Civil official under Yeongjo and Jeongjo who served as Minister of Punishments and Jehak of the Office of Royal Decrees; author of the Haejwajip; pen name Haejwa, posthumous title Munheon
| Life | 1723 ~ 1801 |
| Era | 조선 후기 |
| Clan | 나주 정씨 |
Jeong Beom-jo (丁範祖, 1723-1801) was a late Joseon civil official from Naju, with courtesy name Beopse, pen name Haejwa and posthumous title Munheon. He was a great-great-grandson of Jeong Si-han and great-grandson of Jeong Do-hang; his grandfather was Jeong Yeong-sin, his father the scholar Jeong Ji-nyeong, and his mother a daughter of Sin Pil-yang. His family seat was Wonju and he came from a Southerner family. He is a different person from Jeong Beom-jo (鄭範朝, 1833-1897) of the Dongnae Jeong.
According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture he passed the licentiate examination in 1759 and became a Seonggyungwan student, then passed the 1763 special civil examination in the first class and became a Director of the Sajik Office. He served as Seonggyungwan Jeonjeok, Military Section Secretary and Inspector, was briefly exiled to Gapsan for delaying a royal order, then served as Senior Secretary of Personnel and magistrate of Okgu before being listed in the Hongmungwan roll. Recommended by Right Chief State Councillor Won In-son, he became compiler and then Dongbu Seungji, and early under Jeongjo as Magistrate of Yangyang he reduced levies and promoted moral teaching but was dismissed over a pine-timber smuggling case in Gangneung.
He was reappointed Dongbu Seungji in 1781, became Grand Remonstrator and Magistrate of Pungcheon before resigning, and in 1792 was appointed Inspector-General. His request to retire for age was refused and he served as Vice-Minister of Rites, Governor of Gaeseong and Vice-Minister of Personnel. Around 1794 he became Jidonnyeongbusa, entered the Office of Elders, and rose to Minister of Punishments concurrently as Jichunchugwansa. He handled literary duties as Jehak of the Office of Royal Decrees and Hongmungwan until Jeongjo's last years, was chosen in 1800 to compose Jeongjo's life account and wrote funeral verses, and in 1801 took part in compiling the Jeongjong Sillok (now called the Jeongjo Sillok) as a compiler of the Veritable Records Office.
Admired for poetry and prose as a model among the literati, he was reportedly rated by Jeongjo, who promoted literary-style reform (munche banjeong), as the foremost writer of the age. Politically he took no side and criticised the Tangpyeong policy of the time as having stalled at formal even-handedness. His collection is the Haejwajip in 39 volumes. He is also mentioned among the scholars who showed that Jeong Deok-seong of Tang, long held to be the ancestor of the Jeong clans, was a fictional figure.
He passed the 1763 special civil examination in the first class and became a Director of the Sajik Office. The encyclopedia says he was briefly exiled to Gapsan for delaying a royal order, soon recovered, and served as Senior Secretary of Personnel and Magistrate of Okgu.
After appointment as Inspector-General in 1792 he served as Governor of Gaeseong and Vice-Minister of Personnel and rose to Minister of Punishments. He handled literary duties as Jehak of the Office of Royal Decrees and Hongmungwan, and took part in composing Jeongjo's life account in 1800.
He held that ending factionalism requires fair appointments, trustworthy policies and a clear political stance, and criticised the Tangpyeong policy that stopped at formal even-handedness as ineffective.
The central clan association says that some two centuries ago scholarly forebears such as Jeong Beom-jo and Jeong Yak-yong showed the story of the Tang minister Jeong Deok-seong as common ancestor to be baseless, and the association therefore honours the Goryeo general Jeong Yun-jong as founder.
The tomb location was not confirmed here. The encyclopedia says his family seat was Wonju.
His forebear four generations up, Jeong Si-han, and his father Jeong Ji-nyeong were noted scholars.