Bon-gwan

Bon-gwan

Infobox Korean name
hangul=본관
hanja=本貫
rr=Bon(-)gwan
mr=Pon'gwan

A bon-gwan is the place of origin of a clan in Korea, which is used to distinguish clans that happen to share a same family name (clan name). A Korean clan is a group of people that share the same paternal ancestor, and is indicated by the combination of a "bon-gwan" and a family name (clan name). Since it is important in Korean culture to know exactly which clan one belongs to, a "Bon-gwan" works as if it is a part of a Korean's name. The "bon-gwan" and the family name are inherited from a father to his children, thus ensuring that persons in the same paternal lineage share the same combination of the "bon-gwan" and the family name. A "bon-gwan" does not change by marriage or adoption.

"Bon-gwan" are used to distinguish different lineages that bear the same family name. For example, the Gyeongju Kim and the Gimhae Kim are considered different clans, even though they happen to share the same family name "Kim". In this case, Gyeongju and Gimhae are the respective "bon-gwan" of these clans.

Different family names sharing the same "bon-gwan" sometimes trace their origin to a common paternal ancestor, eg. the " Gimhae Kim" clan and the " Gimhae Heo" clan share Suro of Geumgwan Gaya as their common paternal ancestor, though such case is exceptional.

Restriction on Marriage and Adoption

Traditionally, a man and a women in the same clan could not marry, so the combination of the "bon-gwan" and the family name of a husband had to differ from that of a wife.

On the other hand, when adopting a child, the adoptive father and the adoptive child must belong to the same clan. Therefore, they must share the same combination of the "bon-gwan" and the family name. There is no way a father can adopt a child born in a different clan. The mother's clan has no role in adoption.

Full list of survived Bon-gwan

It's possible for Korean nationals and Korean descendants to look up their own "bon-gwan".List of survived and newly created "bon-gwan" can be view from below web link.

[http://www.surname.info/surnames.html] List of Korean bon-gwan (available only in Korean language)

ee also

*Korean name
*List of common Korean surnames


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