Founding ancestor of the Pungyang Jo clan, said to have helped Wang Geon found Goryeo; originally named Bau
| Era | 고려 초(후삼국) |
| Clan | 풍양 조씨 |
Jo Maeng (趙孟) is honored as the founding ancestor of the Pungyang Jo clan. Wikipedia gives his original name as Bau (岩) and says he was born in Pungyang County (today Songneung-ri, Jingeon-eup, Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province), farmed there and lived in seclusion in a rock cave at the foot of Mt. Cheonmasan. The Digital Yangju Culture Encyclopedia, citing the clan genealogy, instead records his original name as Jo Am (趙巖), so sources differ on his first name.
Tradition says that when Wang Geon, campaigning against Silla, suffered a heavy defeat near Yeonghae (today Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang), his generals urged him to seek the counsel of a sage hidden in Pungyang. He was then in his seventies. He is said to have contributed brilliant strategy to the unification, to have been given the name Maeng by Taejo, and to have risen to chancellor (munha sijung pyeongjangsa) and the title of Founding Merit Subject.
These accounts rest on genealogies and clan tradition rather than on contemporary records. Where many other Jo clans claim founders who came from China, the Pungyang Jo clan describes a native hermit who received his surname and name for services to the founding of Goryeo. The generations after him are lost, so the descendants are grouped into three lineages starting from Jo Ji-rin, Jo Sin-hyeok and Jo Bo.
Pungyang is the old name for the area of today's Jingeon, Jinjeop and Onam in Namyangju. It was Goruino County under Baekje and Goguryeo, renamed Hwangyang in 757 under Silla, became Pungyang in 940 (Taejo 23), came under Yangju in 1427 (Sejong 9) and was merged into Namyangju County in 1980.
On Mt. Cheonmasan there is still a rock cave said to be where the founder met Wang Geon, and Gyeonseong Hermitage is described as having guarded it. It is best read as tradition rather than established history.
Wikipedia says the name Bau became Maeng, while genealogical sources write Jo Am. It is also noted that the Pungyang and Hanyang Jo sides do not accept the lineage that the Yangju Jo genealogy links to the Song imperial house.
Because several generations right after the founder are lost, descendants are grouped under Jo Ji-rin (attendant at Cheonhwa Temple), Jo Sin-hyeok (chancellor) and Jo Bo (senior general), and each lineage uses its own generation names. Kinship between them therefore cannot always be reckoned.
The clan was not prominent in Goryeo or early Joseon but, from the reign of Sukjong, grew into a leading house said to have produced seven state councillors, four Grand Academicians, four merit subjects and seven generals. Chief State Councillors Jo Hyeon-myeong and Jo In-yeong and Queen Sinjeong are the best known.
Said to lie in the Jingeon area of Namyangju; the exact location and any heritage designation were not confirmed. Some sources place it near the tomb of Royal Noble Consort Gongbin Kim, so please check with the clan association.
His descendants are divided into three lineages and five branches starting from Jo Ji-rin (Hogun-gong, Hoeyang-gong and Geumju-gong), Jo Sin-hyeok (Pyeongjangsa-gong) and Jo Bo (Sangjanggun-gong). See the Pungyang Jo clan page.