Scholar who supported the navy from the rear with refugee boats at Myeongnyang; founder of the Saho-gong branch; pen name Saho
| Life | 1557 ~ 1643 |
| Era | 조선 중기 |
| Clan | 함양 오씨 |
O Ik-chang (吳益昌, 1557-?) was a mid-Joseon scholar of the Hamyang O clan, with courtesy name Yuwon and pen name Saho. Korean Wikipedia says he was born in 1557 in Mujang County in Jeolla (today Gochang, North Jeolla) and died at Simwon-myeon, Gochang, in 1643 aged 79, whereas a note on the Saho-jip gives his dates as 1557-1635, so the year of death differs by source. He was a sixth-generation descendant of the vice-minister O Chi-seon, the son of the licentiate O In and a woman of the Jeonju Yi clan, and passed the licentiate examination in 1579. Two sons, O Jeon and O Yeop, are recorded.
In 1589 he is said to have won wide support with a petition to clear those wrongly killed in the Gichuk purge. In 1597, before the battle of Myeongnyang, when coastal residents of Jeolla saw that Yi Sun-sin had only twelve warships and began to flee, he persuaded them to use their refugee boats to support the navy from behind. He is also said to have supplied clothing and provisions and had cotton quilts soaked and spread on ships against bullets. His collection records that he pleaded with gentry fleeing to remote islands that if the commander fell all would be in danger and thereby obtained provisions.
In 1613 under Gwanghaegun he was enrolled as a first-class Iksa Wonjong merit subject for helping put down the Prince Imhae affair, but, doubting Yi I-cheom's rule, he gave up his post as section chief of the Ministry of Works and went home. He lived at Simwon-dong writing poems and teaching, and in 1627, when King Injo fled to Ganghwa during the first Manchu invasion, he sent proclamations around the province and gathered grain to ship there. His Saho-jip was printed in three fascicles in 1773 by a seventh-generation descendant, O Seong-yeol, and in 1713 Jeolla Confucians founded Juksansa to enshrine him. He is regarded as the founder of the Saho-gong branch.
In 1597, when Yi Sun-sin faced the enemy with twelve warships, coastal residents of Jeolla were fleeing; O Ik-chang is said to have persuaded them to turn their refugee boats into rear support for the navy. A story also says that soaked cotton quilts were spread over the ships to stop bullets.
The Saho-gong branch of the Hamyang O clan counts him as its founder. Juksansa, built in 1713 by the consensus of Jeolla Confucians, enshrines him. Gochang is also known as a Hamyang O clan village since O Se-yeong, tenth-generation descendant of the founder, settled there.
He is said to have died at Simwon-myeon, Gochang; the exact tomb location was not confirmed here. He is enshrined at Juksansa in Gochang, North Jeolla.
Sons O Jeon and O Yeop are recorded. His seventh-generation descendant O Seong-yeol printed the Saho-jip in 1773.