Sai Hôkin was a Ryukyuan scholar-official who traveled to Beijing and Edo on several occasions. He served as a musician on the 1790 Ryukyuan mission to Edo, and as a student or other low-ranking member of a mission to Beijing the following year.
He traveled to Edo again as a member of the 1796 mission, and was interviewed in Edo, alongside Tei Shôkan, by Akazaki Kaimon, regarding their experiences in China. These conversations were then published as Ryûkaku danki, and remain a notable source for historians today investigating Ryûkyû-China-Japan relations.
At some point after 1800, Sai Hôkin returned to Beijing at least one more time, as Secretary to the two chief tribute envoys.
References
- Gallery labels, "Kuninda - Ryûkyû to Chûgoku no kakehashi," special exhibit, Okinawa Prefectural Museum, Sept 2014.
- Maehira Fusaaki, Ryûkyû shisetsu no ikoku taiken 琉球使節の異国体験, Kokusai kôryû 国際交流 59 (1992), 63.
- Ta-Tuan Ch’en, “Sino–Liu-Ch'iuan Relations in the Nineteenth Century,” PhD dissertation, Indiana University (1963), 124-125.