The Genealogy of the Royal Family

Seonwon-rok is a genealogical book of the royal family. It was published every three years by an office called Jongbusi, and recorded biographical information on the royal clans under government administration. King Taejong (the third king of Joseon) who was concerned about the future conflict over the throne after his death, gave order to split the genealogy into three types: 《Seonwon-rok》, 《Jongchin-rok》 and 《Yubu-rok》. Present day 51 books of 《Seonwon-rok》 was compiled on the year 7 of King Sukjong (1681), recording the descendants of kings from Taejo to Heonjong. Each page is divided into 7 columns by a red line, the top of which writes the name of the queen. For the descendants of the prince, down to 9th generation was written down in the other 6 columns, and for the descendants of the princess, down to 6th generation was listed. The order of composition goes from a legitimate prince and princess to a prince and princess by a concubine.