Name Concepts
At first, family names were limited to kings and aristocrats during the Goryeo dynasty, but gradually spread to the commoners during the later Goryeo and Joseon periods. To dissociate themselves from commoners, yangbans devised a complex system of names, also driven by Confucian customs imported from China. Clan members however always kept their land origin (e.g. Pyeongsan) and their main branch division name (also called pa in Korean). The pa often referred to an aristocratic or authority title bestowed upon the branch founder, and served to denote the origin of the clan member. One such powerful clan branch is the Sagangong pa, which originated by Shin Ho during the Joseon dynasty.
It is however only after the Japanese occupation that the concept of family names was enforced to the whole population, through the Japonification of family names (see Korean name).
During the japonification, the most popular names were chosen by many Koreans (Kim and Lee), as they were associated with the most powerful families at the time. The family name of Shin (Korean name) was comparatively chosen by fewer Koreans, though a large portion of the current Korean population with the surname Shin most likely do not belong to the original Pyeongsan Shin branches.
Read more about this topic: Pyeongsan Shin Clan
Famous quotes containing the word concepts:
“During our twenties...we act toward the new adulthood the way sociologists tell us new waves of immigrants acted on becoming Americans: we adopt the host culture’s values in an exaggerated and rigid fashion until we can rethink them and make them our own. Our idea of what adults are and what we’re supposed to be is composed of outdated childhood concepts brought forward.”
—Roger Gould (20th century)
“It is impossible to dissociate language from science or science from language, because every natural science always involves three things: the sequence of phenomena on which the science is based; the abstract concepts which call these phenomena to mind; and the words in which the concepts are expressed. To call forth a concept, a word is needed; to portray a phenomenon, a concept is needed. All three mirror one and the same reality.”
—Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794)