Civil official and volunteer fighter who threw himself into the Nam River at the second siege of Jinju in 1593; pen name Seongsan
| Life | 1547 ~ 1593 |
| Era | 조선 중기 |
| Clan | 함양 오씨 |
O Bi (吳玭, 1547-1593) was a mid-Joseon civil official and volunteer fighter of the Hamyang O clan, with the pen name Seongsan. Sources give his courtesy name as Hyeongbo or Yeongbo, and some write his given name as O Bin. He was a great-grandson of O Paeng-suk, who had served as Minister of Personnel, and the son of O Sa-un; the Digital Jinan Culture Encyclopedia says he was born at Pyeongji-ri, Maryeong-myeon, Jinan County in North Jeolla.
He passed the supplementary civil examination in 1590 and became a corrector at the Hongmungwan the next year. When the war began in 1592 he chose to fight rather than follow the king, joined the righteous army of Go Gyeong-myeong and camped at Geumsan, where he barely survived a defeat. In 1593 he raised volunteers with Go Jong-hu and entered Jinju Fortress.
The second siege of Jinju began on the 22nd of the sixth month and the fortress fell after seven days; O Bi is said to have bowed four times to the north at Chokseongnu on the 29th and then thrown himself into the Nam River, dying with Go Jong-hu, Kim Cheon-il and others. The court held a joint memorial rite on 15 August 1593 and posthumously conferred a minor rank; he was later given the title of Vice-Minister of Military Affairs, a memorial gate was erected, and he is enshrined at Yeongmosa in Jinan. Korean Wikipedia's entry on the clan describes him as having drowned himself in the Nam River. Maryeong in Jinan, given as his birthplace, is where the independence activist O Gi-yeol later led a demonstration, which suggests that descendants of the same clan kept living there. His memorial gate and enshrinement are recorded in the regional culture encyclopedia; which of the two spellings (O Bi or O Bin) is used in the genealogy could not be confirmed.
O Bi joined Go Gyeong-myeong's righteous army early in the war and fought at Geumsan, and the next year entered Jinju with Go Jong-hu. Choe Gyeong-hoe, who also died at Jinju, is covered under Choe Gyeong-hoe.
As the fortress fell on the 29th of the sixth month of 1593, O Bi is said to have bowed toward the king in the north at Chokseongnu and then plunged into the Nam River. The court held a joint memorial rite that August, conferred a minor rank, and later granted the title of Vice-Minister of Military Affairs and a memorial gate.
The location of his tomb could not be confirmed here; he is enshrined at Yeongmosa in the Isan shrine at Jinan.