contributor
26,979
edits
Changes
Created page with " Trade in the Ryûkyû Kingdom was largely conducted using Chinese currency, especially in the premodern period. ==Early Coinage== [[Sho Taikyu|Shô T..."
Trade in the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] was largely conducted using [[Chinese currency]], especially in the premodern period.
==Early Coinage==
[[Sho Taikyu|Shô Taikyû]] (r. [[1454]]-[[1461]]) was the first Ryukyuan king to have new coins minted on-island. These ''taisei tsûhô'', inscribed with the phrase 大世通宝, were of poor quality and may have been made directly from [[Ming dynasty]] coins produced under the [[Yongle Emperor]], with simply the inscription altered; such ''Yǒnglè tōngbǎo'' 永楽通宝 (J: ''Eiraku tsûhô'') were extremely numerous and circulated widely throughout the region.
Taikyû's successor, [[Sho Toku|Shô Toku]] (r. 1461-[[1469]]), and ''his'' successor, [[Sho En|Shô En]] (r. 1469-[[1476]]), also had coins cast. Some coins from these three reigns have been found in archaeological excavations as far away as [[Echizen province]] (modern-day [[Fukui prefecture]]), suggesting some significant degree of trade relations.
After these 15th century kings, however, the kingdom did not officially mint coins again for several centuries, until around [[1715]], when a type of coin known as ''tômasen'' began to be produced.
==Modern Era==
In the 1860s, in the final years of the early modern period, [[Satsuma han]] began to produce coins inscribed with the phrase ''[[Ryukyu tsuho|Ryûkyû tsûhô]]''. Though clearly marked in a fashion which would suggest these were Ryukyuan coins, however, the roughly one million ''Ryûkyû tsûhô'' produced in Satsuma in [[1862]] to [[1865]] circulated only to a limited extent in Ryûkyû and were mainly used within Satsuma territory.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 192.; "[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-43409-storytopic-121.html Ryûkyû tsûhô]." Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia, 沖縄コンパクト事典, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.</ref>
{{stub}}
==References==
*Gregory Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2019), 117.
<references/>
[[Category:Ryukyu]]
[[Category:Economics]]