The Tenshikan (lit. "Hall of Heavenly Envoys") was an establishment maintained in Naha, the main port city of the Ryûkyû Kingdom, to serve as lodgings for Chinese investiture envoys who visited the kingdom to formally invest each Ryukyuan king in his throne.
The Tenshikan was first built in 1396; the first investiture mission arrived in 1404.[1] The envoys typically stayed for four to eight months.[2] Various matters related to the envoys' stay at the Tenshikan were overseen by a Ryukyuan official called the kanmushi (館務司).[3]
The compound was built largely in a Chinese style, and included a main hall (J: seidô), Great Gate (J: Ômon), Second Gate (J: nimon), and two side towers.[4]
When Chinese envoys were not in residence, sections of the Tenshikan were used by the satôza (sugar guild) for storage of sugar, construction and storage of casks for transporting the sugar, and organization of the shipment of sugar to Satsuma han.
Following the abolition of the kingdom, and the establishment of Okinawa prefecture, the Tenshikan was converted into the Naha Ward Office (kuyakusho), and then the Naha City Office (shiyakusho). The neighboring Shimo Tenpi Shrine and offices of the Naha satonushi were replaced by the Naha Post Office. A new building was constructed on the site in 1917, to serve as government offices, but this was destroyed in the 1944/10/10 air raids along with much of the rest of the city. The site is today occupied by the headquarters of the Naha Medical Association.
References
- Plaques on-site.[1]
- ↑ Ryûkyû shisetsu, Edo he iku! 琉球使節、江戸へ行く！, Okinawa Prefectural Museum (2009), 47.
- ↑ "Sappôshi." Okinawa konpakuto jiten (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). 1 March 2003. Accessed 7 November 2009.
- ↑ Gallery labels, "Kuninda - Ryûkyû to Chûgoku no kakehashi," special exhibit, Okinawa Prefectural Museum, Sept 2014.
- ↑ Ono Masako, Tomita Chinatsu, Kanna Keiko, Taguchi Kei, "Shiryô shôkai Kishi Akimasa bunko Satsuyû kikô," Shiryôhenshûshitsu kiyô 31 (2006), 249.