Xia Ziyang

• Chinese/Japanese: 夏 子陽 (Xià Zǐyáng / Ka Shiyô)

Xià Zǐyáng was a Ming dynasty official who in 1606 headed the last Ming investiture embassy to the Ryûkyû Kingdom prior to the Shimazu clan invasion of Ryûkyû in 1609.

Xià journeyed to Ryûkyû in 1606 for the investiture of Ryukyuan King Shô Nei. His official report, the Shǐ liúqiú lù (J: Shi Ryûkyû roku), suggests considerable concerns about an impending Japanese invasion and a relative lack of concern on the part of Ryukyuan leadership. Xià describes the kingdom as having remained independent this long not because of military strength but because of its remote location, and writes that Ryukyuan leadership continued to rely on their remoteness and on the protection of deities, dismissing rumors of invasion and reports of massing ships, and refusing to devote any significant resources or urgency to defensive preparations.

References

• Gregory Smits, Maritime Ryukyu, University of Hawaii Press (2019), 223.