시조를 확정하는 것은 종족을 만드는 과정에서 가장 먼저 해결해야 할 과제였으며영양현의 향산조씨도 예외가 아니었다. 시조에 대한 구전 자료의 문자화는 시조이야기를 체계화하고 신빙성과 권위를 부여함으로써 종족을 결집하고 정체성을확립하는 핵심 과정이었는데, 거인 소신이 쓴 조사공전(1486년)과 용암현지의 열전에 수록된 조사공전(1558년)이 그 예다. 이에 향산조씨는 대부분의 종족들과 달리족보 편찬 전에 최소한 시조 조사공에 대한 두 가지의 권위 있는 전기를 가질 수있었고 그 결과 종보 편찬이나 종족 결집이 효율적으로 진행될 수 있었다.
조사공 이야기가 문자화되고 지방지에 수록될 수 있었던 데는 15세기 중반 복건성을 비롯한 각 지역의 반란으로 지역질서가 재편되는 속에서 국가권력과 협력하고종족화를 통한 자신들의 생존과 발전을 추구하려는 향산조씨 일족의 노력이 있었다.
조종례(20세)가 거인 소신에게 조사공(9세) 이야기의 문자화를 부탁한 것이나, 조사공이 용암현의 대표적인 선인이자 도사이며 인제라는 악습을 폐기시킨 인물임을부각시켜 용암현지의 열전에 수록될 수 있었던 것도 그 결과다. 그 결과 16세기후반 향산조씨는 종보 편찬 과정에 사실주의를 앞세우면서도 기초로 절충과 합의를 통해 ‘원조 조돈후, 시조 조사공’으로 시조문제를 정리하고, 지역사회의 불안정, 반란에 따른 주민들 간의 갈등, 국가질서와 민간질서의 충돌에 따른 혼란, 조씨일족 내의 분란 등을 극복하고 종족을 결집시킬 수 있었다.
Determining the first ancestor was the most important task in the process of forming a clan, and Xiangshan Cao clan was no exception. The textualization of oral data on the first ancestor was a key process of forming a clan and establishing identity by organizing first ancestor’s stories and granting them credibility and authority.
The members of the Xiangshan Cao clan, who first published the first genealogy in 1588, worked on the textualization of their first ancestor story more than a hundred years ago. The result is the Suxin(蘇信)’s Caosigong biography(1486) and the Longyan-xianzhi(龍巖縣志)’s Caosigong biography(1558). Unlike most clans, Xiangshan Cao clan was able to efficiently compile their first genealogy and forming clan thanks to these two biographies.
The reason why the first ancestor story was written and included in local gazettes was that the Cao clan tried to cooperate with the national power and organize their own clan to pursue their survival and development amid the reorganization of regional order in the mid-15th century.
Since the mid-16th century, the awareness of Caosigong has spread and the instability of society around Xiangshan has heightened, leading to the development of a small clan into a large clan. The central figure was Cao wenye(曹文燁), who, along with the Xiangshan Cao clan, suppressed the rebellion of Su apu(蘇阿普), asked for the establishment of Ningyangxian(寧洋縣), and took the lead in building a county castle, a government office, etc.
In 1588, with the cooperation of his brothers and nephews, he compiled the first Xiangshan-Cao clan genealogy in which the Tang period figure, Cao Dunhou(曹惇厚), was the distant ancestor and the Song period figure, Cao sigong, was confirmed as the first ancestor in Xiangshan. This was a compromise based on the agreement of the members by accepting the friendship of the Chen(陳) clan, the influential clan of Zhangzhou(?州), and the wishes of the clan for a long history of the clan. According to historicism and the principle that “Write down what you know, but leave what you don’t know blank,” the genealogy from Cao Dunhou to Cao sigong was not included, and the records after Cao sigong also highlighted the genealogy’s credibility by emptying unknown names, dates of birth, and burial sites, etc.
In addition, he actively accepted the clan code, rituals, national policies, and ideologies in his genealogy to resolve the instability of the community, conflicts between residents, conflicts between national and private orders, and conflicts within the Cao clan.