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Ryukyu Kingdom

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The main building of Shuri Castle
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The main building of Shuri Castle

The Ryukyu Kingdom (琉球王国 ryūkyūōkoku) was an independent kingdom which ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 14th century to the 19th century. The Kings of Ryukyu unified Okinawa Island and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Yaeyama Islands near Taiwan.

Contents

History

In the three Ryukyu historical annals, Chūzan Seikan (中山世鑑, History of Chuzan), Chūzan Seifu (中山世譜, Genealogy of Chuzan), and Kyūyō (球陽, Chronicle of Ryukyu), the history of Ryukyu Kingdom began with the Tenson Dynasty (天孫王朝, Dynasty of Heavenly Descent), which lasted 17,000 years. Many historians today believe that this is a mythological legend created in the 16th or 17th century to lend more legitimacy to the ruling chieftain, the Sho family, over other local chieftains.

The Tenson Dynasty was succeeded by the Shunten Dynasty (舜天王朝), which lasted 3 reigns in around 70 years. According to Chuzan Seikan, the founder of the dynasty was a descendant of Minamoto no Tametomo, a Japanese aristocrat and descendant of Tenno's family. Minamoto no Tametomo was sent to Izu Island after he failed to gain power in the Kyoto court; he then fled and drifted to Ryukyu, and his son Shunten established their own dynasty. Some Japanese and Chinese scholars claim that the Shunten dynasty was also created by the Sho family, for the same reason that they created the Tensun legend.

In the 14th century, small domains scattered on the Okinawa Island were unified into three principalities, Hokuzan (北山, Northern Hill), Chuzan (中山, Mid Hill) and Nanzan (南山), Southern Hill). These three principalities, or tribal federations led by major chieftains, fought each other and received Chinese investiture in the early 15th century. The ruler of Chuzan passed his throne to Hachi (he received the surname "Sho" from Ming emperor in 1430, also known as Sho Hachi, 尚巴志). He conquered Hokuzan in 1416 and Nanzan in 1429, and founded the first Sho Dynasty.

Sho Hachi adopted Chinese hierarchical court system, built the Shuri Castle and the town as his capital, and constructed the Naha harbor. In 1469, when the king died without a male heir, a palatine servant declared he was adopted son of the last king and gained Chinese investiture. This pretender, Sho En, began the Second Sho Dynasty. Ryukyu's golden age occurred during the reign of Sho Shin, the second king (1478 - 1526).

Asian trade (15th-16th century)

Diplomatically, the kingdom established tributary relations with China during its Ming and Qing Dynasties. It also developed trade relations with Japan, Korea and many Southeast Asian countries, including Siam, Pattani, Malacca, Champa, Huế, and Java.

Between the 15th and 16th centuries, the Ryukyu Kingdom emerged as the main trading intermediary in Eastern Asia. Japanese products (silver, swords, fans lacquer-ware, folding screens) and Chinese products (medical herb, minted coins, glazed ceramics, brocades, textiles) were traded within the kingdom for Southeast Asian sappanwood, rhino horn, tin, sugar, iron, ambergris, Indian ivory and Arabian frankincense. Altogether, 150 voyages between the kingdom and Southeast Asia on Ryukian ships were recorded, with 61 of them bound for Siam, 10 for Malacca, 10 for Pattani and 8 for Java, among others.

Commercial activities in the kingdom diminished around 1570 with the rise of Chinese merchants and the intervention of Portuguese and Spanish ships, corresponding with the start of the Red Seal Ship system in Japan.

Japanese invasion (1609)

In 1609, following the refusal of the Ryukyu Kingdom to assist the Tokugawa bakufu in its ill-fated Korean expeditions, the Tokugawa bakufu authorized the Shimazu family, rulers of the Satsuma domain (present-day Kagoshima prefecture), to send an expeditionary force to conquer the Ryukyus. The occupation of the Ryukyus occurred fairly quickly, and King Sho Nei was taken as a prisoner to Satsuma domain, and later to Edo (modern day Tokyo). When he was released two years later, The Ryukyu Kingdom regained a degree of autonomy, however, the Satsuma domain did seize control over some territory of the Ryukyu Kingdom, notably the Amami-Oshima island group, which was forcibly incorporated into the Satsuma domain. During this time, the Ryukyu Kingdom found itself in a period of "dual subordination" to both Japan and China, wherein Ryukyuan tributary relations were maintained with both the Tokugawa bakufu, as well as with the Ming Chinese court. Since Ming China prohibited trade with Japan, Satsuma domain, with the blessing of the Tokugawa bakufu, utilized the trade relations of the kingdom to continue to maintain trade relations with China. Considering that Japan had previously severed ties with most of the European countries except the Dutch, such trade relations proved especially crucial to the Tokugawa bakufu.

When Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry sailed to Japan to force Japan to open up trade relations with America in the 1850s, he first stopped in the Ryukyus, and forced the Ryukyu Kingdom to sign treaties opening the Ryukyus up to American trade. From there, he continued on to Edo.

Following the Meiji Restoration, the modern Japanese government abolished the Ryukyu Kingdom and forcibly established the prefecture of Okinawa in 1879. As stated previously, the Amami-Oshima island group which had been integrated into Satsuma domain, became a part of Kagoshima prefecture. King Sho Tai was exiled to Tokyo, and died there in 1901. Qing China made some diplomatic protests to the Japanese government, but these proved to have little effect.

Major events

List of Ryukyu Kings

See also

External links

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References

 

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