Section chief of the Ministry of Personnel who withdrew to Mount Hwajang in Hamyang after King Danjong's deposition; pen name Hwasan Geosa
| Era | 조선 전기 |
| Clan | 함양 오씨 |
O Chi-haeng (吳致行) was an early Joseon official of the Hamyang O clan, with courtesy name Wonjung and pen name Hwasan Geosa. His father was the late-Goryeo scholar O Sang-deok (pen name Duam), who is said to have associated with Yi Saek, Jeong Mong-ju and Yi Sung-in and to have chosen the name Duam to signify cutting ties with worldly honor and disgrace. O Chi-haeng entered office through the hereditary appointment (eumsa) system.
According to the Korean Wikipedia entry on the Hamyang O clan, he became magistrate of Jangsu in 1434 (the 16th year of King Sejong) and rose to section chief (Jeongnang) of the Ministry of Personnel. When King Danjong was deposed he abandoned office and withdrew to Mount Hwajang in Hamyang. On the death anniversaries of the Six Martyred Ministers he is said to have set up an altar, summoned their spirits and offered rites. He ignored repeated summons from the court and lived out his life behind closed doors, so people called him Hwasan Geosa, the Recluse of Flower Mountain.
In the reign of Sejo he was posthumously made Minister of Personnel, and the same entry also records that he was enrolled as a third-class Wonjong merit subject in 1455. How withdrawal and merit enrollment fit together cannot be settled from these sources, so this page repeats the entry as written without adding interpretation. His dates of birth and death could not be confirmed. He is mentioned as a leading ancestor of the Duam-gong branch, whose name is said to derive from his father's pen name. Hamyang is known as a land of scholars, so the memory of such seclusion in loyalty to Danjong can be seen as one thread of the local scholarly community. The specific site on Mount Hwajang where he lived or set up his altar could not be confirmed here.
His father O Sang-deok is said to have been a late-Goryeo scholar who kept company with Yi Saek, Jeong Mong-ju and Yi Sung-in. The name Duam is said to signify closing one's door and cutting ties with worldly honor and disgrace, and it later became the name of the Duam-gong branch. See also Yi Saek and Jeong Mong-ju.
After King Danjong's abdication he is said to have left office for Mount Hwajang in Hamyang and to have set up an altar on each death anniversary of the Six Martyred Ministers; see also Bak Paeng-nyeon, one of the six. His conduct is introduced as one example of early Joseon scholars who kept their loyalty.
The location of his tomb could not be confirmed here. He is said to have spent his later life in seclusion on Mount Hwajang in Hamyang.
He is placed in the Duam-gong line, named after his father's pen name; the 1909 genealogy is said to have been compiled with only the Duam-gong, Jungnangjang-gong and Sain-gong branches taking part.