Civil official who passed the exam under Goryeo's King U and served Joseon as Inspector-General and Minister of Justice; posthumous title Munjeong
| Life | 1367 ~ 1435 |
| Era | 고려 말 ~ 조선 초기 |
| Clan | 연안 김씨 |
Kim Ja-ji (1367-1435) was a late Goryeo and early Joseon civil official and Neo-Confucian scholar of the Yeonan Kim clan. His courtesy name was Wonmyeong, his pen name Ilgye and his posthumous title Munjeong. He was the son of Kim Do, a senior official of the Privy Council (Millik jehak), and the elder brother of Kim Yeo-ji, who became Left Consultant under Sejong.
He passed the examination in 1385 under King U of Goryeo and continued in office after the dynasty fell, serving as a censor and minister under Taejong and Sejong. He rose to Vice Minister of Rites in 1419 and Inspector-General (daesaheon) in 1420. In that post he is remembered for submitting five memorials impeaching powerful merit subjects.
He later served as magistrate of Wonju and governor of Pyeongan, became Minister of Justice in 1428, and was dismissed over a disputed ruling on a slave case. He was reappointed as Magistrate of Gaeseong and again became Minister of Justice in 1434 before retiring. Known as an opponent of Buddhism and a learned man in yin-yang, astronomy, geography and medicine, he left instructions to hold his funeral according to Zhu Xi's Family Rituals. He died in 1435.
Kim Ja-ji was the son of Kim Do and, with his younger brother Kim Yeo-ji, helped establish the Yeonan Kim as an official family across the dynastic change. His descendants include Kim Jeon (great-grandson), Kim An-ro (great-great-grandson), and the line of Kim Je-nam and Queen Inmok.
As Inspector-General from 1420 he submitted five memorials impeaching powerful merit subjects, a step remembered because censors rarely faced down the powerful.
He became Minister of Justice in 1428 but was dismissed over a slave ruling, returned as Magistrate of Gaeseong, and was Minister again in 1434 before retiring. He is said to have been centered on Confucian study but also versed in yin-yang, astronomy, geography and medicine.
At Wangchang-ri in Yangpyeong the tombs of Kim Ja-ji and his younger brother Kim Yeo-ji lie in the same clan cemetery; Kim Yeo-ji's tomb is Yangpyeong Local Heritage No. 4 (1986). The pair mark the early Joseon base of the clan.
His tomb is at Wangchang-ri, Ganghan-myeon, Yangpyeong, laid out as a twin grave with his wife of the Pyeongyang Jo clan; it was designated Yangpyeong County Local Heritage No. 30 in 1987.