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| [[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]])([[1470]]-[[1476]])'' | + | *''Titles:'' 琉球国王 ''(Ryûkyû-kokuô, King of [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryûkyû]])([[1469]]-[[1476]])'' |
− | *''Japanese/Okinawan:'' [[尚]] 円 ''(Shou En)'' | + | *''Other Names'': 金丸 ''(Kanamaru)'' |
| + | *''Japanese/Chinese:'' [[尚]] 円 ''(Shou En / Shàng Yuán)'' |
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| 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). |
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| ==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> |
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− | 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>. |
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− | 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> |
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− | 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<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/>. |
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| ==Reign== | | ==Reign== |
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| Shô En's childhood wife is believed to have died, or otherwise separated from Kanamaru, before he rose to prominence at Shuri. He had his first son with his second wife, [[Yosoidon]]. Shô En died in 1476, after ruling for only a few years, and was succeeded by his brother [[Sho Seni|Shô Sen'i]], to Yosoidon's chagrin. Presently, the high priestess, daughter of the late king and Yosoidon, received a divine message indicating that Shô Sen'i should abdicate in favor of his nephew, son of Shô En, who then took the throne as [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]]. | | Shô En's childhood wife is believed to have died, or otherwise separated from Kanamaru, before he rose to prominence at Shuri. He had his first son with his second wife, [[Yosoidon]]. Shô En died in 1476, after ruling for only a few years, and was succeeded by his brother [[Sho Seni|Shô Sen'i]], to Yosoidon's chagrin. Presently, the high priestess, daughter of the late king and Yosoidon, received a divine message indicating that Shô Sen'i should abdicate in favor of his nephew, son of Shô En, who then took the throne as [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]]. |
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| + | Shô En was originally entombed at a site called Miagemori (見上森), but his remains were moved in [[1501]] to [[Tamaudun]], newly constructed in that year by Shô Shin, especially for that purpose.<ref>Shinzato Keiji 新里恵二 et al. ''Okinawa ken no rekishi'' 沖縄県の歴史. Yamakawa Shuppan, 1996. p60.</ref> |
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| ==References== | | ==References== |
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| |- align="center" | | |- align="center" |
| |width="32%"|Preceded by:<br>'''[[Sho Toku|Shô Toku]]''' | | |width="32%"|Preceded by:<br>'''[[Sho Toku|Shô Toku]]''' |
− | |width="35%"|'''[[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Reign as King of Ryûkyû]]'''<br> 1470-1476 | + | |width="35%"|'''[[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Reign as King of Ryûkyû]]'''<br> 1469-1476 |
| |width="32%"|Succeeded by:<br>'''[[Sho Seni|Shô Sen'i]]''' | | |width="32%"|Succeeded by:<br>'''[[Sho Seni|Shô Sen'i]]''' |
| |} | | |} |