Ryukyu-kan
- Japanese: 琉球館 (Ryuukyuukan)
Ryûkyû-kan were institutions serving as homes and bases of operations for Ryukyuan missions in early modern Fuzhou (Fujian province, China) and Kagoshima (Satsuma province, Japan).
Kagoshima
The Ryûkyû-kan in Kagoshima was located below the castle, on the site occupied today by Nagata Middle School and governmental food provisions offices.
It played a central role in relations between the Kingdom of Ryûkyû and the han to which it was a vassal, serving a function not unlike a modern-day embassy. Visiting dignitaries lived and worked in the Ryûkyû-kan, as did students studying classic subjects in preparation for careers in the kingdom's bureaucracy, and a number of Ryukyuan permanent residents of the city. Satsuma's control over the Ryukyuan officials was tight, however; wandering or loitering in the area around the building was forbidden, and guards posted at the entrance checked visitors in and out[1]. Ryukyuans could travel around the city, and to other parts of the country, only on official business, and under tight supervision and strict regulations. Similarly strict policies applied to Japanese visiting the institution.
Fuzhou
The other Ryûkyû-kan (Liuqiu guan in Chinese pinyin), was located in the Chinese city of Fuzhou. Built around 1430-1440, and originally known as the rouyuan yi (J: jûen-eki),[2] this was one of a number of stations established by the Chinese to cater to foreign visitors. Fuzhou became the official site for Ryukyuan business in China in 1470, and for a Maritime Trade Office, or shibosi previously located in Quanzhou. The rouyuan yi or Ryûkyû-kan in Fuzhou, though already in operation for several decades at this time, now more officially took on a more official status as the chief Ryukyuan headquarters in southern China, as the laiyuan yi (J: raien-eki, lit. "station for [those who] come from faraway"), a similar institution in Quanzhou, declined.
Along with the nearby Kaido-kan and Kokushi-kan[3], the Ryûkyû-kan housed visiting dignitaries and scholars en route between Ryûkyû and the Chinese capital of Nanjing or Beijing. In addition to officials sent by the kingdom to engage in formal diplomatic matters, Ryūkyū regularly sent a small number of students to study a variety of traditional Chinese subjects in the capital, primarily in preparation for careers in the kingdom's government and bureaucracy.
References
- "Jûen-eki 柔遠駅." Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia 沖縄コンパクト事典. Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.
- "The Rekidai Hoan: An Introduction to Documents of the Ryukyu Kingdom." Editorial Office of Rekidai Hoan, Okinawa Archives, Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education (trans.). Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia 3 (March 2003). 15 pages.
- Sakai, Robert K. "The Satsuma-Ryukyu Trade and the Tokugawa Seclusion Policy." Journal of Asian Studies. 23:3 (May 1964). pp391-403.
- 『薩摩と琉球』。鹿児島県の県立図書館。("Satsuma and Ryukyu." Kagoshima Prefectural Library Official Site.) http://www.pref.kagoshima.jp/kentosho/shiryo/kityou-490.html Accessed 10 October 2007. (Source in Japanese.)
- Watanabe Miki. "Nihon ni okeru Ryûkyû shiseki 日本における琉球史跡." (personal webpage).
