Those whose surnames are subordinate to their ancestors; those whose clans are divided by their descendants; "those whose surnames are also marked by the symbols of family blood."
China has a long history, and in this long history, many surnames have appeared. The surname culture is also a part of Chinese culture and an integral part of world culture. Behind each surname is a cultural inheritance and a historical change. Although the name is only a code name, the inheritance of the surname is an eternal memory.
People who follow international news know the names of some South Korean presidents, such as: Park Geun-hye, Lee Myung-bak, Kim Dae-jung, Kim Young-sam, Park Chung-hee, Rhee Andhn Anderson. However, when the world sees news about the President of South Korea, it has a special idea: whether the President of South Korea is hereditary. Because, as can be seen from the surnames of the presidents of South Korea, it seems that there are very few presidents with other surnames besides these three surnames.
However, this is not the case, but these three surnames are more common in South Korea, and they are considered to be the big surnames in South Korea. So much so, in South Korea, there is a legend that if you throw a stone from the top of the mountain to Seoul, you will definitely hit someone with the surname Kim, Lee or Park. According to one data, in South Korea, one in five people is surnamed Kim, and the total population of South Korea is only a little more than 50 million. In addition, some well-known Korean stars, basically, are surnamed Kim or Park.
However, it is strange that China has hundreds of family names, not counting the surnames of ethnic minorities and some small surnames. In Japan, people have more surnames, and under the influence of the Meiji Restoration, many Japanese people have their own surnames and names. Due to the randomness of Japanese names, the number of surnames in this country has reached 280,000.
So, why are all Asian countries, but South Korea has so few surnames?
This can be traced back to the special history and culture of Koreans, which is also the root cause of the monotony of Korean surnames. In China, successive dynasties have had the practice of emperors giving surnames. And this phenomenon also exists in South Korea. There is no denying that among the civilizations of all countries in the world, there is the practice of giving surnames. The upper classes, especially emperors, would give their surnames to meritorious people.
In ancient times, when it was still North Korea, people's surnames were very rare, and many people at that time did not have their own surnames. Because at that time, surnames were only the exclusive prerogatives of the upper classes, such as workers, merchants, and prostitutes, they could not have their own surnames.
Moreover, during the reign of Goguryeo, the kings at that time expressed their favor for a certain courtier by giving them surnames. For a courtier, this is both a way to improve his status and a medal to show his merits. Moreover, at that time, as long as they took the imperial examination, they had to record their own names, so those who had a surname had a green card to enter the upper echelons of society, and only the nobles at the upper levels were eligible to get a surname.
In addition, there is another reason, that is, many people who originally rose from the bottom of the class to the top of the class can only improve their origins and improve their grades by changing their surnames, which is also a means of whitewashing. So, how to change the surname? Whether it's giving a surname or going through the back door; whether it's stuffing money or other methods, just change your last name.
Especially by the end of the eighteenth century, this kind of surname change transaction was even more brazen, almost to the point of blatantness, and many people also changed their own genealogy. For example, when a certain surname has no successor, it expands its clan by collecting money and writing them into its own family tree. Therefore, even a stranger can obtain a noble surname.
The surnames of Kim and Lee are more numerous, because they are surnames that can only be possessed by the ancient Korean royal family. If, when a certain bloodline is uninhabited, it will collect money to write people who are not related by blood into the family tree.
In this way, the stranger can acquire a noble surname.
It was not until the end of the eighteenth century that ordinary people in Korea were able to have their own surnames, and most of these people chose to name themselves by their big or noble surnames. And the original owners of these surnames do not care about the identity of those who use their surnames. After all, this is an alternative way of acknowledging, and it is also possible to expand your own clan members, so why not enjoy it?
In addition, ancient Korea was close to China and for a long time was a vassal state of China. This also led to the fact that the culture of Korea would be influenced by Chinese culture, and even the name of the country in Korea was given by the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, until the nineteenth century, the Korean Peninsula did not have its own script, and could only imitate the Chinese script.
According to research, the surnames of An, Bian, Bian, Cai, Cao, Chen, Chi, Ding, Fan, Fang, Fang, Hong, Kang, Ji, Jiang, Kang, Kong, Lian, Lu, Ming, Nan, Pan, Qian, Qin, Qiu, Ren, Shen, Shen, Shi, Song, Wei, Yan, Yan, Yang, Yin, Yin, Yu, Zhu, Hong, xin and other surnames of the Korean nation are rumored to have originated entirely from China during the Han and Tang dynasties until the Ming Dynasty, but there is no sufficient research.
The surnames of Lin, Lu, Liu, Che, Luo, Lü, Nangong, Rui, Wang, Wu and other surnames are said to be the first ancestors of the warring states, Qin dynasty and Han Dynasty who entered the Korean Peninsula during the Chinese.
Moreover, the so-called aristocratic surnames were only introduced to Korea in the seventh century.
In Korea, many surnames are based on only one Kanji, so in order to distinguish the blood relations of people with different surnames, the ancestral home of a clan is added to the name. Korean surnames usually consist of three syllables, namely: three Chinese characters pronounced in Korean proverbs. The surname is in front, and one word in the name usually represents "generation".
However, just like the surname Kim, because there are nearly three hundred different origins, it also leads to many people not knowing which people are related to their blood. So, at the end of the Joseon Dynasty, the emperor issued a decree that the same surname could not intermarry, which was not abolished until the 1990s.
However, on the eve of the abolition, many people jumped to the top surname, which also led to an increasing number of people with high class surnames. Until now, many people who have acquired Korean citizenship have also chosen these three surnames.
Resources:
[Dictionary of Chinese Surnames", "Chungju Kim Lineage", "Miyang Park Clan Genealogy"]