contributor
27,125
edits
Changes
From SamuraiWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search→In Ryûkyû
==In Ryûkyû==
==In Ryûkyû==
In [[1623]], a pair of young Ryukyuan aristocrats sent to China by [[Gima Shinjo|Gima Shinjô]] introduced to the kingdom advanced sugar processing techniques; sugar plantations in the islands quickly began to take off, and Ryukyuan sugar, imported via Satsuma, became a major source of the product. The kingdom began in [[1666]] to pay one-third of its annual tribute payments to Satsuma in sugar. Three years later, the royal court claimed a monopoly on the sugar trade, and began being able to use sugar as collateral for loans from Satsuma.<ref>Akamine Mamoru, Lina Terrell (trans.), Robert Huey (ed.), ''The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia'', University of Hawaii Press (2017), 74-75.</ref> Sugar was not only grown in the Ryûkyûs, but was also obtained by Ryukyuan trading ships in Southeast Asia. The cane was processed using a ''sata-guruma'', a large grinding device pulled by a horse or [[water buffalo]]; the resulting cane juice was then boiled at around 120 degrees Celcius for about five hours, then laid out in a pan to cool, to produce brown sugar (''kurozato'', ''kokutô'').<ref>Explanatory plaques, "sataaguruma," Ryûkyûmura.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15455369059/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> The original mechanism introduced in the 1620s used two rollers; three rollers came to be used in [[1671]]. The wooden sugar mills were replaced with stone ones beginning in [[1831]], and iron ones from [[1882]]. The first Western-style sugar factory equipment was installed in Okinawa in [[1908]], but traditional mills remained in use well into the post-war period.<ref>Explanatory plaque, ''Sata-guruma'', Okinawa Furusato Mura, at Okinawa Expo Park.</ref>
Though sugar is believed to have been introduced to the Ryûkyûs as early as the 1370s, a native of Amami Ôshima named [[Sunao Kawachi]] is often cited as having been the first to introduce techniques for its cultivation and production into Amami in [[1610]].<ref>Gallery labels, Amami Tatsugô Shima Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/49491206592/sizes/h/]</ref>
In [[1623]], a pair of young Ryukyuan aristocrats sent from the royal court at [[Shuri]] to China by [[Gima Shinjo|Gima Shinjô]] introduced advanced sugar processing techniques to the kingdom; sugar plantations in the islands quickly began to take off, and Ryukyuan sugar, imported via Satsuma, became a major source of the product. The kingdom began in [[1666]] to pay one-third of its annual tribute payments to Satsuma in sugar. Three years later, the royal court claimed a monopoly on the sugar trade, and began being able to use sugar as collateral for loans from Satsuma.<ref>Akamine Mamoru, Lina Terrell (trans.), Robert Huey (ed.), ''The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia'', University of Hawaii Press (2017), 74-75.</ref> Sugar was not only grown in the Ryûkyûs, but was also obtained by Ryukyuan trading ships in Southeast Asia. The cane was processed using a ''sata-guruma'', a large grinding device pulled by a horse or [[water buffalo]]; the resulting cane juice was then boiled at around 120 degrees Celcius for about five hours, then laid out in a pan to cool, to produce brown sugar (''kurozato'', ''kokutô'').<ref>Explanatory plaques, "sataaguruma," Ryûkyûmura.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15455369059/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> The original mechanism introduced in the 1620s used two rollers; three rollers came to be used in [[1671]]. The wooden sugar mills were replaced with stone ones beginning in [[1831]], and iron ones from [[1882]]. The first Western-style sugar factory equipment was installed in Okinawa in [[1908]], but traditional mills remained in use well into the post-war period.<ref>Explanatory plaque, ''Sata-guruma'', Okinawa Furusato Mura, at Okinawa Expo Park.</ref>
The Ryûkyû Kingdom's government claimed a royal monopoly on sales of sugar and [[turmeric]] (''ukon'') within the kingdom in [[1647]], helping the kingdom afford its repayments on loans from [[Satsuma han]]. Fifty years later, the kingdom placed restrictions on the planting of these two crops; these restrictions wouldn't be lifted until [[1888]]. Buying, selling, shipping, and storage of sugar under the governmental monopoly was managed by an office called the ''satôza'' (Sugar Guild). It was headed by two ''satôza ôyako'' (one selected from the [[Shuri]] scholar-aristocracy and one from that of [[Naha]]), under the authority of a single ''satôza bugyô'' (Sugar Guild Magistrate).<ref>''Naha shizoku no isshô'' 那覇士族の一生 (Naha: Naha City Museum of History, 2010), 14.</ref>
The Ryûkyû Kingdom's government claimed a royal monopoly on sales of sugar and [[turmeric]] (''ukon'') within the kingdom in [[1647]], helping the kingdom afford its repayments on loans from [[Satsuma han]]. Fifty years later, the kingdom placed restrictions on the planting of these two crops; these restrictions wouldn't be lifted until [[1888]]. Buying, selling, shipping, and storage of sugar under the governmental monopoly was managed by an office called the ''satôza'' (Sugar Guild). It was headed by two ''satôza ôyako'' (one selected from the [[Shuri]] scholar-aristocracy and one from that of [[Naha]]), under the authority of a single ''satôza bugyô'' (Sugar Guild Magistrate).<ref>''Naha shizoku no isshô'' 那覇士族の一生 (Naha: Naha City Museum of History, 2010), 14.</ref>
