Changes

[[Image:King Sho En.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Official royal portrait of Shô En.]]

[[Image:King Sho En.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Official royal portrait of Shô En.]]

*''Born:'' [[1415]]

*''Born: [[1415]]''

*''Died:'' [[1476]]

*''Died: [[1476]]/7/29''

*''Titles:'' 琉球国王 ''(Ryûkyû-kokuô, King of [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryûkyû]])([[1469]]-[[1476]])''

*''Titles:'' 琉球国王 ''(Ryûkyû-kokuô, King of [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryûkyû]])([[1469]]-[[1476]])''

*''Japanese/Chinese:'' [[尚]] 円 ''(Shou En / Shang Yuan)''

*''Japanese/Chinese:'' [[尚]] 円 ''(Shou En / Shàng Yuán)''

Shô En was a king of the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Kingdom of Ryûkyû]], the founder of the Second Shô Dynasty. Prior to becoming king, he was known as Kanamaru (金丸).

Shô En was a king of the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Kingdom of Ryûkyû]], the founder of the Second Shô Dynasty. Prior to becoming king, he was known as Kanamaru (金丸).

==Early life and rise to power==

==Early life and rise to power==

Kanamaru was born into a family of peasant farmers on [[Izena, Okinawa|Izena Island]]<ref name=jiten>"Shō En." ''Okinawa rekishi jinmei jiten'' (沖縄歴史人名事典, "Encyclopedia of People of Okinawan History"). Naha: Okinawa Bunka-sha, 1996. p39.</ref><ref name=shinpo>"Shō En." ''Okinawa konpakuto jiten'' (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). [http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-41722-storytopic-121.html Ryukyu Shimpo] (琉球新報). 1 March 2003. Accessed 30 October 2008.</ref>, a tiny island which lies off the northwestern coast of [[Okinawa Island]]. It is said that he lost his parents when he was around twenty and undertook to provide for his aunt and uncle, brother and sister, and his wife, whom he married at a very young age<ref name=Kerr>Kerr, George H. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2000. pp102-104.</ref>.

Kanamaru was born into a family of peasant farmers on [[Izena, Okinawa|Izena Island]]<ref name=jiten>"Shō En." ''Okinawa rekishi jinmei jiten'' (沖縄歴史人名事典, "Encyclopedia of People of Okinawan History"). Naha: Okinawa Bunka-sha, 1996. p39.</ref><ref name=shinpo>"Shō En." ''Okinawa konpakuto jiten'' (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). [http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-41722-storytopic-121.html Ryukyu Shimpo] (琉球新報). 1 March 2003. Accessed 30 October 2008.</ref>, a tiny island which lies off the northwestern coast of [[Okinawa Island]]. It is said that he lost his parents when he was around twenty and undertook to provide for his aunt and uncle, brother and sister, and his wife, whom he married at a very young age<ref name=Kerr>Kerr, George H. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2000. pp102-104.</ref>. Some sources identify his father as a man named [[Sho Shoku|Shô Shoku]] (in some accounts, King Shô Shoku), of some kind of distant royal ancestry, being related to either the semi-legendary [[Gihon]] (r. [[1249]]-[[1259]]) or the even more legendary [[Tenson dynasty]].<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2019), 152.</ref>

In one year in which the island had suffered from a particularly severe drought, the rice patties of Kanamaru's family were found to be full of water; accused of having stolen the water, Kanamaru was forced to flee his home, and ended up in Ginama, in the northern region (''[[Kunigami]]'') of Okinawa Island<ref name=jiten/><ref name=shinpo/>.

According to traditional accounts, in one year in which the island had suffered from a particularly severe drought, the rice patties of Kanamaru's family were found to be full of water; accused of having stolen the water, Kanamaru was forced to flee his home, and ended up in [[1438]] in Ginama, in the northern region (''[[Kunigami]]'') of Okinawa Island<ref name=jiten/><ref name=shinpo/><ref name=smits115>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 115.</ref>.

After several years living in Ginama, there too some type of dispute or disagreement between Kanamaru and his neighbors emerged<ref name=Kerr/>. Leaving Ginama, he traveled to [[Shuri]], the capital of the Ryûkyû Kingdom, in 1441, and became a servant or retainer to the prince, [[Sho Taikyu|Shô Taikyû]]. After Shô Taikyû became king in 1454, Kanamaru was made royal treasurer<ref name=Kerr/>, and was in 1459<ref name=shinpo/> granted the post of ''Omonogusuku osasu no soba'' (御物城御鎖側), a position involving responsibility for matters regarding foreign relations and trade. He was also granted territory, and made ''Uchima-udun'' (内間御殿, "Lord of Uchima")<ref name=jiten/><ref name=shinpo/>.

After several years living in Ginama, there too some type of dispute or disagreement between Kanamaru and his neighbors emerged<ref name=Kerr/>. Leaving Ginama, he traveled to [[Shuri]], the capital of the Ryûkyû Kingdom, in 1441, and became a servant or retainer to the prince, [[Sho Taikyu|Shô Taikyû]]. After Shô Taikyû became king in 1454, Kanamaru was made royal treasurer<ref name=Kerr/>, and was in 1459<ref name=shinpo/> granted the post of ''[[Omonogusuku]] osasu no soba'', a position involving responsibility for matters regarding foreign relations and trade, and oversight of [[Naha]] harbor. In traditional accounts, he was also at this time granted territory, and made the lord of [[Uchima udun]];<ref name=jiten/><ref name=shinpo/> [[Gregory Smits]] suggests, however, that Kanamaru may have already been lord of Uchima at that time, and it was by recognizing his authority there that Taikyû helped secure his loyalty and aid.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2019), 115.</ref>

There emerged a difference of opinion between Kanamaru, and [[Sho Toku|Shô Toku]], who succeeded Shô Taikyû as king in 1461<ref name=jiten/><ref name=shinpo/>, possibly over the king's costly military efforts on the island of [[Kikaigashima]]<ref name=Kerr/>, leading Kanamaru to leave Shuri and retire to [[Uchima udun|Uchima]]<ref name=jiten/><ref name=shinpo/>. Shô Toku died shortly afterwards, however, and it is said that in the ensuing discussions among the elder bureaucrats to choose a successor, Kanamaru was selected by popular demand, and thus came to the throne, taking the royal name Shô En<ref name=shinpo/>. Historian [[George H. Kerr]], however, points out that official histories produced in the following centuries were written with the patronage of Shô En's successors; also that the circumstances surrounding Shô Toku's death remain something of a mystery, and the traditional account may simply indicate that there was a shift in allegiances among the aristocrats and bureaucrats towards Kanamaru, or that those parties in support of Kanamaru simply outnumbered those on the side of the late king<ref name=Kerr/>.

There emerged a difference of opinion between Kanamaru and [[Sho Toku|Shô Toku]], who succeeded Shô Taikyû as king in 1461<ref name=jiten/><ref name=shinpo/>, possibly over the king's costly military efforts on the island of [[Kikaigashima]]<ref name=Kerr/>, leading Kanamaru to leave Shuri and retire to [[Uchima udun|Uchima]]<ref name=jiten/><ref name=shinpo/>. Shô Toku died shortly afterwards, however, and it is said that in the ensuing discussions among the elder bureaucrats to choose a successor, Kanamaru was selected by popular demand, and thus came to the throne, taking the royal name Shô En<ref name=shinpo/>. Historian [[George H. Kerr]], however, points out that official histories produced in the following centuries were written with the patronage of Shô En's successors; also that the circumstances surrounding Shô Toku's death remain something of a mystery, and the traditional account may simply indicate that there was a shift in allegiances among the aristocrats and bureaucrats towards Kanamaru, or that those parties in support of Kanamaru simply outnumbered those on the side of the late king<ref name=Kerr/>.

==Reign==

==Reign==