Documents of Jo Jeong’s Family (1989)

This is a collection of sixty-two items in ten categories of old documents and books kept by the head family of Jo Jeong (1555–1636), a civil official who served from the reign of King Seonjo to that of King Injo. Jo Jeong studied under Kim Seong-il and Jeong Gu, and when the Japanese invasions of 1592 broke out he raised a righteous army. In 1596, the twenty-ninth year of King Seonjo, he served under Yi Won-ik, then Military Commander of the region. In 1599 he passed the Sama examination, and two years later the higher civil examination, going on to hold posts such as Assistant Section Chief of the Board of Taxation, Inspector of the Office of the Censor-General, and Deputy Magistrate of Daegu. After his death he was posthumously granted the post of Vice Minister of Personnel. The old documents comprise three types totalling fifty-five items: bunjaegi, records of the division of family property, drawn up between 1554 and 1670; royal edicts (gyoji) written between 1601 and 1628; and a certificate of appointment (chajeongcheop) issued to Jo Gi-won in 1628. The books comprise seven titles in seven volumes printed in the early Joseon period: Jo Jeong's own collected writings, Sambong seonsaengjip (1487); Pilwon japgi (1469–1494); an eonhae, a vernacular Korean translation and commentary, of the Analects (early in King Seonjo's reign); the History of the Han Dynasty (before the Japanese invasions of 1592); Songjo myeonghyeon obaekga beonbang daejeon munsu (1542); and Jeonsan seongbeop (compiled between the reigns of King Seonjo and King Injo). The bunjaegi record the scale, formation and inheritance of the land and slaves owned by the Jo family, and the documents vary in size. The bunjaegi are important material for the study of the social and economic history of the period, and the gyoji for the study of the personnel administration system of the time. Although many parts are missing, the books, having been printed in the early Joseon period, are also important material for bibliographic study and for the history of education and culture.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Sangju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물