View source for Bai Iki

*''Born: [[1785]]/10/22''
*''Died: [[1858]]''
*''Titles'': 金城筑登之 ''(Kanagusuku chikudun)''
*''Japanese/Chinese'': [[貝]]唯紀 ''(Bai Iki / Bèi Wéijì)''

Bai Iki was the sixth head of the [[Bai family]] of the [[scholar-aristocracy of Ryukyu|scholar-aristocracy]] of [[Naha]]. It was during his time as head of the family that the Bai were elevated from ''shinsan'' status to being a ''fudaiji'' family.

The second son of the fifth family head, [[Bai Ishin]], Bai Iki was named heir at the age of 14, in [[1798]], following the early death of his older brother Bai Isui. The following year, he had his coming-of-age ceremony, and on [[1806]]/4/3, when Bai Iki was 22, his first daughter, Majirû, was born. Nearly two years later, on [[1808]]/3/15, his first son, Isuke, was born. That same year, following the [[Chinese investiture envoys|investiture]] of the king, Bai Iki was named Kanagusuku ''chikudun''. His second daughter, Umitû, was born on [[1810]]/6/9.

Iki's eldest son, Bai Isuke, died young on [[1811]]/4/11. His second son, [[Bai Ien]], who would later go on to become Iki's successor, was born two years later, on [[1813]]/9/12. Iki then had another son, Bai Ishô, on [[1816]]/6/28. The following year, he was appointed ''ufunitii hissha'' (clerk/secretary in charge of ships), and two years later, on [[1819]]/2/13, his third daughter, Makadû, was born. His fourth daughter, Magami, was born on [[1822]]/7/24.

Iki's eldest daughter, Majirû, died on [[1824]]/10/19, when Iki was 40. His fourth son, Bai Izen, was born the following year, on [[1825]]/3/8, and his fifth daughter, Umitama, on [[1828]]/11/16. In [[1832]], Bai Iki gained a fifth son, Bai Ishu, on 1832/2/12, but lost his fourth son, Bai Izen, on 11/15. That same year, he was elevated in rank from ''chikudun'' to ''chikudun peechin''; now a member of the Seventh Rank, he was entitled to wear a yellow ''[[hachimaki]]'' (court cap) as a mark of his status.

[[Sugar]] Guild Magistrate (''satôza bujô'') in [[1854]]; he also served as head of the [[Omonogusuku]] for a time. The latter was the highest station a member of the Naha aristocracy could hope to attain.

{{stub}}

<center>
{| border="3" align="center"
|- align="center"
|width="32%"|Preceded by:<br>[[Bai Ishin]]
|width="35%"|'''Head of [[Bai family]]'''<br> ?-[[1858]]
|width="32%"|Succeeded by:<br>'''[[Bai Ien]]'''
|}
</center>

==References==
*''Naha shizoku no isshô'' 那覇士族の一生 (Naha: Naha City Museum of History, 2010). 

[[Category:Ryukyu]]
[[Category:Nobility]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]