Born during the turbulence of late Goryeo, when Mongol influence waned and factions competed for power. His family background and early schooling placed him in the scholar-official world shaped by Confucian learning.

As a young man he entered circles promoting Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism as an answer to Goryeo’s corruption and instability. These networks connected provincial students with reform-minded elites in the capital and major academies.

He earned recognition through the gwageo examinations, gaining a pathway into official life and policy debates. Success in examinations also linked him to patrons and peers who would later lead the Joseon founding coalition.

He argued that land abuse and private power networks were hollowing out state revenue and public trust. In memorials and discussions, he pressed for stronger central administration and moral accountability among officeholders.

Observing temple landholdings and court patronage, he contended that Buddhism had become entangled with fiscal exploitation. His writings framed Neo-Confucian governance as a public ethic, not merely a personal philosophy.

Late Goryeo politics swung between reformers and conservative factions, and he faced removal and pressure as alliances shifted. These setbacks deepened his conviction that systemic institutional change was necessary, not piecemeal correction.

He cultivated ties with Yi Seong-gye, a rising military commander whose influence grew on the northern and western fronts. Their partnership blended military authority with ideological justification for a new political order.

When Yi Seong-gye turned back from the Liaodong campaign at Wihwado, Jeong helped frame the decision as a rescue of the people from reckless war. The episode accelerated the collapse of Goryeo legitimacy and opened the path to dynastic change.

He promoted reforms aimed at restoring state finances and curbing private estates that dominated rural life. Working with reformers around Yi Seong-gye, he helped articulate policies that would later anchor Joseon administration.

He coordinated scholar-official support for Yi Seong-gye by presenting Neo-Confucian statecraft as an ethical mandate. Through appointments and persuasion, he strengthened ties between reformists, regional elites, and the emerging center.

With Yi Seong-gye’s enthronement as King Taejo, he became a principal designer of the new dynasty’s governing ideals. He argued for institutions that disciplined royal power through law, ministries, and a moral bureaucracy.

He supported moving the capital to Hanyang to symbolize a break from Goryeo and to improve strategic governance. The relocation plan aligned geomancy debates with practical concerns such as defense, logistics, and court administration.

He worked on codifying procedures for ministries, appointments, taxation, and public discipline to stabilize the new state. His statecraft writings, associated with texts like Joseon Gyeonggukjeon, sought predictable rule over factional improvisation.

In works associated with Bulssi Japbyeon, he attacked Buddhist institutional wealth and argued it weakened family ethics and state responsibility. He aimed to redirect resources toward education, agriculture, and a Confucian moral public sphere.

He favored a political architecture where ministers and law restrained arbitrary rule, shaping how succession should protect institutional stability. This stance sharpened conflict with Prince Yi Bang-won, who sought greater royal authority and influence.

In the coup led by Yi Bang-won, rivals of the prince were targeted to clear the path for a new succession. Jeong Do-jeon was killed in the violence that erupted at the Joseon court, ending his reform program abruptly.