오시수 吳始壽
Southerner leader who became Right State Councillor and was executed by poison in the 1680 purge; pen name Susu
| Life | 1632 ~ 1681 |
| Era | 조선 후기 |
| Clan | 동복 오씨 |
Life & career
O Si-su (1632-1681) was a Sukjong-era official from Dongbok, courtesy name Deogi, pen name Susu. He became a licentiate in 1648, passed the 1656 special civil examination and served as censor, royal secretary, governor of Jeolla and of Pyeongan, and chief royal secretary.
In the early Sukjong years he led the Southerners' push to oust the Westerners around 1674 and advocated Song Si-yeol's execution, while also clashing with Heo Jeok, leader of the Tangnam wing. He became Right State Councillor in 1679, was exiled in the 1680 purge and given poison.
Restored in 1689, he was stripped of rank again after 1694. His Susu munjip survives; Jeong Jong-ro wrote his spirit-way stele inscription and Yu Myeong-cheon his epitaph. Sources differ on his father (one says son of Jeong-won), which is not settled here. He was a contemporary of O Jeong-wi and O Si-bok.
Assessment
O Si-su stood at the peak of the Southerners' rule, and as he led the ouster of the Westerners the counterattack was fierce. His execution after the 1680 purge, restoration in 1689 and renewed stripping of rank after 1694 show how abrupt late-seventeenth-century hwanguk politics was. That his spirit-way inscription and epitaph were written by later Southerner-affiliated scholars suggests that judgments of him split along factional lines.
Political Activity
He led the Southerners' campaign against the Westerners and advocated the execution of Song Si-yeol.
Collected Works
Images of the Susu munjip are on Wikimedia Commons; the first page is shown here.
Sources: Wikipedia and Encyclopedia of Korean Culture-based material; genealogies may differ.
Grave
His tomb location was not confirmed here.