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==History==
==History==
[[Satto]] became, in [[1372]], the first Ryukyuan king to submit to Chinese suzerainty<ref>Kerr, George. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. (revised ed.) Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2000. p65.</ref>. Beginning with the investiture of Satto's successor, [[Bunei]], in [[1404]]<ref name=kenpaku-nenpyo>''Ryûkyû shisetsu, Edo he iku!'' 琉球使節、江戸へ行く！, Okinawa Prefectural Museum (2009), 47.</ref>, twenty-two such missions traveled to Ryûkyû in total<ref name=shimpo>"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-41495-storytopic-121.html Sappôshi]." ''Okinawa konpakuto jiten'' (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). 1 March 2003. Accessed 7 November 2009.</ref>, the last in [[1866]], for the investiture of [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]]<ref name=kerr352>Kerr. p352.</ref>.
[[Satto]] became, in [[1372]], the first Ryukyuan king to submit to Chinese suzerainty<ref>Kerr, George. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. (revised ed.) Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2000. p65.</ref>. Beginning with the investiture of Satto's successor, [[Bunei]], in [[1404]]<ref name=kenpaku-nenpyo>''Ryûkyû shisetsu, Edo he iku!'' 琉球使節、江戸へ行く！, Okinawa Prefectural Museum (2009), 47.</ref>, twenty-two such missions traveled to Ryûkyû in total<ref name=shimpo>"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-41495-storytopic-121.html Sappôshi]." ''Okinawa konpakuto jiten'' (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). 1 March 2003. Accessed 7 November 2009.</ref>, the last in [[1866]], for the investiture of [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]]<ref name=kerr352>Kerr. p352.</ref>.
Though the investiture missions were conducted within an ideology of Ryukyuan submission to Chinese centrality and superiority, the kingdom actually enjoyed a fair degree of agency and authority in determining when investiture missions would be requested, and whether they would in fact be accepted. Envoy [[Chen Kan|Chen Kan's]] ''Shi-liuqiu-lu'' indicates that the Ryukyuans were entitled to simply refuse to receive investiture envoys at the port, if something were against precedent or protocol. When [[Sho Nei|Shô Nei]] came to the throne in [[1587]], Ryukyuan requests for investiture came in the 1590s, coinciding with [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi|Toyotomi Hideyoshi's]] [[Korean Invasions|invasions of Korea]]; concerned about the dangers of "[[wako|pirates]]," possibly code or conflation for Hideyoshi's forces, the Ming hesitated to send a full mission. The Ming Court suggested either holding an investiture ceremony by proxy with Ryukyuan envoys at [[Fuzhou]], or sending a small military contingent to perform the ceremony in Ryûkyû. The Ryukyuan Court protested, however, and petitioned that a civil official be sent at the head of a full investiture mission entourage, as according to precedent and protocol; eventually, the Ming relented and sent a full and proper investiture mission in [[1606]], headed by [[Xia Ziyang]]. That Ryûkyû refused the smaller mission, which would have been far less expensive to receive and to host, and yet which would have still allowed them to maintain their tributary relationship, opting instead for the more expensive mission, would seem to suggest that it was the mission itself, the ritual, the pomp, and the prestige derived from these, and not only the economic benefits of the tribute trade, which were valued and desired by the kingdom.<ref>Chan, Ying Kit. “A Bridge between Myriad Lands: The Ryukyu Kingdom and Ming China (1372-1526).” Thesis, National University of Singapore, 2010, 42-43. http://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/20602.</ref>
The Ming Dynasty capital of Beijing fell to Manchu invaders in [[1644]], marking the beginning of Qing Dynasty control of China; [[Ming loyalists]] continued to hold out in southern China and Taiwan, however, for several decades. Several received Ryukyuan envoys; [[Kin Ogen|Kin Ôgen]] headed a mission which reported the death of King [[Sho Ho|Shô Hô]] to the Southern Ming (pretender) [[Prince of Fu|Hongguang Emperor]] at [[Nanjing]] in 1644, requesting investiture (''qiefeng'') for King [[Sho Ken|Shô Ken]]. [[Mo Daiyo|Mô Daiyô]] then led a mission congratulating (''qinghe'') Hongguang on his accession; Hongguang fell the following year. The [[Prince of Tang]] then rose to power, claiming himself as the Longwu Emperor. A Ryukyuan mission led by [[Mo Taikyu|Mô Taikyû]] met with him at Fuzhou, to offer congratulations (''qinghe''); while Mô and his party were there, however, Fuzhou fell to Qing forces led by the [[Manchu]] [[Prince Bolo]]. The Ryukyuans traveled to Beijing twice to formally request investiture from the [[Shunzhi Emperor]], but the Emperor along with the [[Ministry of Rites]] refused to grant investiture until Ryûkyû returned the royal seal granted the kingdom by the Ming, thus proving they were severing their loyalty to the Ming and would no longer engage with or support loyalists and pretenders.<ref>Schottenhammer, "Empire and Periphery?", 176-178.</ref>
The Ming Dynasty capital of Beijing fell to Manchu invaders in [[1644]], marking the beginning of Qing Dynasty control of China; [[Ming loyalists]] continued to hold out in southern China and Taiwan, however, for several decades. Several received Ryukyuan envoys; [[Kin Ogen|Kin Ôgen]] headed a mission which reported the death of King [[Sho Ho|Shô Hô]] to the Southern Ming (pretender) [[Prince of Fu|Hongguang Emperor]] at [[Nanjing]] in 1644, requesting investiture (''qiefeng'') for King [[Sho Ken|Shô Ken]]. [[Mo Daiyo|Mô Daiyô]] then led a mission congratulating (''qinghe'') Hongguang on his accession; Hongguang fell the following year. The [[Prince of Tang]] then rose to power, claiming himself as the Longwu Emperor. A Ryukyuan mission led by [[Mo Taikyu|Mô Taikyû]] met with him at Fuzhou, to offer congratulations (''qinghe''); while Mô and his party were there, however, Fuzhou fell to Qing forces led by the [[Manchu]] [[Prince Bolo]]. The Ryukyuans traveled to Beijing twice to formally request investiture from the [[Shunzhi Emperor]], but the Emperor along with the [[Ministry of Rites]] refused to grant investiture until Ryûkyû returned the royal seal granted the kingdom by the Ming, thus proving they were severing their loyalty to the Ming and would no longer engage with or support loyalists and pretenders.<ref>Schottenhammer, "Empire and Periphery?", 176-178.</ref>