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Shô Shin was a king of the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Kingdom of Ryûkyû]], the third of the line of the Second Shô Dynasty. Shô Shin's long reign has been described as "the Great Days of [[Chuzan|Chûzan]]", a period of great peace and relative prosperity. He was the son of [[Sho En|Shô En]], the founder of the dynasty, by [[Yosoidon]], Shô En's second wife, often referred to as the queen mother. He succeeded his uncle, [[Sho Seni|Shô Sen'i]], who was forced to abdicate in his favor.

Shô Shin was a king of the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Kingdom of Ryûkyû]], the third of the line of the Second Shô Dynasty. Shô Shin's long reign has been described as "the Great Days of [[Chuzan|Chûzan]]", a period of great peace and relative prosperity. He was the son of [[Sho En|Shô En]], the founder of the dynasty, by [[Yosoidon]], Shô En's second wife, often referred to as the queen mother. He succeeded his uncle, [[Sho Seni|Shô Sen'i]], who was forced to abdicate in his favor.

His reign is characterized by political and military expansion and the consolidation of power under the royal court at Shuri; a height of maritime trade activity and prosperity; the renovation of [[Shuri castle]] and the construction of numerous monuments, temples, shrines, and other structures speaking to the power and glory of Shuri; and the establishment or standardization otherwise of numerous aspects of what would remain the foundation of the structure and character of the Ryûkyû Kingdom for centuries, until its [[Ryukyu Shobun|dissolution in the 1870s]].

His reign was characterized by political and military expansion and the consolidation of power under the royal court at Shuri; the transformation of the role or position of the king from being a local or regional "sea lord" boasting recognition from China as a legitimate trading partner, into being a Confucian monarch with strong, centralized power over an extensive territory, managed through an established bureaucracy and system of rule and law; a height of maritime trade activity and prosperity; the renovation of [[Shuri castle]] and the construction of numerous monuments, temples, shrines, and other structures speaking to the power and glory of Shuri; and the establishment or standardization otherwise of numerous aspects of what would remain the foundation of the structure and character of the Ryûkyû Kingdom for centuries, until its [[Ryukyu Shobun|dissolution in the 1870s]].

Much of the foundational organization of the kingdom's early modern administration and economy is traced back to developments which occurred during Shô Shin's reign. Shô Shin developed a court bureaucracy more centralized and standardized than ever before, including perhaps the first system of standard practices of employing administrative documents and maintaining written records; in this and various other important ways, the kingdom under Shô Shin began to resemble that of a Confucian kingdom (and no longer the domain of rival ''[[wako|wakô]]'' "sea lords") more than ever before.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii (2019), 137.</ref>

Much of the foundational organization of the kingdom's early modern administration and economy is traced back to developments which occurred during Shô Shin's reign. Shô Shin developed a court bureaucracy more centralized and standardized than ever before, including perhaps the first system of standard practices of employing administrative documents and maintaining written records; in this and various other important ways, the kingdom under Shô Shin began to resemble that of a Confucian kingdom (and no longer the domain of rival ''[[wako|wakô]]'' "sea lords") more than ever before.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii (2019), 137.</ref>