Shin (Korean name)

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Shin (Korean name)
Hangul 신
Hanja 申,辛,愼
Revised Romanization Sin
McCune-Reischauer Sin

Shin is one of the few family names of the Korean people in Korea.

Contents

[edit] Clans

There are three Chinese characters for the Shin surname. Between these three characters, there are five different clans. Each Shin clan descends from a different founding ancestor. One of the Shin clans traces its origins to China. Members of the various Shin clans can be found throughout the Korean peninsula.

As with other Korean family names, the holders of the "Sin" (also spelled as "Shin","Synn" or "Cynn") family name are divided into various clans, each known by the name of a town or city, called bon-gwan in Korean. Usually that town or city is the one where the clan's founder lived. There are two lines of Sin: (1) Pyeongsan Shin and (2) Goryeong Shin. Although the two clans, Pyeongsan Shin and Goryeong Shin, share the same Chinese character, they are unrelated in heritage.

Shrine of Shin Sung-gyeom in northern Daegu.
Shrine of Shin Sung-gyeom in northern Daegu.

Pyeongsan Shin makes up about 70% of all the populations with the name Shin using the Chinese character 申. The clan's founder was general Shin Sung-gyeom, originally named Samneungsan without a family name, before being given a surname.

According to the family legend, one day when Taejo of Goryeo and his generals went out hunting in the land Pyeongsan, Taejo saw three geese flying above them, and asked his generals whether any of them can shoot the geese down. The general who volunteered was Shin Sung-gyeom, and asked Taejo which one he should shoot. Taejo asked Shin to shoot the third goose by the left wing, and to Taejo's surprise, Shin completed the task. Taejo was highly impressed and granted Shin with 300 gyul (ancient measurement of area) of local land, which became Shin Sung-gyeom's hometown.

Shin Sung-gyeom also saved the life of Taejo of Goryeo in a disastrous battle with Hubaekje near present-day Daegu in the early 10th century. Taejo awarded General Shin the clan name Pyeongsang Sin, after his hometown, for his loyalty and bravery he showed in the battle. Other prominent members of this clan in more recent times include the 19th-century pansori writer Shin Jae-hyo.

Each year a number of people, who claim their belonging to the Pyeongsan Shin clan, gather at the memorial shrine of Shin Sung-gyeom in the South-Korean province of Kangwondo. Prior to the Korean war, the original shrine was situated in the now North-Korean province of Hwanghaedo, where the clan land of Pyeongsan is situated.

Some genuine branches of the Pyeongsan Shin clan are known to have emigrated outside Korea, most notably to Europe. One of the first branches to have emigrated to Europe is currently present in the Kingdom of Belgium since 1974, where the family name has been frenchified to Shin de Pyeongsan.

The other well-known line is the Goryeong Shin, descending from Shin Sook-ju, who was the lead scholar to work with King Sejong (세종대왕) in the making of Hangul, the Korean language. Shin Sook-ju was also a high ranking government minister and belonged to the Hall of Worthies. The Goryeong Shin makes up about 17% of all the populations with the name Shin using the Chinese character 申. Three of five members of Shin Sook-ju's 16th generation are known to have immigrated to the United States in the 1970s. Another prominent member of the clan is Danjae Shin Chaeho, a 19th-century nationalist historian.

[edit] List of Shins

[edit] Historical

[edit] Contemporary

[edit] See also

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