Yang Zai

Chinese/Japanese: 楊載 (Yáng Zài / Yô Sai)

Yáng Zài was a Ming official who in 1369 led the second mission to demand tribute from Japan, and in 1372 the first mission to demand tribute from the Ryukyuan kingdom of Chûzan.

After arriving in Dazaifu in 1369 and meeting with Prince Kanenaga, Yáng was imprisoned for three months while five of his men were beheaded. Yáng was eventually permitted to return safely to China, and a new mission, this time led by an official named Zhào Zhì, traveled to Dazaifu and was ultimately successful in convincing Prince Kanenaga to begin sending tribute missions, to quell the wakô, and to take on the title of King of Japan.

Yáng was then dispatched in 1372 to Ryûkyû, where he secured the beginning of tributary relations between the Ryukyuan kingdom of Chûzan and the Ming court.

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References

Gregory Smits, Maritime Ryukyu, University of Hawaii Press (2019), 62-63.