Korean Genealogy (Jokbo)

Jokbo (族譜) is a genealogical record documenting a family's lineage. In English it is known as a "Genealogy Book" or "Family Registry."

Korean jokbo records all male descendants from the sijō (始祖)—the founding ancestor of the clan—to the present day. Some records also include female members.

Korea's jokbo tradition began during the Goryeo Dynasty (918–1392) under Confucian influences from China, and developed fully during the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897).

Korean surnames consist of a surname (姓) and a clan seat (本貫, Bon-gwan). The bon-gwan refers to the geographic region where the clan first originated.

For example, "Gimhae Gim" (金海金氏) refers to the Gim clan originating from Gimhae in South Gyeongsang Province. Even people sharing the same surname belong to different clans if their bon-gwan differs.

Korea has approximately 300 surnames and over 4,000 different clan seats (bon-gwan).

Since the Joseon Dynasty, marriage between people sharing the same surname and clan seat was prohibited — called "Dongsongdongbon Geumhon (同姓同本禁婚)."

This custom stemmed from Confucian concepts of family purity. Even those not legally related avoided marriage if they shared the same clan seat.

In 1997, Korea's Constitutional Court ruled this custom unconstitutional. A 2005 civil law amendment changed the restriction to prohibit only marriage within 8 degrees of blood relation.

Hangyeollja (行列字), also called Dollimja, are Chinese characters shared in the names of every member of the same generation within a clan.

For example, if the 30th generation uses the dollimja "秀", every male of that generation includes this character in their name. The next generation uses a different character.

Dollimja patterns are predetermined in the jokbo and often follow the cycle of the Five Elements: Wood → Fire → Earth → Metal → Water.

Korea's major clans trace their lineage to mythological and historical founding ancestors (sijō). These stories appear on the opening pages of each jokbo.

Once handwritten volumes, jokbo are now being digitized. Many clans have built online genealogy databases accessible worldwide.

Jokbo are typically revised every 20–30 years in a "Bocheop (譜牒)" compilation. These projects involve clan members from across Korea and can cost hundreds of millions of Korean won.

Since the 2000s, women are increasingly registered in jokbo, and more open records now include naturalized foreign spouses.

Today, jokbo are used alongside DNA analysis for more accurate ancestral lineage tracing.