By Mark Peterson
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Before we look at the "answer," let me take a moment to again emphasize how unusual Korea is. No other country has 45 percent of its population holding one of three surnames. The most common name in Japan is Sato: 1.5 percent of the population. There are several names that represent about 1 percent of the population ― these include Tanaka, Takashima and Saito. In America, the most common surname is Smith ― with about 1.5 percent of the population. In Germany the most common surname is Mueller ― 0.8 percent. In Spain, Garcia ― 3.5 percent. India, Singh ― 2.7 percent. China is a bit of an exception ― Wang is the most common name at 7 percent; followed by Li and Chang at 6 percent each. The top three names in China are not 21 percent. Kim in Korea is 21 percent!
One exception is Vietnam. Nguyen is 38 percent of the population. But this is a bit of an aberration. Its last dynasty was the Nguyen Dynasty and some people changed their name to Nguyen to appease the ruling family; many others were awarded the name by the king for their support. Yes, Nguyen at 38 percent is apparently the highest concentration of any country, but it is not a deep-seated, organic situation, like Korea's is.
So, the main question for today - how did the Kims maintain and even grow their numbers from the times of Silla and Gaya? Kim was the family name of one of the founders of Silla, Kim Alji. Kim was also the name of the first king of the Gaya Confederacy, Kim Suro. The first point is Kim and Pak and Lee are all royal names. Pak Hyeokgeose was the first king of Silla. Lee was one of the founding families of Silla ― one of the six tribes or villages of Seorabeol ― but more importantly, Lee was the royal family of the Joseon Kingdom.
The first point is that Korea, historically, does not destroy its royal families when their dynasty falls. Every other country does.
Contrary to the usual narration of Korean history, that Korea is full of war and turmoil. I see Korean history as remarkably stable and peaceful.
Korea has the longest dynasties of any country in the world. Not only that, but when one dynasty fell and another emerged, the transition was relatively peaceful and non-violent. And the ruling class of the earlier was not destroyed, but rather survived and flourished in the new dynasty. This was unusual if not unique in world history.
How did the ruling class from Silla and Goryeo remain a part of the ruling class of Joseon? They took and passed the all-important civil service exam. This gave individuals from these prominent families access to government positions and power.
What was the examination? It was borrowed from China and meant to recruit any and all who have talent to serve in the government. But Korea added one twist ― they required that an applicant submit the names of his "four ancestors" to prove he was worthy to even sit for the exam. In a sense this destroyed the openness of the Chinese system, but on the other hand Korea had so many eligible candidates who were from aristocratic families or royal lines from previous dynasties, that it seems to have worked for them.
Thanks to the efforts of my adviser at Harvard, Edward W. Wagner, 15,000 names have been entered into a computer database and we can find all kinds of information and analysis about who passed the exams.
The surname group with the most passers was the royal family ― the Jeonju Yi clan, with 844 passing the exam. There were additionally 244 Yeonan Yi and 188 Hansan Yi that passed. And there were several smaller Yi clans as well.
There were several Kim clans that did well in the exams: The Andong Kim had 310, the Gwangsan Kim had 254, the Gyeongju Kim had 210, and the Gimhae Kim had 129 passers. And there were several smaller Kim clans as well.
The Miryang Pak had 258 passers and the Pannam Pak had 196. And there were smaller Pak groups as well that were successful in the exams.
Kim, Lee (Yi) and Pak (Park) preserved their status from 1,000 years earlier through the 500-year Joseon Kingdom by passing exams that gave them access to government positions. And thus, today, 45 percent of the population are either a Kim, a Lee or a Pak.
Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah
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