Early Joseon official, three-time top examinee, Chief Royal Secretary and Inspector-General
| Life | 1456 ~ 1497 |
| Era | 조선 전기 |
| Clan | 고령 신씨 |
Sin Jong-ho (申從濩, 1456-1497) was an early Joseon official whose courtesy name was Chaso and pen name Samgoedang. A grandson of Chief State Councillor Sin Suk-ju, he was the son of Sin Ju (申澍), Sin Suk-ju's eldest son, and of a daughter of Chief State Councillor Han Myeong-hoe.
In 1474, while still in his youth, he took first place in the licentiate examination, and in 1480 he again took first place in the triennial civil examination. That year he was appointed an inspector and granted study leave, and the following year he went to Ming China as secretary to the envoy Hong Gwi-dal. There he petitioned the Ming Ministry of Rites to have Koreans who had fallen ill and could not return home treated, and brought them all back. After his return he served as a compiler and editor in the Office of Special Advisors, and in 1486, as a Deputy Director, he took first place yet again in the advanced civil examination; he was widely praised as the first person since the founding of the examination system to top it three times.
That year he was promoted out of turn to deputy director of the Office of Guest Reception, took part in revising the Yeoji seungnam gazetteer into the Dongguk yeoji seungnam, for which he received a deerskin from the king, and was sent by royal order to Liaodong to study spoken Chinese. He served as Director of Studies and Deputy Director of the Office of Special Advisors and as Seventh, Third and Fourth Royal Secretary before becoming Chief Royal Secretary. In 1491, while Inspector-General, he was dismissed for insulting the Chief State Councillor at a royal council on a northern border raid, but he was soon reappointed and served as Chief Royal Secretary and as Vice Minister of War, Rites and Personnel. In 1494 he became Governor of Gyeonggi Province, and the following year, as Vice Minister of Rites and an official of the Office for Annals Compilation, he took part in compiling the Annals of King Seongjong.
In 1496, despite illness, he went to Ming China as New Year envoy and died in Gaeseong on his way home the next year. He was described as a generous, magnanimous man who excelled in prose, poetry and calligraphy, and his collected works, the Samgoedang jip, survive. Wikipedia describes him as a son-in-law of Prince Uichang, a son of King Sejong.