Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association

The Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association[1] (Korean: 전주이씨대동종약원) is a family association from South Korea, and it was founded by the Jeonju Yi (Lee) clan, the household of Joseon and the Korean Empire, which were the ruling house of the whole Korea. The association originated from several national institutions of Joseon dynasty, and its recent main activities, after the World War II, include holding annual Jongmyo jerye, the worship rites of the royal ancestors, and compiling genealogy books of the descendants from the House of Yi.

전주이씨대동종약원
全州李氏大同宗約院

Founded	3 April 1957
Type	Family association
Location	South Korea, Seoul
Key people	Yi Won (director)
Website	rfo.co.kr

History

The king Taejo of Joseon started his reign in 1392, and some of the institution setups included an office to handle affairs regarding the royal family.[2] The policy was continued by his son, Taejong of Joseon, who created the "Office of Royal Genealogy"[3](宗簿寺, 종부시) in 1401.[4] The office existed for centuries, and a reformation was executed in 1864, during the reign of King Gojong.[5] It was eventually abolished in 1907.

After the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, the former emperor Sunjong of Korea issued a decree, allowing the descendants of the royal family to form a private organization so as to strengthen the relationship within the clan. The said organization had a collection from Sunjong, a commemorative plaque with Sunjong's Chinese calligraphy handwriting on it, which reads 崇祖惇宗 (숭조돈종, "admire the ancestors and value the family"), but the plaque was later missing during the Korean War. On 27 November 1955, the members of the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association held a foundation ceremony in the hall of Whimoon Middle School in Seoul,[6] and the association was later officially registered as a legal organization on 3 April 1957. The hall of the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association in the capital is called "Lee Hwa Building" (이화회관 [李花會館], "Plum Blossom Hall"), located in Jongno District of Seoul.[7]

In addition to domestic offices, the association currently opens several branch offices internationally, including seven offices in North America and one in Japan.[8]

Organization

According to the statistics in 1995, there were 2.8 million people coming from the Jeonju Yi clan in South Korea, making up over 770 thousand Yi families, 230 thousand families from whom lived in Seoul. Among them, there were nationwide 44% population from the clan (330 thousand families) that are registered members of the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association; in Seoul, similarly, there were specifically 39% (90 thousand families) of the clan that were registered.[9]

Within the association, there is a chairman, as the superior over vice-chairmen, supervisors, and members of the council; they are often family members with prominent figures in politics and/or economics. As various ways to support members from the clan, there are several sub-organizations, including one that can offer scholarship, committees for academics and art, as well as ones dedicated to ancestral worship activities. Based on different genealogy among family members, 83 groups of the member can be classified; based on the places of residence, there are 15 sub-associations and 225 offices set, and there are also, for further district subdivision, branches in smaller administrative units (myeon, eup, and dong). As to overseas sub-associations, there are ones in Japan (Kantō and Kansai offices) and the United States (including Chicago and Los Angeles offices).[9]

Statistics for the offices of the association (1995)[9]

Regions	Seoul	Busan	Daegu	Incheon	Daejeon	Gyeonggi Province	Gangwon Province	North Chungcheong Province	South Chungcheong Province	North Jeolla Province	South Jeolla Province	North Gyeongsang Province	South Gyeongsang Province	Jeju Province	Japan	United States	Total
No. of offices	22	12	7	6	5	29	18	12	16	18	25	23	25	3	2	2	225

List of directors

Directors of the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association[10]
	Portrait	Title		Name	In office since	Birth and death	Notes
		Korean	English
1		의친왕 義親王	Prince Imperial Ui	Yi Kang	1910 (posthumous recognition)	1877-1955	5th son of Gojong of Korea Made Prince Uihwa in 1891[11] Becoming Prince Imperial Ui in 1900
2		영친왕 英親王	Prince Imperial Yeong	Yi Un	29 July 1966	1897-1970	7th son of Gojong of Korea Becoming Prince Imperial Yeong in 1900 Appointed by Emperor Sunjong of Korea as the Imperial Crown Prince in 1907
After Korean Empire being abolished (1910) and the foundation of the Republic of Korea (1948), the titles ever since are of pretence and for courtesy within the association.[12][13][14]
3		황세손 皇世孫	Imperial Crown Prince	Yi Ku	20 March 1973	1931-2005	2nd son of Yi Un Born as the Crown Prince of King Yi
4		황사손 皇嗣孫	Hereditary Prince Imperial	Yi Won	27 June 2007	1961-	Great-grandson of Gojong of Korea Heir to Yi Ku Grandson of Yi Kang and the eldest son of Yi Gap (9th son of Yi Kang)

List of chairmen of the association

Chairmen of the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association[15]
	Name		Tenure	From the cadet branch	Birth and death	Ref(s)
	Korean	English
1	이범승 李範昇	Lee Beom-seung	7 November 1955 － 9 February 1958	Grand Prince Gwangpyeong 17th generation	1887-1976	[16][17]
2	리기붕 李起鵬	Lee Ki-poong	10 February 1958 － 3 April 1959	Grand Prince Hyoryeong 17th generation	1896-1960
3	이세정 李世楨	Yi Se-jeong	25 December 1962 － 4 March 1970	Prince Ikyang 15th generation	1895-1972	[18][19]
4
5
6	이건웅 李建雄	Yi Geon-ung	20 March 1970 － 20 September 1970 (acting)	Prince Deokcheon 15th generation	1941-	[20]
7	이수길 李壽吉	Yi Su-gil	12 February 1971 － 12 May 1974	Grand Prince Inpyeong 10th generation	1917-1982	[lower-alpha 1]
8	이봉우 李鳳宇	Yi Bong-u	15 April 1975 － 12 May 1977	Grand Prince Hyoryeong 15th generation
9	이재형 李載灐	Lee Choi-hyung	13 May 1977 － 30 January 1992	Prince Inseong 10th generation	1914-1992	[21][22]
10
11
12
13	이범준 李範俊	Rhee Bomb-june	1 February 1992 － 20 September 1996	Grand Prince Gwangpyeong 17th generation	1928-2007	[23][24]
14
15	이환의 李桓儀	Lee Hwan-ey	31 September 1996 － 3 January 2012	Grand Prince Hyoryeong 16th generation	1931-	[25][26]
16
17
18
19
20
21	이태섭 李台燮	Lee Tae-sup	4 January 2012 －17 December 2019	Prince Deokyang 14th generation	1939-	[27][28]
22
23
24	이귀남 李貴男	Lee Gwi-nam	18 December 2019 －	Prince Hoesan 17th generation	1951-	[29][30]

Notes

1. Yi Su-gil (이수길) was by birth the 5th son of Prince Yi Kang, and by extension a grandson of Gojong, but he was later adopted as the heir to Baron Yi Yin-yong (이인용, 1907-1950); therefore his genealogy goes by his adoptive father.[lower-alpha 2] He was also known as other names, including Yi Ju (이주/李鑄).[lower-alpha 3]
2. "황실 후손이 매국노의 양자로…" (574). 한겨레21. 2005-08-25. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
3. "문화유산신문". 문화유산신문. Retrieved 20 June 2020.

References

1. "Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association". Retrieved 19 June 2020.
2. "문무 백관의 관제". 朝鮮王朝實錄.（太祖元年七月廿八日）
3. "The King orders that some items of Gyeseong Hall be buried after its royal portrait in the hall is transferred". Veritable records of the Joseon dynasty. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
4. "관제 개편". 朝鮮王朝實錄.（太祖元年七月十三日）
5. "대신들이 종친부의 격상에 따른 관직 제도의 변경 등을 아뢰다". 朝鮮王朝實錄.（高宗二年六月十日）
6. "창립 및 연혁". 전주이씨대동종약원. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
7. "全州李氏大同宗約院三十年史". 全州李氏大同宗約院. Retrieved 2020-06-18. (p. 41, 43)
8. "Organizations of Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association". Retrieved 19 June 2020.
9. 노부자(魯富子) (1997). "韓国の都市における同姓組織の全体構造 - ソウル市の「全州李氏大同宗約院」を事例にして". ソシオロジ. 41 (3): 41–43. doi:10.14959/soshioroji.41.3_37. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
10. "역대 총재". Retrieved 2020-06-18.
11. "왕자인 강에게 의화군의 작위를 봉하다". 朝鮮王朝實錄.
12. "대일본 천황이 조서를 내리다". Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty.
13. "CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA". Korean Legislation Research Institute. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
14. Article 11, Section 2: "No privileged caste shall be recognized or ever established in any form."
15. "역대 이사장". Retrieved 2020-06-18.
16. 이용재 (2013-02-28). 도서관인물 평전. ISBN 9788965452102.
17. "아방가르드미술연구소". 한국미술 다국어 용어사전. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
18. "이세정(李世楨, 1895∼1972)". Daejongism. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
19. "전주이씨(全州李氏)". 부천족보도서관.
20. "사직대제, 중요무형문화재로 지정 예고". 2002-02-23. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
21. "운경 이재형". Retrieved 2020-06-18.
22. "이재형 (李載灐 / LEE,CHOI-HYUNG)". Jo!ns. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
23. "공훈록보기". Retrieved 2020-06-18.
24. "이범준 (李範俊 / RHEE,BOMB-JUNE)". Jo!ns. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
25. "이환의". Retrieved 2020-06-18.
26. "이환의 (李桓儀 / LEE,HWAN-EY)". Jo!ns.
27. "이태섭". Retrieved 2020-06-18.
28. "이태섭 (李台燮 / LEE,TAE-SUP)". Jo!ns. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
29. "이귀남". Retrieved 2020-06-18.
30. 김용란 (2020-02-07). "이귀남 향우 전주이씨 대동종약원 이사장 추대". 장흥투데이. Retrieved 2020-06-18.

External links

• Korean website: 전주이씨대동종약원
• English website: Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association