Korean clans

The Korean bongwan system was adapted from the Chinese family clan system. It is assumed to have been created around the late Silla and early Goryeo period as a result of Silla's sinicization policies.^[1] Taejo of Goryeo promoted the bongwan system to stably distribute a growing population and create a basis for tax revenue, whilst putting an end to the obsolete bone-rank system.^[1]

Numerous clans were created throughout local administrations of all sizes and statuses. Almost all Koreans, including the Yangmin and Cheonmin caste, identified with a bongwan from the early Goryeo to the Joseon period. A bongwan affiliated with a prosperous region was widely seen as a source of personal pride, while members from a lesser or impoverished bongwan often sought to escape their genealogical status.^[1] Changes in administrative divisions profoundly influenced the merging or creation of various clans.^[1]

During the mid-to-late Joseon Dynasty, poor Koreans (commoners and members of the "surname-less class") acquired surnames by purchasing the right to adopt them.^[7] Some even fabricated family trees (jokbo) to claim ancestry from prestigious clans.^[7] This phenomenon was influenced by government policies related to slaves and a desire to elevate their social status.^[7] By the time that the Joseon class system was officially abolished in 1894, nearly all Koreans had a surname.^[8]

Traditionally, a man and a woman in the same clan could not marry, so the combination of the bongwan and the family name of a husband had to differ from that of a wife. This restriction was ruled unconstitutional by the South Korean Constitutional Court in 1997. Surname and a bongwan does not change on marriage.

In South Korea, when adopting a child as a plenary adoption, the adopted child takes the family name and the bon of the dominant (patrilineal or matrilineal) side of the parent.^[9]

When adopting a child as a ordinary adoption, which does not terminate the child's relations with the birth parents, the family name and the bon of the adopted child does not change.^[10][11]

Under the South Korean law, a new surname and a bon may be established with the permission of the family court. This procedure is available to a naturalized Korean citizen who uses a non-Korean surname,^[12] as well as to a person whose exact lineages are unknown.^[13]

If a naturalized Korean citizen wishes to found a surname and a bon, they need to first get a permission of a family court, and found a surname in a Family Relation Registration Office. If the naturalized Korean citizen gained a permission of a family court but did not found a surname and a bon within a month of gaining a permission, an administrative fine of up to 50,000 won could be imposed.^[14]

The determination of a surname and bon for a person whose parents are unknown is left to the discretion of the family court. When the person was found in Seoul, the court generally designates it as 'Hanyang,'^[15] where in 1996 it was reported that over 90% of the children who was abandoned in 1995 in Seoul had the bon of Hanyang.^[16] If the person discovers their birth father or mother after establishing a surname and a bon, they may adopt the surname and bon of that father or mother.^[8]

Parents can change an child's family name for the child's welfare. In this case, the parents must visit a family court to request permission to change the family name.^[8]

• Ancestral home (Chinese)
• Chinese kin
• Korean clan names of foreign origin
• Korean name
• List of Korean surnames
• Place of origin