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The complex is said to have been built to host welcoming receptions for [[Chinese investiture envoys]]. The garden, complete with a red-tile-roofed palace hall, a pond with a small island in it, and a Chinese-style stone bridge, received enthusiastic praise from Chinese visitors.
The complex is said to have been built to host welcoming receptions for [[Chinese investiture envoys]]. The garden, complete with a red-tile-roofed palace hall, a pond with a small island in it, and a Chinese-style stone bridge, received enthusiastic praise from Chinese visitors.
The garden & villa were destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, but have been rebuilt, and are now administered by the City of Naha. It is a nationally-designated "site of scenic beauty," and has been designated a [[World Heritage Site]] as part of the category "Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu."
The garden has two gates - a main gate (正門, ''seimon'') used exclusively by Chinese envoys and members of the royal family, and a smaller side gate (通用門, ''tsûyômon'') used chiefly by the staff. Both are constructed in the ''yaajô'' (屋門) style, with red ceramic tile roofs; construction in this style was restricted to the upper classes.
A small guardhouse, or ''banya'' (番屋), housed royal guards who guarded the complex.
Shikinaen was supplied with fresh water by a spring called Ikutokusen (育徳泉), surrounded by walls of Ryukyuan limestone in the ''aikata-zumi'' style. A pair of stone stele were erected next to the shrine by the chief envoys of two Chinese investiture missions - [[Zhao Wenkai]] in [[1800]], and [[Lin Hongnian]] in [[1838]] - reading, respectively, Itokusen and ''kanrei enrei'' (甘醴延齢, ''sweet saké, long life''). These were severely damaged in World War II, but have been restored.
The garden & villa were destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, but have been rebuilt, and are now administered by the City of Naha. It is a nationally-designated "site of scenic beauty," and was designated a [[World Heritage Site]] in 2000 alongside a number of other sites, comprising the collective World Heritage Site "Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu."
==References==
==References==
*"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-41567-storytopic-121.html Shikinaen]." ''Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia'' 沖縄コンパクト事典. Ryukyu Shimpo. 1 March 2003.
*"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-41567-storytopic-121.html Shikinaen]." ''Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia'' 沖縄コンパクト事典. Ryukyu Shimpo. 1 March 2003.
*Plaques on-site.
==External Links==
==External Links==