in North Korea.

The hanja 李 literally means "plum" or "judge."

Contents

[edit] Clans

As with all Korean family names, the holders of the Lee surname are divided into different patrilineal clans, or lineages, known in Korean as bon-gwan, based on their ancestral seat. Most such clans trace their lineage back to a specific founder. This system was at its height under the yangban aristocracy of the Joseon Dynasty, but it remains in use today. There are approximately 241 such clans claimed by South Koreans.

[edit] Deoksu clan

The founder of this clan was Yi Dong-su, an official of the Goryeo period. This was a prominent yangban clan during the Joseon Dynasty, producing figures including the admiral Yi Sun-sin and the philosopher Yulgok Yi I. The clan seat, Deoksu, corresponds to Deoksu-hyeon, an old division of what is now Kaep'ung-gun in Kaesong city, North Korea.

[edit] Yongin clan

The founder of Yonhin clan was Kil-kwon who helped to found Goryeo.

[edit] Gyeongju clan

The founder of this clan was Yi Al-pyeong, one of the original village headmen of Silla, who chose Bak Hyeokgeose as the first king. According to the Samguk Sagi, the Yi name was officially bestowed on the family by King Yuri around 9 CE. Prominent members include the Silla general Yi Sa-bu and the Choson-era scholar Yi Hwang, as well as Yi Oh-sung, one of the "Oh-sung and Han-um" scholar pair from the Choson era.

[edit] Yeoju clan

Prominent members of this clan include the Joseon Dynasty philosopher Seongho Yi Ik.

[edit] Jeonju clan

The founder of this clan was Yi Han, a high official of Silla. His 22nd-generation descendant, Yi Seonggye, went on to found the Joseon(Chosun) Dynasty. Famous members of this clan include King Sejong the Great and the first president of modern Korea, Syngman Rhee

[edit] Danyang clan

The founder of this clan was Jeong Dojeon, who was the first Prime Minister of Joseon and had close relations to King Yi Seonggye. He bestowed upon him the right to start his clan, a right only a yangban could ask, thus Jeong Dojeon created a new yangban clan. The clan's ancestral seat is Danyang.

[edit] Yangsan clan

The founder is Yi Man-young, an internal minister in Korea following the fall of the Koryo dynasty. He died of strangulation near an isolated mountain.

[edit] Su Ahn clan

About 38 generations before were the original Chinese. Su Ahn, located in North Korea is also a prominent clan. Born in 1910, Lee, Ki Young, a member of his clan was a former CEO of one of Korea's first and biggest construction company, a feat so prestigious that he was one of the 200 most successful people in Korea at his time.

[edit] Seongju clan

The founder of this clan was Soon Yu (Korean:순유, Traditional Chinese:純由), a prominent official of late Silla. His 12th-generation descendant Jang Kyung (Korean:장경, Traditional Chinese:長庚) was also a prominent official of the Koryeo dynasty. Eight generations of Jang Kyung's descendants yielded 75 civil examination qualifiers. As of a 2000 census conducted by the ROK, 186,188 Koreans of the Seongju Yi clan live in South Korea.

[edit] List

Famous Koreans with this family name:

[edit] See also

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