한양 조씨(漢陽 趙氏) — The Hanyang Jo clan honors the Goryeo official Jo Ji-su (趙之壽) as its founder. It produced the Jo Don, Jo In-byeok, Jo In-ok and Jo On family, who helped recover Ssangseong and found Joseon, as well as the reformist statesman Jeongam Jo Gwang-jo.
The Hanyang Jo clan honors the Goryeo official Jo Ji-su (趙之壽) as its founder. It produced the Jo Don, Jo In-byeok, Jo In-ok and Jo On family, who helped recover Ssangseong and found Joseon, as well as the reformist statesman Jeongam Jo Gwang-jo. In the 2015 Census the 한양 조씨 clan numbered about 332,580 people, one of Korea's major surnames and clans. Even among people surnamed 조, a different clan seat (bon-gwan, 한양) means a different lineage. New to these terms? See the bon-gwan, pa & hangnyeol guide.
The Hanyang Jo clan (漢陽 趙氏) takes Hanyang, today's Seoul, as its ancestral seat and honors Jo Ji-su (趙之壽), said to have served in Goryeo as Josun Daebu and Cheomui Jungseosa (僉議中書事), as its founder. The genealogy and clan sources describe him as a descendant of a local gentry family long settled in Yongjin County of Deogwon (around today's Muncheon and Wonsan, South Hamgyong). The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, however, says he was naturalized from China, so accounts of his earlier ancestry differ. The Yangju Jo genealogy claims that four sons of Zhao Yi (趙翼), a descendant of the first Song emperor, came to Goryeo and founded the Baecheon, Hanyang, Pungyang and Yangju Jo clans, but the Hanyang and Pungyang Jo clans are said not to accept this account.
Hanyang goes back to Baekje's Hansan and became Hanyang County in 757 under King Gyeongdeok of Silla. It was known as Yangju and Namgyeong under Goryeo, was renamed Hanyang-bu in 1308, and became Hanseong-bu after King Taejo moved the capital there. Although the family rose in Hamgyong Province, it is explained that it took Hanyang as its seat because descendants who helped found Joseon moved to the capital and prospered there.
The founder's son Jo Hwi (趙暉) surrendered to the Mongols in 1258 when they invaded the northeast: with Tak Cheong of Jeongju he killed the Northeastern Military Commissioner Sin Jip-pyeong and others and handed the land north of Hwaju to the Mongols, who set up the Ssangseong Commandery with Jo Hwi as its commander. The History of Goryeo lists him among its traitors. The post passed to his son Jo Yang-gi, grandson Jo Rim and great-grandson Jo So-saeng for four generations and 99 years. Jo Yang-gi's daughter became the second wife of Yi Chun (Dojo), grandfather of King Taejo Yi Seong-gye, the first link between the two families.
The person who changed the family's course was Jo Yang-gi's son Jo Don (趙暾). He submitted to Goryeo early and served King Chungsuk, and in 1356, when King Gongmin moved to recover Ssangseong, he aided the Goryeo army, sending his son Jo In-byeok to win over the people of Ssangseong. His nephew Jo So-saeng, then commander, resisted, fled to Jurchen territory, invaded Goryeo with Naghachu in 1362 and was killed that year. Jo Don became a first-rank merit subject for repelling the Red Turbans and was enfeoffed as Lord Yongseong.
Jo Don's eldest son Jo In-byeok (趙仁璧) married Princess Jeonghwa, daughter of Yi Ja-chun, becoming King Taejo's brother-in-law; after distinguished campaigns against Japanese pirates he was made Prince Yongwon after the founding of Joseon. His younger brother Jo In-ok (趙仁沃) urged the Wihwa Island withdrawal, became a first-rank founding merit subject and was enshrined in King Taejo's royal shrine. Jo In-byeok's eldest son Jo On (趙溫) became a founding, Jeongsa and Jwamyeong merit subject, and Princess Jeonghwa's son Jo Yeon (趙涓), a Jwamyeong merit subject, served as Third State Councillor under King Sejong. Jo Yeong-mu (趙英茂), recorded as a great-great-grandson of Jo Ji-su, became a founding, Jeongsa and Jwamyeong merit subject, served as Right State Councillor and was enshrined in King Taejong's shrine. One newspaper series notes that eight of the roughly forty Joseon founding merit subjects were named Jo. Jo Yeong-mu's line, however, traces itself to another son of Jo Ji-su, Jo In-jae (趙麟才), and opinions within the clan still differ on whether it belongs to the same main line.
Royal marriages continued. Uijeong Gungju, a consort of King Taejong, came from this family, and King Jungjong's daughter Princess Hyojeong married Jo Ui-jeong. The family also intermarried with other royals such as Prince Jangcheon, a son of King Jeongjong, and Prince Huryeong, a son of King Taejong.
The flourishing clan suffered greatly in the coups and literati purges of the 15th and 16th centuries. In the 1453 Gyeyu coup six members of one household, including Jo Yeong-mu's grandsons Jo Wan-gyu and Jo Wan-ju, met disaster, as did the family of Jo In-ok's grandson Jo Sun-saeng. Jo On's grandson Jo Chung-son was banished to the frontier for his closeness to Prince Anpyeong and released under King Yejong. Chung-son's son Jo Won-gi (趙元紀) was dismissed for refusing to hand the historians' drafts to King Yeonsan and exiled in the 1504 purge, but after the 1506 restoration he became Inspector-General, Minister of Punishments and Left Chamchan and was selected as an upright official (cheongbaengni). His nephew Jeongam Jo Gwang-jo (趙光祖) led reforms under King Jungjong, including the recommendation examination, abolition of the Taoist office, spreading the community compact and stripping false merit titles, until he was forced to take poison in the 1519 Gimyo purge. He was later posthumously made Chief State Councillor and enshrined in the Confucian shrine, and remains the clan's best-known figure.
The first Hanyang Jo genealogy was the 1524 Gapsin (Jiajing) edition, compiled by Jo Won-gi from the small record begun by his father Jo Chung-son and printed by woodblock in Hamchang by his kinsman Jo Se-jeong. The original is lost; only its preface and postscript survive in later editions. It was followed by Jo Gyeong's 1651 Sinmyo edition and the editions of 1726, 1798, 1849, 1884 (by Jo Je-hwa) and 1934. Yongju Jo Gyeong (趙絅) topped the 1626 civil examination, opposed peace with the Qing during the 1636 invasion, served as Director of the Office of Special Advisors and as minister, and was selected as an upright official. During the Imjin War Jo Ung and Jo Gyeong-nam led righteous armies, and the so-called Neungmal Hanyang Jo family of Dogok-ri, Yangpyeong preserves the merit-subject portrait of Jo Gong-geun. In late Joseon the commoner poet Chujae Jo Su-sam (趙秀三) won fame, and in the opening-port era Jo Je-hwa served as Inspector-General and wrote the calligraphy for the Sungseonjeon stele in Gimhae.
Modern members include Yuseok Jo Byeong-ok (趙炳玉), independence activist and Democratic Party presidential candidate, and his sons Jo Yun-hyeong, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, and Jo Sun-hyeong, chairman of the Millennium Democratic Party. Jo Se-hyeong, party chairman and ambassador to Japan, Defense Minister Jo Seong-tae and Unification Minister Jo Myeong-gyun also belong to this clan. In literature the leading names are the Cheongnok poet Jo Ji-hun (趙芝薰) and Pyeonun Jo Byeong-hwa (趙炳華); in scholarship, the literary historian Jo Dong-il and the historian of the independence movement Jo Dong-geol. Jo Ji-hun's third son Jo Tae-yeol served as Foreign Minister.
Census figures count 273,408 Hanyang Jo members in 1985, 307,746 in 95,206 households in 2000, and 332,580 in 2015, the largest of the Jo (趙) clans. Well-known clan villages include Duil-ri in Baekhak-myeon, Yeoncheon; Dogok-ri in Yangpyeong; Mansegyo-ri in Pocheon; Yuchon-ri and Sambong-ri in Geumwang-eup, Eumseong; Jeojeon-ri in Seohu-myeon, Andong; Donsan-ri in Yecheon; Jugok-ri in Ilwol-myeon, Yeongyang; Illo-myeon in Muan; Hwasan-myeon in Haenam; Jusaeng-myeon in Namwon; and Hyeonnam-myeon in Yangyang. In North Korea, Deokseong-myeon in Bukcheong is known.
Jusil village (Jugok-ri) in Yeongyang began when Jo Won, great-grandson of Jo Un-jong who left the capital after the Gimyo purge, settled at Wondang (today Sangwon-ri). His grandson Hoeun Jo Jeon moved to Jusil around 1629-1630, and the family has lived there for some 380 years. The village keeps Hoeun Head House, birthplace of the poet Jo Ji-hun (a Gyeongbuk monument), the Okcheon Head House of Jo Deok-rin, and Wollok Seodang built in 1773. The villagers joined Gwak Jae-u's righteous army in the Imjin War and are known for refusing to adopt Japanese names under colonial rule.
The clan uses common generation names counted from the founder as the 1st generation: 22nd Jong (鍾)/Jae (載), 23rd -won (元)/-yun (允), 24th Byeong (炳·昺), 25th -haeng (行)/-hyeong (衡), 26th Seong (誠·成), 27th -hui (熙)/-gi (紀), 28th Gyeong (慶)/Yong (庸), 29th -sin (新)/-jang (章), 30th Jeong (廷)/Seong (聖). The names of Jo Byeong-ok and Jo Byeong-hwa (24th) and Jo Yun-hyeong, Jo Sun-hyeong and Jo Se-hyeong (25th) show this order. The Byeongcham-gong descendants of Jusil use their own names, such as Byeong (秉) for the 22nd, -yong (容)/Yeong (榮) for the 23rd and Dong (東) for the 27th, as in Jo Dong-tak (Jo Ji-hun), Jo Dong-il and Jo Dong-geol.
The founder's grave is said to be in Yeongheung, South Hamgyong; because rites there are impossible, the clan built an altar to him in 1990 at Yeongok-ri, Baekseok-eup, Yangju. The site also holds Hyuammyo, the shrine of Jo Yeong-mu, and Sungmosa, and is managed as a Yangju local heritage site. Jo Yeong-mu's tomb is in Toechon-myeon, Gwangju, Gyeonggi. Simgok Seowon in Yongin, which honors Jo Gwang-jo, survived the Daewongun's closure of academies, and his tomb is in Sanghyeon-dong, Suji-gu, Yongin. At Neungju, Hwasun, where he was executed, stands a memorial stele to his exile erected in 1667.
The Hanyang Jo Clan Association oversees the whole clan; in 2007 it finalized a portrait of the founder Jo Ji-su and enshrined it in Hongseong, South Chungcheong. Branch associations such as those of the Yangjeol-gong, Yanggyeong-gong, Chungjeong-gong and Chungmu-gong lines manage rites and genealogies. Some clan sources describe six main lines (Chungmu-gong, Geomhanseong-gong, Chungjeong-gong, Yangjeol-gong, Yanggyeong-gong and Gacheonjae-gong), while Wikipedia and others list nineteen branches counted from the 7th generation, including Hanpung-gun, Doje-gong, Champan-gong, Gosa-gong, Chongje-gong, Donnyeong-gong, Gongan-gong and Byeongcham-gong. Since branch divisions and generations vary by source, please confirm details in each branch's genealogy or association.
Yangjeol-gong-pa, Gosa-gong-pa, Byeongcham-gong-pa, Hanpung-gun-pa, Doje-gong-pa, Champan-gong-pa, Chongje-gong-pa, Yanggyeong-gong-pa, Chungjeong-gong-pa, Chungmu-gong-pa
The Yangjeol-gong branch (良節公派) is a major line descending from Yangjeol-gong Jo On (趙溫, 1347-1417), of the 6th generation from the founder Jo Ji-su; it takes its name from his posthumous title Yangjeol. The eldest son of Prince Yongwon Jo In-byeok, Jo On joined the Wihwa Island withdrawal and became a merit subject of it, then a second-rank founding merit subject of Joseon, a Jeongsa merit subject (1398) and a Jwamyeong merit subject (1401), rising to Chanseongsa of the State Council and Prince Hancheon. Because his stepmother Princess Jeonghwa was Taejo's sister, he is said to have served Yi Seong-gye as his uncle from childhood.
Sub-branches — Jo On's sons are recorded as Jo Ui, Jo Wan (Lord Hanpung), Jo Ha, Jo Heung and Jo Yuk. The descendants of Jo Wan, Jo Ha, Jo Heung and Jo Yuk form the 7th-generation Hanpung-gun, Doje-gong, Champan-gong and Gosa-gong branches.
Figures and settlement — The Gosa-gong line produced the upright official Jo Won-gi and his nephew Jeongam Jo Gwang-jo, Jo On's great-great-grandson. Yongin in Gyeonggi, home to Jo Gwang-jo's tomb and Simgok Seowon, is regarded as the branch's representative seat.
* Generations and sub-branches may differ by document and lineage; please confirm in your own jokbo.
The Gosa-gong branch descends from Jo Yuk (趙育) of the 7th generation, a son of Yangjeol-gong Jo On, the founding merit subject enfeoffed as Prince Hancheon. He is called 'Gosa-gong' because he served as director of the Uiyeong storehouse (庫使), and he was posthumously made Vice-Minister of Personnel.
His son Jo Chung-son passed the royal civil examination in 1442 and served as Pyeongan Provincial Inspector and Section Chief of the Ministry of War. Because of his closeness to Prince Anpyeong he was banished to the far frontier in 1453, released in 1468, and later served at the Seonggyungwan under King Seongjong. He valued family records and kept revising a small genealogy, which became the starting point of the Hanyang Jo jokbo.
His son Munjeol-gong Jo Won-gi (趙元紀), an upright official who served as Inspector-General and Left Chamchan, carried on his father's work and compiled the first Hanyang Jo genealogy, the Gapsin edition of 1524. Jo Chung-son's other grandson Jeongam Jo Gwang-jo (趙光祖), Jo Won-gi's nephew, led the Neo-Confucian reform movement under King Jungjong. The branch is thus seen as the line that built the clan's traditions of learning and genealogy.
The Byeongcham-gong branch descends from Jo Ryeon (趙憐) of the 7th generation. It was based around Yeongju and Bonghwa in Gyeongsang Province, and Jo Geuk of the 12th generation moved to Gongju (today Janggun-myeon, Sejong City), becoming the first settler of the Hanyang Jo line there.
The so-called Jusil Jo family of Jusil village, Jugok-ri, Ilwol-myeon, Yeongyang County, also belongs to this branch and has used its own generation names. According to local sources, Jo Won (趙源, 1511-?), great-grandson of Jo Un-jong who left the capital after the Gimyo purge, married a daughter of O Pil of the Hamyang O clan and settled at Wondang (today Sangwon-ri) in Yeongyang; his grandson Hoeun Jo Jeon (趙佺) founded the Jusil settlement around 1629-1630.
Jusil preserves Hoeun Head House (a Gyeongbuk monument), the Okcheon Head House of Hoeun's great-grandson Jo Deok-rin, and Wollok Seodang built in 1773. The village produced the poet Jo Ji-hun (born Jo Dong-tak), the literary historian Jo Dong-il, the historian Jo Dong-geol and the lawmaker Jo Heon-yeong. It is also known for joining Gwak Jae-u's righteous army in the Imjin War and refusing Japanese names under colonial rule. The Jusil Jo use their own generation names, such as Byeong (秉) for the 22nd and Dong (東) for the 27th generation.
The Hanpung-gun branch descends from Jo Wan (趙琓) of the 7th generation. The Hanyang Jo clan divides into roughly nineteen branches counted from the 7th generation, and the Hanpung-gun branch is listed first among them.
Jo Wan is recorded as the second son of the founding merit subject Yangjeol-gong Jo On. He reached the senior second rank of Jaheon Daebu, served as Jijungchuwonsa, and was enfeoffed as Lord Hanpung (漢豊君), from which the branch takes its name. Since Jo On's sons Jo Wan, Jo Ha, Jo Heung and Jo Yuk founded the Hanpung-gun, Doje-gong, Champan-gong and Gosa-gong branches, this branch belongs broadly to the Yangjeol-gong line.
Jo Wan's grandfather Jo In-byeok married King Taejo's sister Princess Jeonghwa, and his father Jo On was named in all three merit lists of the founding, Jeongsa and Jwamyeong. Against this background Jo Wan rose high enough to be enfeoffed as a lord. The founder's dates and later settlements are not found in public reference works, so please confirm details in the branch genealogy or association.
The Doje-gong branch descends from Jo Ha (趙河) of the 7th generation and is one of the Hanyang Jo branches counted from that generation.
Jo Ha is recorded as the third son of the founding merit subject Yangjeol-gong Jo On; family records give his post as dojebyeoljang (都制別將), from which the branch name derives. His elder brother Jo Wan founded the Hanpung-gun branch and his younger brothers Jo Heung and Jo Yuk the Champan-gong and Gosa-gong branches, so the Doje-gong branch belongs with them to the broader Yangjeol-gong line.
The founder's father Jo On helped bring about the Wihwa Island withdrawal and the founding of Joseon, supported Yi Bang-won in both Princes' Strifes and rose to Chanseongsa of the State Council; his grandfather Jo In-byeok was King Taejo's brother-in-law, enfeoffed as Prince Yongwon. Descendants of this branch carry on that merit-subject lineage and take part in the rites for Jo On. The founder's dates, career and the branch's settlements are not detailed in public reference works, so please confirm them in the branch genealogy or association.
The Champan-gong branch descends from Jo Heung (趙興) of the 7th generation and is one of the Hanyang Jo branches counted from that generation.
Jo Heung is recorded as the fourth son of the founding merit subject Yangjeol-gong Jo On. He served as director (jeong) of the Seongonggam, the office in charge of building and repairing palaces and government buildings, and was later posthumously made Vice-Minister of Personnel (champan), hence the name 'Champan-gong'. His younger brother Jo Yuk, founder of the Gosa-gong branch, received the same posthumous title.
Together with the Hanpung-gun, Doje-gong and Gosa-gong branches founded by his brothers, it belongs to the broader Yangjeol-gong line. Among Jo On's descendants, the Gosa-gong line produced the upright official Jo Won-gi and Jeongam Jo Gwang-jo, close kin who share the same grandfather with this branch. It is listed third among the nineteen 7th-generation branches. The founder's dates and the branch's settlements are not detailed in public reference works, so please confirm them in the branch genealogy or association.
The Chongje-gong branch descends from Jo Mo (趙慕) of the 7th generation and is one of the Hanyang Jo branches counted from that generation. It appears between the Gosa-gong and Donnyeong-gong branches both in Wikipedia's list of 7th-generation branches and in the branch list of the 2013 Segye Ilbo series on clan roots.
'Chongje' (摠制) was a senior military post of the early Joseon Three Armies Command (Samgun Dochongjebu), which had dochongje, chongje, dongji-chongje and cheom-chongje in each army. The founder appears to be called 'Chongje-gong' because he held this post. The 7th generation was active roughly under Kings Taejong and Sejong, the generation right after Jo On, Jo Yeon and other sons of the brothers Jo In-byeok and Jo In-ok rose as merit subjects and ministers, which fits the pattern of sons of merit-subject families entering military office at that time.
Which 6th-generation ancestor Jo Mo was the son of, his dates and the branch's settlements could not be confirmed in public reference works. Please confirm the exact lineage in the branch genealogy or with the Hanyang Jo Clan Association.
The Yanggyeong-gong branch descends from Yanggyeong-gong Jo Yeon (趙涓, 1374-1429), Third State Councillor under King Sejong; it takes its name from his posthumous title Yanggyeong. Born to Prince Yongwon Jo In-byeok and Princess Jeonghwa, King Taejo's sister, Jo Yeon is counted with his half-brother Jo On (founder of the Yangjeol-gong branch) as a leading figure of the clan's 6th generation.
He passed the civil examination in 1386 and, after the founding of Joseon, guarded King Taejo as a royal sword-bearer because he was a close relative. In the Second Strife of Princes in 1400 he helped Yi Bang-won, becoming a fourth-rank Jwamyeong merit subject and Lord Hanpyeong. In 1410, as pacification commissioner of Gilju, he attacked Jurchen raiders on the frontier; he later served as Minister of Works and Chanseongsa, was made Prince Hanpyeong, and became Third State Councillor in 1426. He is remembered as a civil official who won military distinction against the Jurchen.
The Yanggyeong-gong line is one of the main branches of the clan today with its own association; a 2022 account of a visit to the Yangju founder's altar mentions the head of the Yanggyeong-gong association taking part. Please confirm its sub-branches and settlements in the branch genealogy.
The Chungjeong-gong branch descends from Chungjeong-gong Jo In-ok (趙仁沃, 1347-1396), a first-rank founding merit subject of Joseon; it takes its name from his posthumous title Chungjeong. The fourth son of Lord Yongseong Jo Don and younger brother of Jo In-byeok, he urged the Wihwa Island withdrawal, helped Jeong Do-jeon and others raise Yi Seong-gye to the throne, was enfeoffed as Lord Hansan and was enshrined in King Taejo's royal shrine.
According to family records he had four sons: Jeolhyo-gong Jo Roe, who served as Jidonnyeongbusa, Jo Jae, Jo Gwan, an honorary Minister of Works, and Jo Gaeng, a county magistrate. His grandson Jo Sun-saeng is said to have suffered greatly with his sons and grandsons in the 1453 Gyeyu coup, and the founder of the Paseo-gong branch in the list of 7th-generation branches is likewise given as Sun-saeng (順生).
The modern independence activist and politician Yuseok Jo Byeong-ok counted Jo In-ok as his direct ancestor and is the branch's best-known modern figure; his sons Jo Yun-hyeong and Jo Sun-hyeong belong to the same line. Some clan sources present the Chungjeong-gong line as one of the six main lines of the clan.
The Chungmu-gong branch centers on Chungmu-gong Jo Yeong-mu (趙英茂, ?-1414), founding merit subject and Right State Councillor of Joseon. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture records him as a great-great-grandson of the founder Jo Ji-su, with grandfather Jo Sun-hu and father Jo Se-jin, and explains that he came to use Hanyang as his seat thanks to the rise of his kinsmen Jo In-ok and Jo On. Clan tradition traces this line to Jo Ji-su's son Jo In-jae (趙麟才).
Disputed lineage — Direct descendants of Jo Hwi regard him as Jo Ji-su's only son, while the Jo Yeong-mu line claims its ancestor was Jo Ji-su's eldest son. The two kept separate genealogies, and when the question of merging them arose in late Joseon a disagreement began that is said to continue today.
Hardship and sites — In the 1453 Gyeyu coup, Jo Yeong-mu's eldest grandson Jo Wan-gyu was executed the following year and his brother and cousins were exiled, six members of one household in all. Part of the branch is said to have settled in Yangju afterwards. At Yeongok-ri, Baekseok-eup, Yangju stand Jo Yeong-mu's shrine Hyuammyo, Sungmosa and the founder's altar built in 1990, where rites are held for the founder, the 2nd to 4th generations and Jo Yeong-mu; his tomb is in Toechon-myeon, Gwangju.
Branch divisions vary by lineage and jokbo; confirm your own branch in your family's records.
조광조(leader of the Sarim under King Jungjong), 조온(Joseon founding merit subject), 조인옥(Joseon founding merit subject), 조인벽(Prince Yongwon), 조영무(Right State Councillor, founding merit subject), 조연(Third State Councillor under King Sejong), 조원기(upright official, genealogy compiler), 조수삼(commoner poet), 조지훈(Cheongnok poet), 조병화(poet), 조병옥(independence activist and politician)
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The 한양 조씨 clan association can be found in the Korean E-Jokbo Library clan-association directory.
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