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The scholar-aristocracy of the port-town of Naha included families such as the [[Bai family|Bai (貝)]]. They chiefly served in positions related to the administration of the port. The highest position attainable for a member of the Naha scholar-aristocracy was that of ''Omonogusuku osasu-no-soba'', head of the [[Omonogusuku]], the royal storehouse located out in the harbor. Other positions held by members of the Naha scholar-aristocracy included those of the ''Naafa satunushi'' (head of local Naha city administration) and his secretaries (''Naha hissha''); heads and clerks of the [[Oyamise]]; ''[[satoza|satôza]] ôyako'' and ''satôza bujô'' (managers of [[sugar]] imports and exports); ''[[ufunitii bujo|ufunitii bujô]]'' (Magistrate of Ships, who oversaw the construction, repair, and equipping of ships, and performance reviews for captains and crews); heads of the ''[[shinoboseza]]'', which handled the collection and transportation of goods being sent to [[Kagoshima]]; and ''Naha yokome'', inspectors who handled local civil cases. A number of these positions, as well as other municipal administrative positions within Naha, were typically staffed in pairs, with one member of the Naha aristocracy and one member of the Shuri aristocracy holding the position simultaneously and working together with one another. Members of the Naha aristocracy also served in a number of positions working in relation with the [[Satsuma han]] officials of the ''[[zaiban bugyo|zaiban bugyôsho]]'', including waiting on the ''zaiban bugyô'' as ''[[Yamato yokome]]''; overseeing communications with foreign ships as ''[[toiyaku]]''; or serving within the ''zaiban bugyôsho'' as ''ukaiya mui'' or ''ukaiya mui bettô''. Some also came eventually to sometimes be appointed Kumemura ''hissha'' (chief secretary of Kumemura), a position previously exclusive to members of the Kumemura community.<ref>Gallery labels, "Kuninda - Ryûkyû to Chûgoku no kakehashi," special exhibit, Okinawa Prefectural Museum, Sept 2014.</ref>
The scholar-aristocracy of the port-town of Naha included families such as the [[Bai family|Bai (貝)]]. They chiefly served in positions related to the administration of the port. The highest position attainable for a member of the Naha scholar-aristocracy was that of ''Omonogusuku osasu-no-soba'', head of the [[Omonogusuku]], the royal storehouse located out in the harbor. Other positions held by members of the Naha scholar-aristocracy included those of the ''Naafa satunushi'' (head of local Naha city administration) and his secretaries (''Naha hissha''); heads and clerks of the [[Oyamise]]; ''[[satoza|satôza]] ôyako'' and ''satôza bujô'' (managers of [[sugar]] imports and exports); ''[[ufunitii bujo|ufunitii bujô]]'' (Magistrate of Ships, who oversaw the construction, repair, and equipping of ships, and performance reviews for captains and crews); heads of the ''[[shinoboseza]]'', which handled the collection and transportation of goods being sent to [[Kagoshima]]; and ''Naha yokome'', inspectors who handled local civil cases. A number of these positions, as well as other municipal administrative positions within Naha, were typically staffed in pairs, with one member of the Naha aristocracy and one member of the Shuri aristocracy holding the position simultaneously and working together with one another. Members of the Naha aristocracy also served in a number of positions working in relation with the [[Satsuma han]] officials of the ''[[zaiban bugyo|zaiban bugyôsho]]'', including waiting on the ''zaiban bugyô'' as ''[[Yamato yokome]]''; overseeing communications with foreign ships as ''[[toiyaku]]''; or serving within the ''zaiban bugyôsho'' as ''ukaiya mui'' or ''ukaiya mui bettô''. Some also came eventually to sometimes be appointed Kumemura ''hissha'' (chief secretary of Kumemura), a position previously exclusive to members of the Kumemura community.<ref>Gallery labels, "Kuninda - Ryûkyû to Chûgoku no kakehashi," special exhibit, Okinawa Prefectural Museum, Sept 2014.</ref>
The aristocracy was often referred to using the [[kanji|character]] 士 (J: ''shi'', C: ''shì''), meaning a scholar-gentleman in the [[Confucianism|Confucian]] tradition. The use of this character in Japanese to refer to [[samurai]] (who also wished to represent themselves as cultured scholar-gentlemen), however, has led to some confusion, with many writers taking the character 士 as an indication that Ryûkyû also had a samurai class, and/or that the scholar-aristocracy was a warrior class. The scholar-aristocracy is also frequently mistakenly referred to as ''samuree'', an [[Okinawan language|Okinawanization]] of the word "samurai." In truth, though the kingdom certainly maintained a military, the scholar-aristocracy was very much one in the tradition of the Confucian scholar-official, bearing more in common with Chinese and Korean scholar-aristocracies than with the samurai class.
==Aristocratic Life==
==Aristocratic Life==
