The Park origins

Where was Grandpa born?

Korea was divided into eight provinces during the Chosun/Joseon 조선 dynasty which lasted from 1392 – 1897, approximately five centuries. One of those provinces was called Pyongan, located in the northwest of North Korea. In this diagram below, you will see Pyongan colored in pink at the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital of Pyongan was Pyongyang which is currently the capital of North Korea to date.


In 1896, the Pyongan province was divided into North and South Pyongan. Grandpa was born in South Pyongan indicated in pink in the diagram below. He was born in the city of Kaechon 개천 on March 23, 1920.

FUN FACT: Grandpa is actually 5 years older than what is said on his license here in the United States. He is currently 90. His birth year was changed on his records when they were refugees escaping North Korea.


You might remember from my last posting that the Park last name came from the Miryang clan. There are many different clans with the same last name. The Miryang clan is the most common of the Park last name; approximately 77% of all Parks are from this clan. However, Miryang is actually a city in the province of South Gyeongsang 경상남도 which was also one province of the eight provinces in the Chosun dynasty. Grandpa says that the Parks were exiled from Miryang to South Pyongan and that is how his family ended up there.


Grandpa remembers when he was 7 years old being taken by his grandfather, who was also the first son in his family, to the ancestral burial grounds to perform the ancestral rites 제사. This was when he learned about his ancestors through oral tradition.

In America, after the death of our great grandmother Moonchul Lee, Grandpa wanted to make it a point to take his grandchildren, Danny (who is the eldest son of Grandpa's eldest son) and John, and whoever could, to her burial ground because this was what he learned to do from his childhood. Regrettably, he was not able to do this in the last 3 years. He expressed, "죽으면 끝나는구나," which means, "Death is it" or "Death is the end." He feels he cannot expect it of others if he cannot do it himself. Yet, at the same time, he sees God who is the God in control of the universe and who is the God of Abraham and his family line, is the same God who is in control of our family - from great grandma Moonchul to the new generations to come.