Changes

==History==

==History==

===Early History===

===Early History===

The archaeological record shows that human habitation in the Ryukyus began roughly 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. Some of the earliest have been found on Ishigaki Island, dating to roughly 28,000 years ago, roughly 6,000 years earlier than the famous [[Minatogawa Man]] remains found on Okinawa Island. Some have suggested that this shows that the islands were originally settled primarily through a migration of peoples from the south - i.e. Austronesian peoples from Taiwan, and not Japonic peoples from the north.<ref>Amanda Stinchecum, "Changing Parameters, Expressions, and Meanings of a Simple Sash from Yaeyama Islands," Okinawan Art in its Regional Context symposium, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 10 Oct 2019.</ref> No archaeological remains have been found for the period from roughly 16,000 and 7000 BCE. Beginning around 7000 BCE, however, more recent major waves of immigration began to enter the Northern and Central Ryukyus from the north (Kyushu), and beginning around 2900 BCE, entering the Sakishima Islands from the south.

The archaeological record shows that human habitation in the Ryukyus began roughly 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. Some of the earliest have been found on Ishigaki Island, dating to roughly 28,000 years ago, roughly 6,000 years earlier than the famous [[Minatogawa Man]] remains found on Okinawa Island. Some have suggested that this shows that the islands were originally settled primarily through a migration of peoples from the south - i.e. Austronesian peoples from Taiwan, and not Japonic peoples from the north;<ref>Amanda Stinchecum, "Changing Parameters, Expressions, and Meanings of a Simple Sash from Yaeyama Islands," Okinawan Art in its Regional Context symposium, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 10 Oct 2019.</ref> however, other archaeological and genetic research has argued that prehistoric populations as far south as Miyako Island had their origins in Jômon populations, and not Austronesian ones.<ref>Martine Robbeets, Mark Hudson, et al. "Triangulation supports agricultural spread of the Transeurasian languages," ''Nature'' 10 Nov 2021, 5, citing Hudson, M. J. in ''New Perspectives in Southeast Asian and Pacific Prehistory'' (eds Piper, P.,

H. Matsumura, H. & Bulbeck, D.) 189–199 (ANU Press, 2017).</ref> No archaeological remains have been found for the period from roughly 16,000 and 7000 BCE. Beginning around 7000 BCE, however, more recent major waves of immigration began to enter the Northern and Central Ryukyus from the north (Kyushu), and beginning around 2900 BCE, entering the Sakishima Islands from the south.

Agriculture is not believed to have begun in the islands until around 800 CE, with islanders previously subsisting in hunter-gatherer communities. [[Iron]]working, meanwhile, is believed to have been introduced to the Amami Islands around 500 CE, and to have spread to the other Ryukyus from there.<ref>Pearson, 148.</ref>

Agriculture is not believed to have begun in the islands until around 800 CE, with islanders previously subsisting in hunter-gatherer communities. [[Iron]]working, meanwhile, is believed to have been introduced to the Amami Islands around 500 CE, and to have spread to the other Ryukyus from there.<ref>Pearson, 148.</ref>

The overall chain of islands continues relatively regularly from Kyushu to Taiwan, with one island, or small group of islands, after another, such that one can travel from one island to another without ever being out of sight of land (provided it's a clear day); however, there is a significant gap, 270 km wide, between Okinawa and the islands to the south, known as the Kerama Gap.<ref>Pearson, 4.</ref> As a result, while the people of Okinawa and the various islands north of it engaged in considerable trade with one another and with "mainland" Japan, the islanders of Sakishima remained disconnected from those interactions until around the 11th century CE.<ref name=pear1>Pearson, 1.</ref> While the Amami and Okinawa Island groups show cultural similarities and connections with [[Jomon period|Jômon]] and [[Yayoi period]] Japan, in the style of their pottery, stone tools, etc., Sakishima shows no such cultural elements; similarities or connections are seen, instead, with the ancient cultures of Taiwan, Indonesia, and other parts of maritime Southeast Asia.<ref name=akamine3>Akamine Mamoru, Lina Terrell (trans.), Robert Huey (ed.), ''The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia'', University of Hawaii Press (2017), 3.</ref>  

The overall chain of islands continues relatively regularly from Kyushu to Taiwan, with one island, or small group of islands, after another, such that one can travel from one island to another without ever being out of sight of land (provided it's a clear day); however, there is a significant gap, 270 km wide, between Okinawa and the islands to the south, known as the Kerama Gap.<ref>Pearson, 4.</ref> As a result, while the people of Okinawa and the various islands north of it engaged in considerable trade with one another and with "mainland" Japan, the islanders of Sakishima remained disconnected from those interactions until around the 11th century CE.<ref name=pear1>Pearson, 1.</ref> While the Amami and Okinawa Island groups show cultural similarities and connections with [[Jomon period|Jômon]] and [[Yayoi period]] Japan, in the style of their pottery, stone tools, etc., Sakishima shows no such cultural elements; similarities or connections are seen, instead, with the ancient cultures of Taiwan, Indonesia, and other parts of maritime Southeast Asia.<ref name=akamine3>Akamine Mamoru, Lina Terrell (trans.), Robert Huey (ed.), ''The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia'', University of Hawaii Press (2017), 3.</ref>  

Likely the earliest textual reference to "Ryûkyû" (C: ''Liúqiú'') is in the ''[[Book of Sui]]'' ([[636]]), the official history of the [[Sui Dynasty]] ([[589]]-[[607]]).<ref>Kreiner, Josef. "Ryukyuan History in Comparative Perspective." in Kreiner (ed.) ''Ryukyu in World History''. Bonn: Biersche Verlagsanstalt, 2001. p3.</ref> The text relates that [[Emperor Yang of Sui]] dispatched ships to search for the "Land of Happy Immortals." What they found instead was ''Liuqiu'', which might refer either to the Ryukyu Islands, or to [[Taiwan]], as is the case for the term throughout much pre-modern Chinese texts. According to the ''Sui shi'', the Chinese then demanded [[tribute]] from the islanders, and met resistance; the battle ended in a thousand islanders being taken forcibly to China.<ref name=chan89>Chan Yingkit. “A Bridge between Myriad Lands: The Ryukyu Kingdom and Ming China (1372-1526),” MA Thesis, National University of Singapore, 2010, 8-9.</ref> A mission from China traveled to "Liuqiu" again the following year, but only to return armor worn by the Ryukyuan captives.<ref>Akamine, 4.</ref> Still, there were connections and interactions between the islanders and China; [[Warring States Period]] coins, known in Japanese as ''[[meitosen|meitôsen]]'' have been found in the Ryukyus, as well as coins from the [[Han Dynasty|Han]] and [[Tang Dynasty|Tang Dynasties]], and personal ornaments with ''[[taotie]]'' designs. Meanwhile, texts such as the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'' and ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'' similarly show that the peoples of some of these islands paid "tribute" to Japanese courts or polities as early as the 7th century.<ref>Akamine, 3-4.</ref>

Likely the earliest textual reference to "Ryûkyû" (C: ''Liúqiú'') is in the ''[[Book of Sui]]'' ([[636]]), the official history of the [[Sui Dynasty]] ([[589]]-[[607]]).<ref>Kreiner, Josef. "Ryukyuan History in Comparative Perspective." in Kreiner (ed.) ''Ryukyu in World History''. Bonn: Biersche Verlagsanstalt, 2001. p3.</ref> The text relates that [[Emperor Yang of Sui]] dispatched ships to search for the "Land of Happy Immortals." What they found instead was ''Liuqiu'', which might refer either to the Ryukyu Islands, or to [[Taiwan]], as is the case for the term throughout much pre-modern Chinese texts. According to the ''Sui shi'', the Chinese then demanded [[tribute]] from the islanders, and met resistance; the battle ended in a thousand islanders being taken forcibly to China.<ref name=chan89>Chan Yingkit. “A Bridge between Myriad Lands: The Ryukyu Kingdom and Ming China (1372-1526),” MA Thesis, National University of Singapore, 2010, 8-9.</ref> A mission from China traveled to "Liuqiu" again the following year, but only to return armor worn by the Ryukyuan captives.<ref>Akamine, 4.</ref> Still, there were connections and interactions between the islanders and China; [[Warring States Period]] coins, known in Japanese as ''[[meitosen|meitôsen]]'' have been found in the Ryukyus, as well as coins from the [[Han Dynasty|Han]] and [[Tang Dynasty|Tang Dynasties]], and personal ornaments with ''[[taotie]]'' designs. Meanwhile, texts such as the ''[[Nihon shoki]]'' and ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'' similarly suggest that the peoples of some of these islands paid "tribute" to Japanese courts or polities as early as the 7th century.<ref>Akamine, 3-4.</ref>  Such sources indicate that a number of imperial court officials including one named [[Ono Okeji|Ôno Okeji]] traveled to [[Amami Oshima|Amami]], [[Ishigaki Island|Ishigaki]], [[Kumejima]], and other islands in [[714]] and brought 52 islanders back to [[Nara]], and that from that time forward the islands paid "tribute" to the Court and received official rank in return; this did not last long, with tribute embassies from the islands to Nara ending after [[727]]. However, the [[Dazaifu]] is said to have created in [[735]] a series of charts or records of the names and locations of each of the islands, their distance from Dazaifu, and the locations of sources of fresh water in the islands, among other information, for the benefit of [[kentoshi|Japanese embassies to China]], missions to rescue castaways, and other such situations.<ref>Gallery labels, Amami Tatsugo Shima Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/49491207212/sizes/4k/]</ref>

Excavations have also uncovered [[Tang Dynasty|Tang]] and [[Northern Song Dynasty]] coins, as well as Song and [[Yuan Dynasty]] Chinese trade ceramics in considerable numbers in Ryûkyû, indicating considerable commercal contact from a relatively early time. [[Richard Pearson]] argues that these trade ceramics were so plentiful as to not be luxury items in Ryûkyû, but rather that they were used by common people alongside indigenously-made [[Ryukyuan pottery]]. The import of coins seems to have reached a peak in the Northern Song ([[960]]-[[1127]]), and then to have declined considerably in the 13th century.<ref>Geoffrey Gunn, ''History Without Borders: The Making of an Asian World Region, 1000-1800'', Hong Kong University Press (2011), 218-219.</ref>

Excavations have also uncovered [[Tang Dynasty|Tang]] and [[Northern Song Dynasty]] coins, as well as Song and [[Yuan Dynasty]] Chinese trade ceramics in considerable numbers in Ryûkyû, indicating considerable commercal contact from a relatively early time. [[Richard Pearson]] argues that these trade ceramics were so plentiful as to not be luxury items in Ryûkyû, but rather that they were used by common people alongside indigenously-made [[Ryukyuan pottery]]. The import of coins seems to have reached a peak in the Northern Song ([[960]]-[[1127]]), and then to have declined considerably in the 13th century.<ref>Geoffrey Gunn, ''History Without Borders: The Making of an Asian World Region, 1000-1800'', Hong Kong University Press (2011), 218-219.</ref>

The rise of Okinawa, and concordant fall of Amami, Kikai, and Tokara, as the chief center in the region came in the 14th century, and may have contributed to (or been aided by) a shift in or around the 1340s in regional trade routes, as merchant ships increasingly came to travel from [[Fujian]] to [[Higo province]] ([[Kumamoto prefecture]]) via Okinawa, rather than from [[Ningbo]] to [[Hakata]].<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 31, 35.</ref>

The rise of Okinawa, and concordant fall of Amami, Kikai, and Tokara, as the chief center in the region came in the 14th century, and may have contributed to (or been aided by) a shift in or around the 1340s in regional trade routes, as merchant ships increasingly came to travel from [[Fujian]] to [[Higo province]] ([[Kumamoto prefecture]]) via Okinawa, rather than from [[Ningbo]] to [[Hakata]].<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 31, 35.</ref>

By the beginning of the 14th century, the various chiefs of areas of Okinawa Island were unified under a single head chieftain, sometimes today retroactively called a "king." However, in the 1310s, the headchieftain [[Eiji]] was succeeded by his son [[Tamagusuku]] who, whether for lack of personal charisma or leadership ability, or for some other reason, failed to command the loyalty of the other chieftains. The island of Okinawa thus came to be divided into three chiefdoms, or kingdoms, known as [[Hokuzan]], [[Chuzan|Chûzan]], and [[Nanzan]]. This period of division is known as the [[Sanzan period]].

According to official histories produced in the 17th-18th centuries by the Ryûkyû Kingdom, the various chiefs of areas of Okinawa Island were unified under a single head chieftain, sometimes today retroactively called a "king," by the beginning of the 14th century. However, in the 1310s, the headchieftain [[Eiji]] was succeeded by his son [[Tamagusuku]] who, whether for lack of personal charisma or leadership ability, or for some other reason, failed to command the loyalty of the other chieftains. The island of Okinawa thus came to be divided into three chiefdoms, or kingdoms, known as [[Hokuzan]], [[Chuzan|Chûzan]], and [[Nanzan]]. This period of division is commonly known as the [[Sanzan period]]. Recent scholarship suggests, however, that there was never one ruler, or even three, who truly exercised control over the entire island prior to the 16th century; according to such interpretations, Okinawa continued to be home to numerous competing lords, the most powerful of whom claimed the title of "king" in order to engage in legitimate [[tribute]] trade relations with the [[Ming Empire]]. The notion of three territorial states which actually controlled sizable portions of the island, and the associated notion of the island being unified under a single ruler before and after this "Sanzan period," was then retroactively constructed by 17th-18th century court officials in order to assert a narrative of greater historical legitimacy for Ryûkyû as a distinct kingdom with a grand and noble history.

Chûzan entered into [[tribute|tributary relations]] with [[Ming Dynasty]] China in [[1372]], with the other two doing the same within the ensuing several years. Chûzan quickly grew more wealthy and more powerful than the other two, conquering them and uniting the island of Okinawa under its control by [[1429]].

The lord of [[Urasoe gusuku|Urasoe]] or [[Shuri castle|Shuri]] in central Okinawa entered into tributary relations with Ming Dynasty China in [[1372]], being recognized as "king of Chûzan" in the process. He was swiftly followed by the lords of [[Nakijin]] and [[Ozato gusuku|Shimasoe Ôzato]] (the "kings" of "Hokuzan" and "Nanzan") in the ensuing several years. The king of Chûzan then quickly grew more wealthy and more powerful than the other two, conquering them and uniting the island of Okinawa under his control by [[1429]].

Over the rest of the 15th and 16th centuries, the Ryûkyû Kingdom, as the Okinawan state might now be called, extended its influence to the north and to the south, making islands as far south as Yonaguni and Hateruma, and as far north as the Amamis its tributaries, or conquering them outright. As the Northern and Central Ryukyus, with their prehistoric ties to Japan, became more interlinked with the Sakishimas, with people and goods traveling between them in increasing volume, cultural exchange came with it, bringing Austronesian / Southeast Asian influences into the Northern and Central Ryukyus, and a more Japonic or East Asian culture into the Sakishima Islands.<ref>Akamine, 12.</ref> The kingdom meanwhile engaged quite actively in overseas trade, becoming a crucial hub of maritime trade between Korea, Japan, China, and various polities of Southeast Asia.

Over the rest of the 15th and 16th centuries, the Ryûkyû Kingdom, as the Okinawan state might now be called, extended its influence to the north and to the south, making islands as far south as Yonaguni and Hateruma, and as far north as the Amamis its tributaries, or conquering them outright. As the Northern and Central Ryukyus, with their prehistoric ties to Japan, became more interlinked with the Sakishimas, with people and goods traveling between them in increasing volume, cultural exchange came with it, bringing Austronesian / Southeast Asian influences into the Northern and Central Ryukyus, and a more Japonic or East Asian culture into the Sakishima Islands.<ref>Akamine, 12.</ref> The kingdom meanwhile engaged quite actively in overseas trade, becoming a crucial hub of maritime trade between Korea, Japan, China, and various polities of Southeast Asia.

Fifteenth century Korean records indicate that dry-land rice cultivation was common in the Ryukyus at that time; archaeological finds suggest that rice was the chief crop in northern Okinawa and the Amamis, while in central and southern Okinawa, barley and wheat were more common. Up until the end of the 14th century, people on Okinawa are believed to have grown only one crop of rice a year, avoiding the dangerous typhoon season; however, from the 1400s onwards, they began to grow two crops a year. This rice would have been primarily standard Japanese rice (''Oryza japonica''), which was introduced into the islands around the year 800.

Fifteenth century Korean records indicate that dry-land rice cultivation was common in the Ryukyus at that time; archaeological finds suggest that rice was the chief crop in northern Okinawa and the Amamis, while in central and southern Okinawa, barley and wheat were more common. Up until the end of the 14th century, people on Okinawa are believed to have grown only one crop of rice a year, avoiding the dangerous typhoon season; however, from the 1400s onwards, they began to grow two crops a year. This rice would have been primarily standard Japanese rice (''Oryza japonica''), which was introduced into the islands around the year 800.