Gi Gakugen was a Ryukyuan scholar-official who traveled to China on several occasions.
Originally from Kumemura, he first traveled to China in 1815 as a student, where he was noted for his successes in studying the legal volumes known as the Da-qing lü li. In 1831, he edited or compiled a Ryukyuan legal text, the Shinshû karitsu, an addition to the earlier Ryûkyû karitsu.
Gi traveled to China again in 1838, and produced the Fukken shinkyô suiriku rotei, a particularly detailed account of the route traveled by Ryukyuan tribute missions to China. On the following tribute mission, in 1840, he was accompanied by his son Gi Shôji, who then went on to also serve as a musician (gakushi) on the 1850 Ryukyuan mission to Edo.[1]
References
- "Gi Gakugen," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.
- ↑ Kaneshiro Atsumi, "Gakudôji, gakushi, kagakushi - uzagaku o tsutaeta hitobito" 「楽童子・楽師・歌楽師－御座楽を伝えた人々」, in Uzagaku no fukugen ni mukete 御座楽の復元に向けて, Naha, Okinawa: Uzagaku fukugen ensô kenkyûkai 御座楽復元演奏研究会 (2007), 78.