Surname Byun(邉), Q&A | Wonju Byun Clan US

How to Write Surname Byun(邉), click on it.

About the character Byun (邉) in the surname Byun (邊)

In 2024, this character, Byun(邉) is not used in Korea, and Byun (邊) is used as a surname. However, in Japan and China, the character, Byun(邉) is used. If you look up information on this letter, Byun(邉), it is said that Byun (邉) is a Different Shape Letter of Byun (邊) and that it is common to use a Different Shape Letter in East Asia. This character, Byun (邊) means edge or side, and is also used as a surname. The reason why Different Shape Letters are used is when a letter has multiple meanings and one of them is used to emphasize one meaning.

The reason why the ancestors used this character, Byun (邉), as a surname can be inferred as follows.

First, it is presumed that the ancestors used the character Byun (邉) to emphasize the meaning of the surname.
Second, in the records of the use of Byun (邉) and Byun (邊), the surname Byun characters during the Joseon Dynasty, both letters were used, and it can be found that Byun (邊) was used more in official documents than Byun (邉). During the Joseon Dynasty, there is a possibility that people did not use their actual name, but used Byun (邊) as Byun (邉), as they often used ‘A Character (字)’ or ‘Courtesy name or nicknames (號)’.
In conclusion, descendants can decide whether to use Byun (邊) or Byun (邉). In the Book of One Hundred Names, which contains information on the origin of surnames, it is recorded as the character Byun (邊), and the character Byun (邉) is presumed to have been used since the Joseon Dynasty.

Surname Cultures in East Asia

In China, surnames and clans have been strictly distinguished since ancient times. Originally, surname (姓) was a trace of a matrilineal society and referred to “the place of origin of the mother,” and clan (氏) referred to “the place where one lived with the father after birth.” What is bestowed by the Son of Heaven is called a surname, and what is bestowed by a feudal lord or king is called a surname. Last name is always a concept one step above. Usually, the surname (姓) was one letter, and the surname (氏) was often two letters. And during the Han Dynasty, a genealogy was created to allow the emperor to take special care of the descendants of each lord or meritorious vassal. From then on, the presence or absence of a name in the genealogy created by the emperor became an important criterion for determining the presence or absence of power.
It is said that the indigenous people of Korea did not have surnames. At the end of the Three Kingdoms period, Silla was influenced by many countries on the mainland of what is now the People's Republic of China, and the royal family created their own surnames after the 7th century. At a time when there was no exchange with the West, many countries existed on the continent of what is now the People's Republic of China, and the continent of the People's Republic of China was thought to be the world. So, the royal family retroactively gave surnames to their ancestors who died hundreds of years ago (Hyeokgeose, Alji, etc.). Even at the end of the Joseon Dynasty, there were more people of low status than noblemen, and the number of people with surnames was not very large. During the Japanese colonial era, there were many people who first created and registered surnames in their family registers, but the fact that they “created them” had to be kept hidden as a “family secret” forever. The people who knew better than anyone else the power of surnames in relation to the existence or absence of surnames, never wanted to lose this hard-earned “nobleman’s surname” even though the class system was legally abolished. In the 1940s, Japan announced that it would allow Japanese-style surnames, emphasizing that “Joseon and Japan are now one country in name and reality,” and that in the future, discrimination between Koreans and Japanese based on surnames would disappear forever. Many people who thought of surnames themselves as “family history” naturally opposed it, and the Japanese government, which had no pride in surnames since the history of surnames was only 50 years old, thought it was strange to see the opposition from Koreans. Korea is the only country in the world where “women keep their last names even after marriage.”
Japan has not felt the need for surnames since it began interacting with the Baekje Dynasty. I have seen a lot of Japanese youth being influenced by the West and foreigners creating and using “family names.” When I looked at people in the U.S. and Europe, I saw that some surnames were created based on their occupations, while others were created based on the characteristics of their villages. So, Japan decided to create a surname and use it. In Japan, in Eastern culture, there are surnames and surnames, and surnames are said to be something that the emperor himself creates and distributes. Japan decided to create a clan and use it. In Japan, there is no form for entering “Surname”, only a form for “Clan”. As a result, people who use a one-character surname (姓) are Chinese or Korean, and people who use a two-character surname (氏) are Japanese. It has been almost 100 years since the Japanese also used surnames.

Questions of Descendants When Writing ‘Gaseung’ Wonju Byn Clan

1. If adopted, is the generation above the adoptive father a true family tree?

According to the 21st Heepung standard for the 21st generation of the Wonju Byun clan, after the 17th generation, he was adopted as an adopted son by his relatives, and it is judged that he inherited the Byun Hee-pung family. Finding real ancestors from the 21st generation is also a way, but in Korea, there are many cases in which generations are passed on by adoption.

2. Why is the woman's name excluded from the family tree?

The family tree created here describes the history of the generations. At present, in the world, when a woman marries, she takes her husband's surname, and her children take her husband's surname. The purpose of a family tree is to record the history of descendants bearing the same last name. In this sense, the woman's name is not recorded. If a woman gets married and is able to pass on her surname to her offspring, she may be recorded on her family tree. However, I do not know of any cases where her children inherited her mother's surname. So far, it seems that the name of the woman is not registered in the family tree. And, as shown in Number 3 below, information about the married woman's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather is recorded in the married husband's family, so it is not necessary to record the woman's information in the family of the surname she was born with.

3. Is there anything special I need to write when recording a family tree?

'When the ancestor was born, when he died, and what he did while he was alive' is basic information.
For example,
Courtesy name was ______ He was born in _____, ______and died in ______, ________. His Education is ______________. His job is _____________. His achievement in his life is ___________. His cemetery was in __________.
His wife’s name was __________ and she was born in _____, ______and died in ______, ________.
His wife’s father’s name was ______ who was born in ________ and died in _________. Grandfather’s name was ______ who was born in ________ and died in _________. Great-grandfather’s name was ______ who was born in ________ and died in _________.
His sons’ name was ____________. He was born in _____, ______and died in ______, ________. His sons’ Education is ______________. His job is _____________. His achievement in his life is ___________.
Hopefully, it would be better if the son, who is the immediate successor of the ancestor, would like to know what the actual ancestor thought, what was his goal in life, etc.

4. Ancient writings often have different opinions, so how do you know what is right?

Historical records are often misrepresented due to misunderstandings. It's often "this is right, that is right" rather than "something is right". In other words, it can be said that interpretation differs depending on the point of view of understanding. Even in this document, if any of the descendants are interested in this field and as a result of research, incorrect information or opinions are found, it should be corrected, and more advanced information should be passed on to the next descendant.

5. What is the meaning of Generation Character when naming descendants and how should they be named?

First, the Generation Character has already been created by the Wonju Byun Clan, and you can tell which generation it is by looking at the name of the Generation Character. Second, originally, this Generation Character is a character based on the elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. For example, the generation characters of the 25th generation of the Byun clan in Wonju use the letters 'dong' meaning east and 'geun' meaning root. Both letters are based on trees, and 'Dong', which means east, is a combination of tree and sun, meaning that the direction to see the sun through the tree is east. Descendants' names can be based on the descendant's date of birth and the time of birth (hour and minute) in letters that match the Generation Characters. These days, there are websites that will create a name for you if you provide information on your offspring (surname, generation characters, date, and time of birth) on the Internet.

6. Can you show an example of translating the original (Hanja) of ‘Gaseung’?

Translating (登進士位至 (등 진사 위 지) Deung Jinsa Wei Ji), deung = rose or was appointed, Jinsa = job of a person who passed the exam, rank = position or position or job, ji = reached or had.
Combining the whole thing, I passed the exam and got a job called Jinsa. (The 2nd generation of the Hwangju Byun clan, in the original text of Yoon)

7. If you look at the Hanja characters (original sentence), the year of the ancestor's birth is indicated by two Hanja characters. What is the meaning of the two Hanja characters and how can I find out by the year of the year?

The two Hanja characters are 60 Gapja (갑자 甲子), which have been used since the Baekje era. The following description is for 60 Gapja (갑자 甲子). It also explains how to convert 60 Gapja (갑자 甲子) to AD years.
60 Gapja (갑자 甲子): It refers to 60 kanji (간지 干支) made by combining 10 heavenly stems and 12 earthly stems in order.
The 10 heavenly stems(10 천간 天干) are made up of 10 kinds representing the heavenly time. Gap(갑 甲), Eul(을 乙), Byeong(병 丙), Jeong(정 丁), Mu(무 戊), Ki(기 己), Gyeong(경 庚), Shin(신 辛), Im(임 壬), Gye(계 癸). It is also a symbol for displaying the date. Gap (갑 甲) and Eul (을 乙) mean the south direction, wood. Byeong (병 丙) and Jeong (정 丁) mean south direction, fire. Mu (무 戊) and Ki (기 己) mean the center direction, Earth. Gyeong(경 庚) and Shin(신 辛) mean west direction, metal. Lim (임 壬) and Gye (계 癸) mean north direction, water.
Earthly stems(간지 干支) represent 12 animals. In fact, the pronunciation of the letters representing these does not directly connect with animals. The 12 supports have the following characteristics. Ja (자子, rat, 0 angle (North direction), 11pm-1am, November, Positive, Water), Chuk (축丑, Small, 30 angle, 1-3am, December, Negative, Earth), In (인 寅, tiger, 60 angle, 3-5am, January, Positive, Wood), Myo (묘 卯, Rabbit, 90 angle (East direction), 5-7am, February, Negative, Wood), Jin (진 辰, Dragon, 120 angle, 7-9am, March, Positive, Earth), Sa (사 巳, snake, 150 angle, 9-11am, April, Negative, Fire), Oh (오 午, end, 180 angle (South direction), 11am-1pm, May, Positive, Fire), Mi (미 未, Yang, 210 angle, 1-3 pm, June, Negative, Earth), Shin (신 申, Monkey, 240 angle, 3-5 pm, July, Positive, Metal), Yu (유 酉, chicken, 270 angle(West direction), 5-7 pm, August, Negative, Metal), Sul (술 戌, dog, 300 angle, 7-9 pm, September, Positive, Earth), Hea (해 亥, Pig, 330 angle, 9-11pm, October, Negative, Water).
There is a total of 60 from Gapja (갑자, 甲子) to Gyehae (계해, 癸亥). Since even and odd numbers are not combined, the number is 60, not 120. Since the 12 earth stems did not mean animals, the pronunciation of the letters does not directly connect with animals. The principle is to call it something like '2nd earth stem Chuk (축, 丑)' or '3rd earth stem In(인, 寅)'.
If you enter the AD year, it is an online calculator Website that outputs "60 Kanji" for that year. http://mwultong.blogspot.com/2007/12/60-calc.html
Even if you don't memorize a specific year and the corresponding sixtieth year, you can find out which year it is using simple division and tables.

1. Divide the year you want to find by 10 and match the remainder with the table below. (Table 1)

reminder 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Heavenly stems Gyeong(庚) Shin(辛) Lin(壬) Gye(癸) Gap(甲) Eul(乙) Byeong(丙) Jeong(丁) Mu(戊) Ki(己)

2. Divide the year to be found by 12 and match the remainder with the table below. (Table 2)

reminder 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Earthly stems Shin(申) Yu(酉) Sul(戌) Hae(亥) Ja(子) Chuk(丑) In(寅) Myo(卯) Jin(辰) Sa(巳) Oh(午) Mi(未)

3. The 60th year of a certain year is obtained by combining the heaven stems and earth stems from steps 1 and 2 in order. For example, uring the 1592 Joseon Dynasty Seonjo King's reign, there was a war in which Japan invaded Joseon Dynasty. This war is called 'Imjin War(임진 왜란Imjin Eoae Ran)' and General Yi, Sunsin defeats the Japanese army. 'Imjin War’ means that Japan came in and made Joseon difficult in the ‘Imjin’ year. Here, 'Imjin(임진壬辰)' refers to the year, ' Eoae (왜 倭)' refers to Japan, and 'Ran(란 亂)' refers to the state in which the area is damaged due to war, etc. That is, 1592 = 159×10 + 2''=132×12 + 8''', so 2 in Table 1 corresponds to Im(임 壬), in Table 2, 8 corresponds to Jin(진 辰). Therefore, we can know that 1592 is the year of Imjin(임진壬辰). If you enter the AD year, it is an online calculator website that outputs "60 Kanji" for that year. Here, 'Imjin(임진壬辰)' refers to the year, ' Eoae (왜 倭)' refers to Japan, and 'Ran(란 亂)' refers to the state in which the area is damaged due to war, etc. That is, 1592 = 159×10 + 2''=132×12 + 8''', so 2 in Table 1 corresponds to Im(임 壬), in Table 2, 8 corresponds to Jin(진 辰). Therefore, we can know that 1592 is the year of Imjin(임진壬辰).