Associate Director of the Jiphyeonjeon under King Danjong; founder of the Bujehakgong branch
| Era | 조선 초 |
| Clan | 창녕 조씨 |
Jo Sang-chi (曺尙治) served as Associate Director of the Jiphyeonjeon under King Danjong and is the founder of the Bujehakgong branch (副提學公派) of the Changnyeong Cho clan. His courtesy name was Jagyeong (子景) and his pen names Jeongjae (靜齋) and Dango (丹皐); he was a grandson of the late-Goryeo Left Chancellor Jo Ik-cheong.
According to local-culture encyclopedias, he placed first in the 1419 (Sejong 1) special civil examination, became Jusa of the Sajaegam, and served three kings, Sejong, Munjong and Danjong, being trusted along with figures such as Seong Sam-mun and Bak Paeng-nyeon. He rose to Associate Director of the Jiphyeonjeon under Danjong but, when Sejo took the throne, asked to go home on grounds of illness and lived in seclusion.
Jo Sang-chi was a grandson of the late-Goryeo Left Chancellor Jo Ik-cheong, so the Bujehakgong branch split off from among Jo Ik-cheong's descendants.
The branch is named after his office of Associate Director of the Jiphyeonjeon, which he held under King Danjong. Wikipedia lists its clan villages as Geumsan-ri and Yakcheon-ri in Ip-myeon, Gokseong.
When Sejo took the throne he reportedly asked to return to his home region on grounds of illness. Sources differ on where he lived in seclusion: Yeongcheon (Digital Yeongcheon Culture Encyclopedia) or Cheorwon (Digital Cheorwon Culture Encyclopedia). In Yeongcheon he is said to have answered King Danjong's 'Jagyusa' poem and, after hearing of the king's misfortune, to have declined visitors. A passage quoted from the Veritable Records says that after Sejo's accession he withdrew to Yeongcheon and never sat facing west for the rest of his life.
He is said to have had his gravestone inscribed 'Grave of Jo Sang-chi, fugitive Associate Director of the Nosan reign' (魯山朝副提學逋人曺尙治之墓). His grave is at Eobang-ri, Daechang-myeon, Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang, and he was enshrined as an accessory at Danjong's tomb Jangneung in 1791 and also honored at Gueunsa in Cheorwon. Some sources give the posthumous name Chungjeong, while another classes it as an alternative name, so it has not been confirmed. His great-grandson Jo Gye-sang, a Jeongguk merit subject under King Jungjong, is among his known descendants.
The location of his grave has not been confirmed.
The Bujehakgong branch, with clan villages in Geumsan-ri and Yakcheon-ri, Ip-myeon, Gokseong.