Founding, Jeongsa and Jwamyeong merit subject of Joseon; Right State Councillor enshrined in King Taejong's shrine
| Life | 1414 |
| Era | 고려 말~조선 초 |
| Clan | 한양 조씨 |
Jo Yeong-mu (趙英茂, ?-1414) was a military official and merit subject of late Goryeo and early Joseon, of the Hanyang Jo clan, with the posthumous title Chungmu (忠武). 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 his line to Jo Ji-su's son Jo In-jae, a lineage on which opinions within the clan still differ.
In 1392, on Yi Bang-won's orders, he and Jo Yeong-gyu killed Jeong Mong-ju; that year he helped raise Yi Seong-gye to the throne and became a third-rank founding merit subject and Earl of Hansan. He served as military commissioner of Ganggye in 1394 and of Chungcheong in 1397, and in the First Strife of Princes in 1398 aided Yi Bang-won, becoming a first-rank Jeongsa merit subject. In 1400 he held command of the armies and again helped Yi Bang-won in the Second Strife, becoming a first-rank Jwamyeong merit subject. When private armies were abolished he resisted and beat the officer sent to collect weapons, and was exiled to Hwangju, but was soon released and made Northwest Commissioner and governor of Pyongyang.
He went on to head the Three Armies and the Privy Council, became Right State Councillor in 1405, was made Prince in 1408 and led the Three Armies Office. Dismissed in 1412 over a man he had recommended, he was restored as Right State Councillor the next year. After his death he was enshrined in King Taejong's royal shrine. His tomb is in Toechon-myeon, Gwangju, Gyeonggi, and his shrine Hyuammyo stands with the clan founder's altar at Yeongok-ri, Baekseok-eup, Yangju. In the 1453 Gyeyu coup his eldest grandson Jo Wan-gyu was executed and the family suffered greatly; his descendants form the Chungmu-gong branch.
Toechon-myeon, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do