조문명 趙文命
Leader of the impartiality (tangpyeong) camp under King Yeongjo and Left State Councillor; father of Queen Hyosun; art name Hagam; posthumous title Munchung
| Life | 1680 ~ 1732 |
| Era | 조선 후기 |
| Clan | 풍양 조씨 |
Life & career
Jo Mun-myeong (1680-1732) was a late Joseon official of the Pungyang Jo clan, courtesy name Sukjang, art name Hagam, posthumous title Munchung. He was the elder brother of Chief State Councillor Jo Hyeon-myeong, father-in-law of Yeongjo's eldest son Crown Prince Hyojang, and father of the queen later honored as Queen Hyosun. A pupil of Kim Chang-hyeop, he passed the licentiate examination in 1705 and the civil examination under Sukjong.
Though classed as Soron, he responded actively to King Yeongjo's impartiality policy and led the tangpyeong camp, being credited with fair handling of appointments. In 1727 he helped compile the Gyeongjong Sillok, and in 1728, for restoring order after the Yi In-jwa rebellion, he was named a second-class Bunmu merit subject and made Lord Pungneung.
He went on to serve as Minister of War, Grand Academician and Commander of the Military Training Agency, became Right State Councillor in 1730 and, after returning from an embassy to the Qing in 1731, Left State Councillor. A good calligrapher, he wrote the stele inscription at Samchungsa in Cheongju; his collected works Hagamjip survive, and he was enshrined in Yeongjo's ancestral shrine hall.
Leader of the Impartiality Camp
He was among those who worked at the forefront of Yeongjo's early policy of balancing Soron and Noron. Although Soron by affiliation, his in-laws, the family of Kim Chang-eop of the Andong Kim clan, were Noron.
The Rebellion and Merit Subject Status
For quelling the aftermath of the 1728 Yi In-jwa rebellion he became a second-class Bunmu merit subject. A portrait that appears to be his merit-subject image survives, though it is identified mainly by its similarity to those of fellow Bunmu subjects such as Oh Myeong-hang and Bak Mun-su.
Family
His daughter Queen Hyosun was Crown Prince Hyojang's consort, and his son Jo Jae-ho became Left State Councillor but was put to death in the Crown Prince Sado affair, an event after which the family's standing is said to have been shaken.
Descendants
He had sons Jo Jae-ho (Left State Councillor), Jo Jae-yeon, Jo Jae-hong and Jo Jae-bu, and a daughter who became Queen Hyosun. The eighth-generation descendant of his cousin Jo Cheol-myeong was the independence activist Jo Dong-ho. When the future Jeongjo was adopted by Crown Prince Hyojang in 1764, Jo became his adoptive maternal grandfather on paper.