GimhaeKim.net, kimhaekim clan

Welcome to the webpage dedicated to the Gimhae Kim family!

The origins of the Gimhae Kim clan:
The Gimhae Kim clan, also known as the Kimhae Kims, is one of the most famous and historically significant clans in Korea. The clan's origins can be traced back to the ancient kingdom of Gaya, specifically Geumgwan Gaya, whose capital was located in the present-day city of Gimhae.
　

The legendary founder of the Gimhae Kim clan is King Suro, who is also the founding monarch of Geumgwan Gaya in the year 42 AD. According to the "Garakguk-gi," a historical record, King Suro was born from a golden egg and was one of the six eggs that hatched six princes. King Suro ascended as the first king and ruled until his death. The name "Kim" was bestowed upon him and his descendants, which means "gold," symbolizing nobility and the divine nature of his birth.

Like the virgin birth, in the first century, hatching from an egg could symbolize spiritual birth in Christianity and enlightenment in Buddhism. So as soon as he hatched from the egg (after being spiritually reborn or enlightened), he was crowned king. Six years later, in 48 A.D., King Suro married Princess Huh Huangok from Ayuta (Ayodhya) and was greatly loved by all his subjects. Queen Huh Hwang-ok lived until the age of about 157(32AD – 189AD). She is said to have passed away in 189 AD (on the first day of the third month in the lunar calendar) in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Korea.(Wikipedia) According to Samguk Yusa, she became the wife of King Suro of Geumgwan Gaya at the age of 16, after having arrived by boat from a distant kingdom called "Ayuta".

As for King Suro, he is considered the legendary founder and Hero King of Geumgwan Gaya. His posthumous name is Sureung (首陵), and he lived from approximately 42? AD to 199 AD

The couple had ten sons and two daughters. The last two of the sons were called Huh, after their mother's surname, and the rest were called Kim, after King Kim Suro's surname.

In 532 AD, King Gu Hyung, the last king of Gaya, ceded territory to Silla to prevent a great war and the bloodshed of his people. He was allowed to remain in Garakguk, one of the six regions of Gaya, and his sons, Saejong, Muduk, and Muryeong, were given positions in the Silla royal court.
　

General Kim Yusin was the grandson of King Guhyung, the last king of Gaya, and his father was King Muryeol, the father-in-law of King Muryeol of Silla. King Muryeol was a famous general in the Silla kingdom, and he and King Muryeol later unified the three kingdoms of Silla, Goguryeo, and Baekje on the Korean Peninsula to form a unified Silla. The Gimhae family flourished and regained power after General Kim Yusin, and today there are 148 families in the Gimhae family.
The Gimhae-gim, Heo, and Lee clans in particular are direct descendants of legendary kings and queens, and more than six million Koreans can trace their lineage today. These three clans trace their main kwan (geographic and biological ancestral roots) to Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do, and restrict intermarriage among themselves because of their shared ancestry. Today, Gimhae Kim is the largest of the several clans. The Gimhae Heo are descended from the two sons of King Suro who took the surname of their mother, Lady Heo Hwangok, instead of their father's surname.
　

Korean History: The Kingdom of Gaya
가야 (加倻)의 역사

As members of the Gimhae Kim Clan, we are so grateful to our ancestors who maintained our family records for almost 2000 years, handing them down to us through the jogbo, or clan registers. It is our mission to hand these down to our own descendants.

Surnames:

According to the population and housing census of 2000 conducted by the South Korean government, there are a total of 286 surnames and 4,179 clans. but the four most popular - Kim, Lee (Yi), Park (Pak), Choi (Choe) ...

However, having the same last name does not always mean that persons share the same blood heritage. Koreans have maintained the unique system of using their regional bases as an important way to differentiate their identities.

For example, there are 285 regional origins for the Kims, such as the Gimhae Kim clan and Kyongju Kim clan, etc. There are 241 regional bases for the Lees, including Chonju and Kwangju. There are 128 for Parks and 127 for Choi, among others.

A Korean clan is a group of people that share the same ancestor and is indicated by the combination of a bon-gwan (geographic place of origin) and a family name (clan name). However, a bon-gwan isn't treated as a part of a Korean person's name.

*Gimhae Kim clan
Gimhae is a bon-gwan (geographic place of origin) and Kim is family name. Gimhae is a name of a region in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the ancient Kingdom of Geumgwan Gaya, situated near the Nakdong River, south east of South Korea. This is the seat of the Gimhae Kim clan, one of the largest Kim clans in Korea.

*Around AD 42, when the kingdom was founded, the name of this area was Gaya, and the name of the kingdom was Garak-guk. So some of family uses the Garak Kim clan. (Reference garakkim.net) Gaya confederacy

Different family names sharing the same bon-gwan sometimes trace their origin to a common paternal ancestor, e.g. the Gimhae Kim clan and the Gimhae Heo clan share king Suro of Geumgwan Gaya as their common paternal ancestor, though such case is exceptional.