Kim Ji-soo joined The Korea Times in 2006, and worked on such desks as culture and politics and is currently a member of the Editorial Board. Previous workplaces include The Korea Herald and the Korea JoongAng Daily.
Samseongbo, tracing descendants of sons-in-law
Professor Song Man-oh of Jeonbuk National University, discusses the only existing "Samseongbo" or the Genealogy Record of Three Sons-in-Law from the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty at the “Korea’s Jokbo, Women’s Jokbo: Not just Grandfathers, but Grandmothers too" forum hosted by The Korea Times at Seoul Global Center in downtown Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Kim Ji-soo
Family genealogy records in Korea harken back to Chinese traditions, but the Korean-style printed books chronicling family relationships, known as "jokbo," blossomed in Korea, while China's tradition weakened after the Song Dynasty.
Reflecting Korean values around social and family relationships, jokbo took surprisingly diverse forms. A good example is "Samseongbo," the only existing genealogy tracing descent through three sons-in-law. It is the family record of Choi Bu (1454-1504) who wrote well-known accounts of being shipwrecked during his travels in China.
Choi, living in the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), lacked a male heir and his tomb in Haenam (now Jeolla Province) wasn't being maintained. His family, and in particular his descendants through his daughters, decided to track their family records through his three sons-in-law. This reflected a perception even during the highly patriarchal Joseon period that daughters and their descendants are equally able to respect their ancestors, in both mind and practice.
Choi's "Samseongbo" took 10 years to complete, detailing not only the children of his daughters but also the paternal and maternal lines of his sons-in-law. Completed about 200 years after Choi's death, professor Song Man-oh of Jeonbuk National University sees in the "Samseongbo" the "han" that Choi's descendants, purged during political infighting in early 16th cenutry, have felt since the incident.
What's notable is that it constitutes just one of the many variations on jokbo and other social group records from the period. During the Joseon period, people used to draw up records such as "Munbo," which records those who passed the national civil exam to become government officials and the national martial exam to become military officials. There was also one for those with legacy positions in the government, called "Eumbo." In modern Korea, would it be like certain Kakao group chat rooms?