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[[File:Kume-tenpi.JPG|right|thumb|320px|The surviving stone gate to the Kami Tenpi-gû.]]

[[File:Kume-tenpi.JPG|right|thumb|320px|The surviving stone gate to the Kami Tenpi-gû.]]

*''Established: c. [[1403]]-[[1424]]''

*''Established: [[1424]]''

*''Other Names'': 天妃廟 ''(Tenpi-byou)''

*''Other Names'': 天妃廟 ''(Tenpi-byou)''

*''Japanese'': 天妃宮 ''(Tenpi-guu)''

*''Japanese'': 天妃宮 ''(Tenpi-guu)''

[[Kumemura]], the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom's]] center of Chinese learning, had two shrines to [[Tenpi]] (aka Mazu), a [[Taoist]] goddess of the sea. The two shrines, called Upper (''Kami'') and Lower (''Shimo'') Tenpi-gû, are believed to have been built during the reign of the [[Yongle Emperor]] ([[1403]]-[[1424]]), within the first decades after the establishment of the town.

[[Kumemura]], the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom's]] center of Chinese learning, had two shrines to [[Tenpi]] (aka Mazu), a [[Taoist]] goddess of the sea. The two shrines, called Upper (''Kami'') and Lower (''Shimo'') Tenpi-gû, are believed to have been built during the reign of the [[Yongle Emperor]], in [[1424]],<ref>Pamphlet available at Kume-[[Shiseibyo]].</ref> within the first decades after the establishment of the town.

Ryukyuan sailors prayed to Tenpi for safe travels at sea, often carrying statues of the goddess onboard their ships, and offering the statues to the shrine upon their safe return.

Ryukyuan sailors prayed to Tenpi for safe travels at sea, often carrying statues of the goddess onboard their ships, and offering the statues to the shrine upon their safe return.

*Plaques on-site.

*Plaques on-site.

*"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-42230-storytopic-121.html Tenpi-byô]." Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia 沖縄コンパクト事典, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.

*"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-42230-storytopic-121.html Tenpi-byô]." Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia 沖縄コンパクト事典, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.

==External Links==

==External Links==