Urasoe yodore
- Other Names: 浦添極楽山 (Urasoe gokurakuzan)
- Japanese/Okinawan: 浦添夕凪 (Urasoe youdore)
Urasoe yôdore, located in a cave on a cliff to the northeast[1] of Urasoe castle on Okinawa, is a mausoleum housing the remains of three rulers of the island, along with one king of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû separated from the others by several centuries.
The mausoleum was established in 1261, during the reign of Eiso, when Okinawa was ruled by a network of local chieftains under the leadership of one head chieftain or "king," before the island was divided into three kingdoms. The mausoleum consists of three chambers cut directly into the limestone cliff, including two for entombment, and one for senkotsu[2]. Eiso and two of his successors are entombed at Urasoe yôdore, in sarcophagi of a Chinese diorite stone[1]; excavations have discovered bodies wrapped in textiles. Statues of the bodhisattvas Kannon and Jizô stand inside the cave[3].
More than 300 years later, King Shô Nei requested to be buried at Urasoe and not in the Shô family royal mausoleum of Tamaudun. His reign had seen the invasion of Ryukyu by forces from Japan's Satsuma province, and the subjugation of the kingdom to Satsuma's suzerainty, and thus it is believed that he felt he had dishonored his family and his kingdom, and was not worthy of being buried with his ancestors[4].
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Urasoe yôdore." Okinawa Konpakuto Jiten (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). Ryukyu Shimpo. 1 March 2003. Accessed 25 September 2009.
- ↑ A key element of traditional Ryukyuan funerary ritual, in which remains are stored for a period, before the bones are later washed and more fully, properly, laid to rest.
- ↑ Shinzato, Keiji et al. Okinawa-ken no rekishi (沖縄県の歴史, "History of Okinawa Prefecture"). Tokyo: Yamakawa Publishing, 1996. p36 (Appendix).
- ↑ Kerr, George. Okinawa: The History of an Island People. Revised Edition. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2000. pp165-166.
