The Wonju Byeon or Byun clan () is a Korean clan. Its Bon-gwan (Main Building) is in Wonju, Gangwon Province (historical). According to research in 2015, the clan had 47,804 members. Clan members live on both the Korean Peninsula and in the United States, and their surnames are variously Romanized as Byun, Pyon, and Byeon. The founder of the clan was Byeon or Byun An-ryeol (Anyeol) (변안렬(안열), 邊(邉)安烈, Hanyu Pinyin: Biān Ānliè, 1334-1390), a renowned military general during the late Goryeo Dynasty.
Origin According to the 『Literary Notes』, the Byeon or Byun clan (邊氏) is a descendant of the royal family of the Yin Dynasty (Dongyi ethnic tribe (東夷族)) Mizhung. During the reign of Duke Pyung (平公) of the Song Dynasty, the Courtesy name (字) of the royal family of Eoyong (御戎) was Byeon or Byun (邊), and the descendants took Euyong's Courtesy name as their surname. Eoyong's surname was Ja (子). Eoyung (禦戎) was a descendant of Mizhung, the son of Jeeul, the 29th king of the Yin Dynasty. Mizhung (微仲) is a member of the royal family of the Yin or Shang Dynasty and the second duke of the Song Dynasty, a feudal lord of Western Zhou. His surname is Ja (子), his clan is Song (宋) and his name is Yeon (衍). He was enshrined in the country of Mi (微) and his Art name is Jungsa (仲思). He is the 15th generation ancestor of Confucius. He is Miza's younger brother and Jeeul's son. Among the literary works concerning surnames, '百家姓' (literally, "The Surnames of the Hundred Families") is a notable example. It is a rhymed text composed during the early Northern Song dynasty. In this work, the Byeon clan (Byeon-ssi) is listed as the 313th entry. For reference, the ethnic groups living to the east of the ancient East Asian continent, other than the Han Chinese, were called Dongyi (東夷族) tribe by the Han Chinese. The Dongyi (東夷族) tribe was also said to include the Nine ethnic groups, and they were also divided into the Yemaek (濊貊族), Malgal (靺鞨族), Han (韓族), Wae (倭族), and Japan (日本). Japan and Wae were different countries before 701. East Asian figures such as Chiyou (蚩尤), Confucius (孔子), and Emperor Shun (舜) were all Dongyi (東夷族) tribe. The dynasty countries of Korean history correspond to the dynasty countries of the Dongyi (東夷族) tribe.
It is difficult to determine with certainty the ethnic affiliation of the Byun lineage in East Asia. Historical records trace their presence back to the Shang dynasty, yet any association with the Dongyi people remains speculative and lacks conclusive evidence. In the early years of the People’s Republic of China, the state, guided by Marxist principles, actively supported the liberation of peoples under imperialist rule. Mao Zedong also advocated for the “right of self-determination” of provincial populations and proposed dividing China into 27 independent states. However, in 1949, although the populations of the Manchu, Mongol, and Han were roughly comparable, approximately 80% of the general populace lacked a clear sense of ethnic identity. The Chinese Communist Party, aiming for national cohesion, incorporated these groups under the designation “Han.” That is, most of the 91% of China’s population counted as Han were artificially formed as a category for political reasons after 1948, and do not represent the historical Han. Consequently, the Han came to constitute an overwhelming majority, making the task of tracing the precise ethnic origins of the Byun lineage an increasingly complex scholarly challenge. However, from a historical and long-term perspective, the criteria by which the Han Chinese and Koreans view ‘ethnicity’ were fundamentally different. In Korea, the concept of ethnicity has traditionally, and even to the present, been based primarily on bloodlines and ancestral connections, focusing on whether individuals share the same ancestors or are distant relatives. In contrast, from the Han Chinese perspective, ethnicity has long been defined based on shared culture and regional identity - a person could become Han simply by sharing the culture. For example, someone who was born and lived in Busan for 20 years and then spent 25 years in Seoul would still be considered a Busan native from a Korean viewpoint, but from the Han Chinese perspective, they would be regarded as a Seoul native. This illustrates that even for the same individual, the determination of ‘ethnicity’ depends on the perspective taken, showing that traditional Korean and Han Chinese concepts of ethnicity were fundamentally different. Therefore, the current efforts to relocate Han Chinese to the Uyghur region and ‘Sinicize’ them differ fundamentally from the historical Han Chinese understanding of ethnicity. By the earlier standard, even the Han Chinese who moved to the Uyghur region should be considered part of the Uyghur ethnicity.
In the case of Joseon society, particularly in the late Joseon period following the Imjin War, the state’s fiscal difficulties and socio-economic transformations led to the widespread proliferation of practices such as purchasing government posts or social status through maegwanmaejik and nabsok, falsifying genealogical records, or paying money to have one’s name inserted into a clan registry. These phenomena can be regarded as cases in which individuals or groups without surnames sought upward social mobility by artificially acquiring a surname through economic means. By contrast, in the People’s Republic of China in 1948, the Communist Party, as part of its strategy for national integration, artificially adjusted the reported proportion of Han Chinese from less than 10 percent to over 90 percent, thereby manufacturing demographic uniformity. Within this comparative framework, it may be observed that in Joseon society, where originally only about 2 percent of the population possessed surnames, the proportion expanded to approximately 65 percent. This development ultimately explains why, in contemporary South Korea, nearly 40 percent of the population bears the surnames Kim, Lee, or Park. Notably, more than 95 percent of these surname groups - including the representative surnames Kim, Lee, and Park - emerged as newly constructed lineages in and around the eighteenth century and lack direct genealogical continuity with pre-eighteenth-century surname groups.
The following is recorded in the "Wonju Byun Clan Cheomchugongpa (原州邊(邉)氏 僉樞公派 Duke Cheomchu faction) Geochonmunjungbo (巨村門中譜 Genealogy of Geochonmu faction) Literature Collection"."Wonju Byun Clan Cheomchugongpa (原州邊(邉)氏 僉樞公派 Duke Cheomchu faction) Geochonmunjungbo (巨村門中譜 Genealogy of Geochonmu faction) Literature Collection". Yeolhwadang, 2020. .The Wonju Byun clan is said to have originated in Longxi (농서隴西), Dingxi (定西), Gansu Province (甘肅省)] on the East Asian continent.Longxi (농서隴西), Dingxi (定西), Gansu Province (甘肅省) During the Former Han dynasty (202 BCE–25 CE), Tong Byun (변통邊通 Bian Tong) rose to prominence. In the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE), Bung Byun (변붕邊鳳 Bian Feng), Governor of Jingzhao (京兆尹); Yang Byun (변양邊讓 Bian Rang), Governor of Jiujiang (九江太守); and So Byun (변소邊韶 Bian Shao), Minister of the Imperial Secretariat (尙書令), were all noted as natives of Chenliu Commandery (陳留郡), which was located southeast of present-day Kaifeng (開封市), Henan Province (河南省). The Biography of Dong Zhuo (董卓傳) also mentions Jang Byun (변장邊章 Bian Zhang), who was from Jincheng (金城) in Gansu Province. During the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties period (221–589), many members of the Byun family lived in the Jincheng area, and some later moved to the neighboring Longxi Commandery (隴西郡). Yang Byun (변양邊讓 Bian Rang), Governor of Jiujiang during the Later Han dynasty, was known for his exceptional talent. According to his biography, he aroused the jealousy of Cao Cao (조조曹操, 155–220) and was ultimately executed. Because he was killed while serving as Governor of Jiujiang, he came to be remembered by the title “Governor of Jiujiang.” In addition, the Miscellaneous Records (雜錄) states: “During the reign of Emperor Xuan of the Han dynasty (漢宣祖), Minister of Rites Gihu Byun (변기후邊基厚 Bian Jihou) said that all members of the Byun clan on the East Asian continent and beyond are descendants of Yang Byun (변양邊讓 Bian Rang). Soon Byun (변순邊順 Bian Shun) is also a descendant of Yang Byun (변양邊讓 Bian Rang).” Information about Yang Byun (邊讓 Bian Rang) can be found in the book Sesol Sineo Seonghwi Unbun (世說新語姓彙韻分).Information about Yang Byun (邊讓 Bian Rang) can be found in the book Sesol Sineo Seonghwi Unbun (世說新語姓彙韻分).
Clan founder
Byeon or Byun An-ryeol (Anyeol) was born in April 1334 in Shenyang in present-day China’s Liaoning Province. His ancestor, Byeon or Byun Ryeo (변려, 邊(邉)呂),Byeon or Byun Ryeo (변려, 邊(邉)呂) was a naturalized resident of Hwangju County in present-day North Korea’s North Hwanghae Province during the North Song Dynasty in China. Ryeo is a progenitor of Hwangju Byeon or Byun. Byeon Byun An-ryeol (Anyeol)’s grandfather, Byeon Sun or Byun Soon (변순, 邊(邉)順),Byeon Sun or Byun Soon (변순, 邊(邉)順) returned to China (At that time, the name China was not the name of a country, but meant the central continent.) in 1268 to be appointed by the Yuan Dynasty as a high official of 1,000 households (Chinese: 千户侯) in Shenyang. Byeon Sun or Byun Soon was a great-great-grandchild of Byeon or Byun Ryeo (변려, 邊(邉)呂), and Byeon or Byun Ryeo was a son of Byeon Yo or Byun Hyun.
In 1352, Byeon or Byun An-ryeol (Anyeol) entered Goryeo by accompanying Princess Noguk with Byun, Sook (변숙, 邊(邉)肅) and Byun, Anseo, an ethnic Mongol princess (Yuan dynasty) that became queen of Goryeo by marriage to Goryeo King Gongmin, as her fatherly master. Sook is the second son of Anyeol's older brother, Anbaek(邊(邉)安伯)],Anbaek(邊(邉)安伯) and Anseo is Anyeol's half-brother. Because of his exploits during a punitive military expedition he carried out in Jeju Island along with fellow Goryeo general Ch'oe Yŏng, he was commended during the reign of King U of Goryeo. In 1361, Byeon led his forces in routing the anti-Yuan Red Turban rebels on the battlefield and was promoted for his accomplishments. In 1374, he joined fellow Goryeo general Yi Seong-gye in successfully repulsing Japanese pirates and was rewarded with a prestigious title.
On January 16, 1390, Byeon was executed after the Goryeo bureaucrat and politician Kim Jeo implicated him in an unclear confession in a plot to restore King U to the throne after he was deposed by Yi. His family members were pardoned. Yi ascended to the throne in 1392 and established the Joseon Dynasty.
The Tomb of Daeeun Byeon or Byun An-ryeol(Anyeol) is located in the town of Jingeon in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. On September 2, 2002, the tomb was designated Gyeonggi Province Cultural Material No. 116.
Byeon or Byun was portrayed by South Korean actor Song Geum-sik in the 2014 South Korean television series Jeong Dojeon.
History and surname