Clans
There are three Chinese characters that can be read as Shin. Between these three characters,there are seven different Korean clans,each of which descends from a different ancestral founder. Two of the six,the Yeongsan Shin clan and the Geochang Shin clan,both trace their origins back to China. Members of the various Shin clans can be found throughout the Korean peninsula.
As with other Korean family names,the holders of the "Shin" family name are divided into various clans,each known by the name of a town or city,called bon-gwan in Korean. Usually that town or city is the one where the clan's founder lived. The six Shin branches are as follows:
- Pyongsan Shin clan
- Goryeong Shin clan (高靈申)
- Aju Shin clan (鵝洲申)
- Saknyeong Shin clan (朔寧申)
- Yeongsan Shin clan
- Geochang Shin clan
Although the first four clans —Pyongsan,Goryeong,Aju,and Saknyeong —share the same Chinese character (申),they are unrelated in heritage.
The Pyongsan Shin clan lineage makes up about 70% of all those with the surname Shin using the Chinese character 申. The clan's founder was General Sin Sung-gyŏm. This clan associated with a mountain in North Korea called "Pyongsan" (平山,literally "mountain of peace"). Sin Sung-gyŏm was originally named Samneungsan (三能山,literally "mountain of three talents"),without a family name,before being granted the Sin surname by King Taejo of Goryeo.
According to the Pyongsan Shin family legend,one day when King Taejo and his generals went out hunting near Pyeongsan,Taejo saw three geese flying above,and asked his generals whether any of them could shoot the geese down. Sin Sung-gyŏm volunteered and asked Taejo which one he should shoot. Taejo asked Shin to shoot the third goose in its left wing and,to Taejo's surprise,Sin successfully felled the goose. Highly impressed,Taejo gifted Sin with 300 gyeol (결;結,an ancient measurement of area) of local land,which became Sin's hometown.
Sin Sung-gyŏm also saved the life of King Taejo of Goryeo during a disastrous battle with Later Baekje near present-day Daegu in the early 10th century. Taejo awarded General Sin the clan name Pyongsan Sin,after his hometown,for the loyalty and bravery he showed in the battle. Other prominent members of this clan include the 16th-century artist,writer,and poet Shin Saimdang and the 19th-century pansori writer Shin Jae-hyo.
Every year,a number of descendants of the Pyongsan Shin clan gather at the memorial shrine of Sin Sung-gyŏm in the South Korean province of Gangwon Province. Prior to the Korean War,the original shrine was situated in the now North-Korean province of Hwanghae Province,to which the clan land of Pyeongsan traces its roots.
Another well-known family line that also uses the Hanja character 申 is the Goryeong Shin clan,descended from Shin Suk-ju,the lead scholar working with King Sejong the Great in the development of Hangul,the Korean written language. Shin Suk-ju was also a high ranking government minister and belonged to the Hall of Worthies. The Goryeong Shin lineage makes up about 17% of all those with the surname (申). Three of five members of Shin Suk-ju's 16th generation are known to have immigrated to the United States in the 1970s,such as the physician David Sheen. Another prominent member of the clan is Danjae Shin Chaeho,a 19th-century nationalist historian.
