Why are most Koreans surnamed either Kim or Lee?

It seems that Koreans are either Kim, Lee or Park. There is a saying in South Korea that if a stone is dropped from the top of Nanshan Mountain in downtown Seoul, it will definitely hit a person named Kim or Lee.

South Korea's population is slightly over 50 million, including15 Jin and nearly110 Park, including former President park geun-hye and singer Psy (whose real name is Jae-Sang Park). Together, the three surnames of Kim, Lee and Park account for nearly half of South Korea's population today.

There are about 100 common surnames in neighboring China, and there may be more than 280,000 surnames in Japan. Why are Korean surnames so concentrated in a few surnames?

North Korea's long feudal tradition can provide some answers.

Like many places in the world, until the late period of Lee's Korean dynasty (1392- 19 10), surnames were quite rare, belonging to the exclusive royal family and a few nobles (two classes); Slaves, butchers, wizards, prostitutes, craftsmen, businessmen and monks can't have surnames.

However, when the importance of local gentry rose, Wang Jian, the founder of the Koryo Dynasty (9 18- 1392), also tried to alleviate this trend by giving loyal ministers and government officials surnames.

In order to improve social rank and aristocratic status, the imperial examination also requires all participants to log in with their own surnames; That's why elite families have surnames. Successful businessmen use surnames more and more frequently. They can get the elite genealogy by buying genealogy (perhaps from the bankrupt Class Two) and use their surnames.

By the end of18th century, forgery of genealogy was rampant, and many families would tamper with their own genealogy. For example, when the family bloodline comes to an end, a person without relatives can pay money and be written into the genealogy; In contrast, strangers can get a noble surname.

Because Jin and Li were aristocratic surnames in ancient Korea, local elites also preferred these surnames. Later, when civilians choose surnames, they tend to prefer these surnames.

This small group of surnames originated in China and was adopted by the imperial court and nobles in the 7th century to imitate the noble-sounding China surnames (many Korean surnames are in one Chinese character).

In order to distinguish different clans with the same surname, ancestral home, such as Qingzhou Jin and Jinhaijin, is usually added before the surname, but ancestral home usually only appears in official documents.

The limited variety of surnames also means that it is difficult to know who is a blood relative; Therefore, the monarch in the later period of Lee's Korean dynasty banned intermarriage with the same surname and the same clan (this restriction was not lifted until 1997).

1894, North Korea abolished the class system and allowed civilians to obtain surnames. People with lower social classes usually use the surname of their master or higher status, or choose ordinary surnames.

1909 passed a new household registration law, requiring all Koreans to register their surnames.

Ancestral place used to be an important symbol of family and status, but now, its importance in the eyes of Koreans has declined.

In fact, the number of new families of Park, Kim and Lee is actually growing: more and more foreigners are naturalized as Korean citizens, including China people, Vietnamese people and Filipinos. According to government data, their most commonly used surnames are Jin, Li, Park and Cui, which may lead to the emergence of Mongolian Jin and Thai Park. Therefore, it seems likely that the common degree of the three surnames will continue.