The Masters of Sinanju

Unplaced and undated named-Master register

1. Wang / Great Wang: the House origin account. One origin account says Wang mastered control after a ring of fire taught him, became the first Master of the House of Sinanju, and passed the place to the worthiest family member. This differs in emphasis from later stories of the New Age and does not number earlier Masters.

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   Full article: Wang (first Master of Sinanju)

2. Wang / Great Wang: the failure and return story. In Chiun’s story, Wang spends thirty years in solitude after a child drowns during a festival he was responsible for protecting. He returns to a ruined, starving village, then goes abroad to exchange his skills for gold to feed its people; Chiun says this failure and response made him Master.

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   Full article: Wang (first Master of Sinanju)

3. Great Wang. In one account, Great Wang serves foreign rulers, earns gold for Sinanju’s poor, dies before eighty, and is remembered as the founder of a later line.

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   Full article: Wang (first Master of Sinanju)

4. Great Wang in the New Age tradition. Book 129 calls him the first Master of the New Age and says he discovered the Sun Source. A separate Book 128 lineage account connects him with Shik’s family.

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5. Master Wang the Greater. Chiun says his ancestry traces to Wang the Greater and even earlier Masters. The source does not equate this title with every Great Wang reference, so this entry remains separately named.

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6. Master Ung. After Great Wang’s death, Ung sells his poems and writing tools to feed the village, then travels to protect a Japanese warlord and earns work as Wang’s successor.

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7. Master Mangko. A Sinanju chronicle calls Mangko the third Master of the House. In a separate tale, his reign includes a mission to the land of Moo; the surviving selected passage does not supply a calendar date.

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8. Master Hung. Chiun calls Hung the last Master of the old order, which knew no Sun Source. Hung chose Wang for training but died before a year had passed, leaving no accepted heir.

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9. Master Shang-tu. Chiun’s lesson says Shang-tu returned to Siam after a first failed arrangement, then killed the king and carried away the treasure after the king’s actions had cost children their lives. Chiun presents this as a lesson about not trusting a client who has already betrayed the contract.

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10. Master Ding. A Sinanju story says Ding served an emir in Bislam and completed the commission, but the emir died before paying; the new emir refused the debt, which remained unpaid.

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11. Master Hup To. Chiun recalls Hup To serving the chief of the “golden people” at Hamidia and learning their language, which later Masters pass along.

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12. Master Puk. Chiun says Puk left Sinanju without explanation and later returned to work around Korea, supporting the village but remaining infamous for a false tale about a mountain of gold; he received no usual Master’s funeral rites.

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13. Master Yung Suk. Chiun’s short story says Yung Suk entered a castle by another route and killed an evil prince while soldiers engaged the prince’s five guards.

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14. Master Huk. Huk was contracted by an Assyrian king to enter a Median fortress and kill the enemy king. Chiun recounts Huk’s passage through successive guarded rings and capture of the king’s adviser.

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15. Master Wang in the Wissex family tale. Pimsy recounts a Wissex family story in which Master Wang spared an ancestor and marked him. It is an attributed family account, not a confirmed identification with Great Wang or Wang the Greater.

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16. Master Pak. In Chiun’s story, Prince Wo hires Pak to kill a rival brother without appearing responsible. When the prince delays payment, Pak kills the prince’s concubine as a message; the family later publicly credits Pak’s service.

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17. Master Can Wi. A brief aside credits Can Wi with discovering the continent of America in the first Maya realm, distinguishing that claim from the later discovery of the United States. The novel gives no fuller biography in the selected passage.

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18. Master Chee. Chiun credits Chee with earning the great pearl of Hortab through an assassination described as delicate.

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19. Master Sayak. The “Tale of Master Sayak and the Emperor’s Concubine” presents Sayak as choosing to preserve the line of Masters rather than die in a no-win confrontation. Chiun uses the story to argue that a Master must survive to continue the tradition.

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20. Master We. Chiun attributes a tactic used in a later period of the Tang dynasty to Master We.

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21. Master Wa. A Sinanju scroll says Wa was hired by Emperor Claudius to prevent a plot among Roman forces in Britain. The passage identifies the commission but does not give a precise date.

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22. Master Shang. In Chiun’s legend, the Han-era Master Shang serves a Chinese emperor whose enemies keep multiplying. Shang advises turning those enemies into relatives, returns to Sinanju with Yee, then attempts a northward journey to the “land of the moon” to fulfill her wish for a lunar rock; both die after his return. The account is explicitly called a legend.

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23. Master Nonga. In one account, Nonga has many daughters and finally a son, Kojing; his wife hides the twin Kojong because she fears Nonga will kill the younger twin under the firstborn-training rule.

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24. Master Nonja. Book 100 calls the father Nonja and says the twins both received training through a secret switching arrangement; after Nonja’s death, two Masters stood ready to succeed him.

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25. Master Kojing. Kojing is the twin identified as Nonga/Nonja’s publicly trained son in one telling; another account says both twins received training. The retained accounts disagree on how the twins’ succession was resolved.

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26. Kojong / Ko Jong Oh. Book 101 calls him an ancestor of Remo and a Master of Sinanju exiled to America. Book 70’s account has him leave without the Sun Source; it does not say he was untrained.

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    Full article: Kojong

27. Master Sam. Chiun says a Japanese emperor summoned Sam to eliminate named enemies; the story’s lesson warns that Sinanju must not accept work without payment, using Sam’s history with ninjas as its example.

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    Full article: Sam Beasley

28. Master Vimu. In Chiun’s story, Vimu is old but still Reigning Master when a pupil offers to take a modest Egyptian contract. Vimu goes himself, kills the prince, and dies of thirst on the return journey.

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29. Master Sambari. Chiun says Sambari failed to understand how the Spider Divas’ unseen assassins worked. He killed two Divas, pursued Padmini, and discovered the danger concealed on her body; Chiun says he had not previously told Remo the story.

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30. Master Pojji. On his first contract in Tibet, Pojji kills the Dalai Lama at the direction of an abbot who is secretly Chinese. He receives the balance of his gold but stays to see the body and is recognized, a mistake Chiun uses as the story’s caution.

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31. Master Ko. The Sword of Sinanju is said to have been forged centuries earlier by Master Ko as a headman’s sword. The selected passage does not provide further biography.

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32. Master Lu (Book 100 vision). Remo reports meeting Master Lu during a dreamlike episode; Lu tells him he is dreaming. The episode does not establish whether this is a historical visitation or a vision, and this Lu is kept separate from Book 134’s Master Lu.

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33. Master Saja. In Chiun’s Egyptian story, Khufu hires Saja to protect his preferred successor Djedefre and his tomb from a rival succession plot. Saja later presents the bargain to Djedefre after his accession.

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34. Master Yowin. Yowin attempts to kill a Japanese shogun but cannot overcome the sumo wrestler protecting him. Chiun’s story says he later devised a way to strike the unprotected target instead.

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35. Master Kang. Chiun says that while Kang was at peace in Sinanju, a Japanese ronin killed a nearby peasant; the tale connects the event to a debt Kang later owed the ronin.

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36. Master Salbyol. Chiun identifies Salbyol as the Reigning Master when a “sun dragon” was seen three thousand years ago, and says another legend attended his reign. The selected material does not make the event’s date or nature independently verifiable.

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37. Master Kokmul. Chiun’s story says Kokmul brought corn back from a contract journey in Cathay, taught villagers to grow and store it, then became weakened after corn displaced rice. He died; his successor Pyo destroyed the crop in the tale.

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38. Master Pyo. In the same corn story, Pyo succeeds the dead Kokmul and destroys the corn plants, restoring rice to Sinanju. This is a narrated legend, not a dated agricultural history.

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39. Master Paekjo, “the Swan”. Chiun’s history says Paekjo failed to sustain the village, was jeered by its people, then found a child named Tang and recognized promise in him. Paekjo remains Reigning Master in this account and trains Tang.

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40. Master Tang (the braggart). Chiun tells of a dull-witted Master Tang who took a Greek noble’s protection contract, failed to prevent the noble’s death, then pursued vengeance at Delphi. The novel attributes the temple’s destruction to Tang, while the historical earthquake story is treated as an alternate public explanation.

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41. Earlier Master Tang. Chiun says the braggart Tang lived well after an earlier Tang trained by Master Ti-Sung. The passage establishes relative order only, not whether the two Tang references share a name or identity beyond the recorded title.

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42. Master Ti-Sung. A brief genealogy says Ti-Sung trained an earlier Master Tang. No further history of Ti-Sung appears in the selected passage.

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43. Master Cung. Cung suffers a breathing sickness and initially yields to it. After his pupil dies and Japanese forces invade Sinanju, he recognizes that the weakness must be overcome; Chiun presents his story as a lesson in breathing and attitude.

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44. Master Suo-Lok. Chiun says Suo-Lok served a Mameluke and was discharged with only partial payment after subcontracting part of the work to a prince, whose father later killed him.

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45. Master Nuk. The Book 121 foreword depicts Master Nuk leaving Luzu amid the people’s thanks, with a golden ceremonial dagger associated with Chief Kwaanga. Later dialogue says an agreement between Nuk and Kwaanga passed through generations, without giving the full origin story.

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46. Koo (unconfirmed). Remo asks whether Nuk succeeded Koo, but the selected passage offers no biography or confirmation of that succession. Koo is included only as an unplaced name mentioned in a question, not as a settled predecessor.

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47. Master Shiko. Chiun dates Shiko’s story to “a few scant centuries ago.” Shiko, still Reigning Master after training a successor, undertakes a Persian contract in old age, then mistakes Sherpas’ ordinary snow injuries for a monster’s attacks. His successor Hya-Tee later imposes tribute for skills Sherpas had learned during Shiko’s mistaken hunt.

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48. Master Hya-Tee. Shiko’s successor Hya-Tee tracks the men who learned mountain skills during Shiko’s mistaken yeti hunt, punishes them, and establishes seasonal payment to Sinanju. Chiun presents the yeti as a false creature created by the story’s mistaken perceptions.

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49. Master Nik. Remo says Nik lived about 2,700 years earlier and established a tradition requiring a disciple to perform an act of kindness before becoming Reigning Master. The novel does not place Nik relative to the other named Masters.

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50. Master Hun-Tup. In Chiun’s story, Hun-Tup investigates a wolf attacking people near Kanggye, wounds it, follows it to a hermit’s hut and discovers the apparent werewolf transformation. The episode is framed as a lesson about investigation, not evidence that supernatural transformations are ordinary history.

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51. Master Lu (parrot anecdote). Chiun says a Master Lu decided to eat parrots and made several poor decisions. The brief passage does not establish that he is the same figure Remo meets in Book 100’s dreamlike episode.

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52. Lesser Wang / second Lesser Wang. Chiun refers to a Lesser Wang who performed only one assignment and to a second Lesser Wang who encountered the succubi of the Nile. The source does not identify either figure by personal name or establish how the two references relate.

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53. H’si T’ang. Book 55 recounts H’si T’ang’s death after the Dutchman’s attack, while Chiun survives. Book 128’s cave account describes H’si’s earlier teaching history.

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    Full article: H’si T'ang

54. Master Deyu. Remo’s list names Deyu among Sinanju Masters whose Korean origin might be challenged; the passage gives no episode or fuller biography.

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55. Master Go. Chiun places Go’s Spanish story in an imprecise “year of the duck”; Remo guesses it was roughly three or six centuries earlier. In the story, Go refuses cursed gold and receives clean payment after exposing an alchemist’s scheme. The competing estimates are not an exact date.

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56. Master Bal-Mung, “the Good” / “the Waster of Precious Time”. The story dates Bal-Mung’s fruitless Nibelungen Hoard search to before 500 CE. He serves Siegfried, leaves the king at a critical moment to search for the treasure, fails to find it and dies in disgrace. Chiun says two earlier Masters also bore the name Bal-Mung and their names were changed in the records after this disgrace; their individual histories remain unknown.

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57. Master Songjong. Chiun’s story calls Songjong a young Master and pupil of Vimu. He chooses to let the older Vimu take the Egyptian contract, then later travels to Babylon after Vimu’s death, intending to repair the shame he feels for his choice.

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58. Master Boo. A story says a caliph once negotiated with Master Boo in a sealed stone room and conceded much because Boo could not tolerate the sound of his growling stomach. A later reference attributes a treasury door detail to Boo but gives no additional history.

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59. Master Na-Kup. Chiun says Na-Kup became famous for bringing a camel from Egypt to Sinanju, a gift from a lesser pharaoh. Later dialogue calls him “Na-Kup the Discoverer” and “Na-Kup the Fraud.”

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60. Master Tipi. Chiun says Tipi was away on contract when an emperor lost a war and his goods were seized. The episode led Sinanju to make its contracts nontransferable; Tipi was in his final years when the story was retold.

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61. Master Toksa. Chiun’s scroll places Toksa among the remembered Masters and credits him with teaching a lesson to the pharaohs. The passage does not specify the lesson or give a fuller history.

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62. Master Wo-Ti. During a Sinanju rite, Remo encounters Wo-Ti in a dreamlike scene; the text describes Wo-Ti dropping his guard and disappearing. The scene does not establish an ordinary historical meeting.

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63. Master Kum. Chiun’s story says Kum first receives gold instead of rice as payment, then later seeks service from Croesus after gold coins are created; he mistakes a coin for food and tries to eat it.

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64. Master Kim. Before Tamerlane, a dragon attacked the village; Chiun says Master Kim defeated it with little exertion. This is presented as Sinanju scroll lore.

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65. Master Noo. An interior depiction in the Master’s House says a queen connected with Ashurbanipal presented lamps to Noo’s wife; the date is printed as “650 a.c.”; its convention is not resolved here. The source gives no further biography.

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66. Master Tho. A fresco in the Master’s House identifies Tho as the first Master to travel to China and says his work opened a market for Sinanju. This is the novel’s displayed tradition, not an independently corroborated chronology.

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67. Master Jopki. A seashell pattern on the Master’s House door is attributed to Jopki’s son, nine hundred years before the narrative. The episode does not name the son or provide more about Jopki.

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68. Master Lik. Coins displayed in the Master’s House are said to have been minted for Lik and stamped by Themistocles in thanks for Sinanju’s aid at Salamis.

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69. Master Hwyack. Smith cites Hwyack as the example of a Master who pursued a Vandal champion for eighteen years after the champion fled a contest. The anecdote states no calendar date.

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70. Master Foo. Chiun says Sultan Mehmed hired Master Foo to remove Dracula’s “miserly head.” The novel presents this as an anecdote about the Master’s client work.

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71. Master Ku. Remo tries on a garment identified as Master Ku’s; Chiun says the past Masters were properly sized, unlike Remo. The selected passage provides no further history.

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72. Master Yung. Chiun says that since Yung he has had to shepherd a pupil longer than any other Master. The remark gives a relative comparison but no story or calendar placement for Yung.

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73. Master Yong / “Yong the Gluttonous”. Chiun says Yong was called by a false name to avoid shaming ancestors, served a Chinese emperor against a dragon, and lived to 148 after consuming the dragon bones rather than preserving them. Another account credits Yong with carving the Horns of Welcome to signal the House to clients and warn invaders.

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