Changes

While ''shinkôsen'' carried official missions to China roughly once every other year, ''sekkôsen'' traveled to [[Fuzhou]] in the alternating years, ostensibly to bring the previous year's mission back home; however, both ''shinkôsen'' and ''sekkôsen'' also carried considerable amounts of tribute/trade goods, playing a vital role in the flow of [[silver]], herbal medicines, a variety of luxury goods, and other products, between China, Ryûkyû, and Japan.

While ''shinkôsen'' carried official missions to China roughly once every other year, ''sekkôsen'' traveled to [[Fuzhou]] in the alternating years, ostensibly to bring the previous year's mission back home; however, both ''shinkôsen'' and ''sekkôsen'' also carried considerable amounts of tribute/trade goods, playing a vital role in the flow of [[silver]], herbal medicines, a variety of luxury goods, and other products, between China, Ryûkyû, and Japan.

While the kingdom initially had no ships or shipwrights of its own, and thus simply sent envoys as guests aboard Chinese ships for the first few decades of its relationship with the [[Ming Dynasty]] (i.e. in the 1370s-1380s), Ryûkyû began receiving ships as gifts from the Ming in [[1385]]. By sometime in the 15th century, the kingdom had acquired the facilities and experts to engage in ship repair within [[Naha]]. It is not clear when Ryûkyû began constructing its own ships, though this surely took place sometime before or during the early modern period (17th-19th centuries).<ref>Yamagata Kin'ya 山形欣哉, ''Rekishi no umi wo hashiru'' 歴史の海を走る, Nôsangyoson bunka kyôkai (2004), 140.</ref>  

While the kingdom initially had no ships or shipwrights of its own, and thus simply sent envoys as guests aboard Chinese ships for the first few decades of its relationship with the [[Ming Dynasty]] (i.e. in the 1370s-1380s), Ryûkyû began receiving ships as gifts from the Ming in [[1385]]. By sometime in the 15th century, the kingdom had acquired the facilities and experts to engage in ship repair within [[Naha]]. It is not clear when Ryûkyû began constructing its own ships, though this surely took place sometime before or during the early modern period (17th-19th centuries).<ref>Yamagata Kin'ya 山形欣哉, ''Rekishi no umi wo hashiru'' 歴史の海を走る, Nôsangyoson bunka kyôkai (2004), 140.</ref>

 

While the size of Japanese ships is traditionally measured in ''[[koku]]'' (a reference to the amount of cargo the ship can hold, and thus an approximation or indication of the size of the ship overall), the size of a Ryukyuan ship was typically recorded by the number of ''[[Japanese Measurements|tan]]'' wide its sails were. Sails seem to have ranged from three ''tan'' to as wide as 17 or 18 ''tan''.<ref>Yamagata, ''Rekishi no umi wo hashiru'', 142.; Yamagata Kin'ya 山形欣哉, “Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen no mokei seisaku” 失われた琉球船の模型製作, ''Kaiyô Kokka Satsuma: Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen fukugen'' 海洋国家薩摩－失われた琉球船復元, Kagoshima: Shôkoshûseikan (2005), 27-51.</ref>

==Design and Decoration==

==Design and Decoration==

''Kaisen'' were typically around thirty meters long and eight meters wide, with a main mast roughly thirty meters in height. They were of a nearly identical design to Chinese junks plying the same waters.

''Kaisen'' were typically around thirty meters long and eight meters wide, with a main mast roughly thirty meters in height. They were of a nearly identical design to Chinese junks plying the same waters.

The sails, like those of ''[[sabani]]'' (Okinawan fishing canoes), were made in a manner closely related to that used in China. Thin slats of bamboo were interwoven to form a six-sided lattice, a pattern or method known in Japanese as ''mutsume ami'' (六つ目編み). Branches, leaves, or grasses were then interwoven into the lattice to form a relatively solid sheet which could catch the wind.<ref>Yamagata Kin'ya 山形欣哉, “Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen no mokei seisaku” 失われた琉球船の模型製作, ''Kaiyô Kokka Satsuma: Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen fukugen'' 海洋国家薩摩－失われた琉球船復元, Kagoshima: Shôkoshûseikan (2005), 42.</ref> As in traditional Chinese "junks," the sails were held up not just by one or two static standing crossbars (as in European sailing ships), but rather by a series of numerous bamboo cross-bars which were raised and lowered as part of the sail.

The sails, like those of ''[[sabani]]'' (Okinawan fishing canoes), were made in a manner closely related to that used in China. Thin slats of bamboo were interwoven to form a six-sided lattice, a pattern or method known in Japanese as ''mutsume ami'' (六つ目編み). Branches, leaves, or grasses were then interwoven into the lattice to form a relatively solid sheet which could catch the wind.<ref>Yamagata, “Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen,” 42.</ref> As in traditional Chinese "junks," the sails were held up not just by one or two static standing crossbars (as in European sailing ships), but rather by a series of numerous bamboo cross-bars which were raised and lowered as part of the sail.

Fringed banners in red and yellow, with a red sun at the center, served as an emblem of the Ryûkyû Kingdom (the king of Ryûkyû was often referred to as ''[[tedako]]'', or "son of the Sun"). Though the use of yellow was officially restricted in [[Qing Dynasty]] China, it being a color symbolic of the Imperial establishment, these banners were one way in which Ryûkyû expressed its own identity as an independent kingdom, and the Qing are said to have raised no objections to Ryûkyû employing Imperial shades of yellow on their ships' banners in this way.<ref>Yamagata, "Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen," 47.</ref> Rectangular flags featuring red suns were also common; some scholars have suggested that the color or border of these flags indicated the rank or title of the Ryukyuan officials aboard the ship, but [[Akamine Mamoru]] has noted he is unaware of any reference in the royal records to that being the case.<ref>Yamagata, "Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen," 49.</ref>

Fringed banners in red and yellow, with a red sun at the center, served as an emblem of the Ryûkyû Kingdom (the king of Ryûkyû was often referred to as ''[[tedako]]'', or "son of the Sun"). Though the use of yellow was officially restricted in [[Qing Dynasty]] China, it being a color symbolic of the Imperial establishment, these banners were one way in which Ryûkyû expressed its own identity as an independent kingdom, and the Qing are said to have raised no objections to Ryûkyû employing Imperial shades of yellow on their ships' banners in this way.<ref>Yamagata, "Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen," 47.</ref> Rectangular flags featuring red suns were also common; some scholars have suggested that the color or border of these flags indicated the rank or title of the Ryukyuan officials aboard the ship, but [[Akamine Mamoru]] has noted he is unaware of any reference in the royal records to that being the case.<ref>Yamagata, "Ushinawareta Ryûkyû-sen," 49.</ref>