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King Shô Shin (r. [[1477]]-[[1526]]) is often said to have ruled over a golden age for the kingdom. He solidified and strengthened the power of the king (and of the central royal government more generally), both practically and ideologically. Areas outside of Shuri had previously been ruled by ''anji'', local/regional rulers akin perhaps to feudal lords, with considerable power and autonomy within their lands. Under Shô Shin's predecessors, and especially under Chûzan prior to the unification of the island, ''anji'' wielded considerable power, occasionally even toppling and replacing kings.<ref>As is believed to have happened at least once in Nanzan, as indicated in the ''Ming Taizong shilu''. Chan, 25-26.</ref> The ''anji'' were not fully secure in their power, however, as local elites beneath them could also overthrow their ''anji'' when they perceived him to be politically or spiritually weak; priestesses also wielded considerable local political power.<ref>Chan, 25-26.</ref>
King Shô Shin (r. [[1477]]-[[1526]]) is often said to have ruled over a golden age for the kingdom. He solidified and strengthened the power of the king (and of the central royal government more generally), both practically and ideologically. Areas outside of Shuri had previously been ruled by ''anji'', local/regional rulers akin perhaps to feudal lords, with considerable power and autonomy within their lands. Under Shô Shin's predecessors, and especially under Chûzan prior to the unification of the island, ''anji'' wielded considerable power, occasionally even toppling and replacing kings.<ref>As is believed to have happened at least once in Nanzan, as indicated in the ''Ming Taizong shilu''. Chan, 25-26.</ref> The ''anji'' were not fully secure in their power, however, as local elites beneath them could also overthrow their ''anji'' when they perceived him to be politically or spiritually weak; priestesses also wielded considerable local political power.<ref>Chan, 25-26.</ref>
Shô Shin addressed these competing powers by forcing the ''anji'' to reside in Shuri, transforming them into an aristocratic-bureaucrat class, and reorganizing their lands into ''[[magiri]]'' (districts)<ref>Though this term may have previously existed, it now became a more formalized unit of political geography as delineated by Shuri, and governed by those appointed from Shuri.</ref>. Each ''magiri'' consisted of a number of villages known either as ''mura'' or ''shima''; all together, the ''magiri'' comprised the "rural" or "provincial" portion of the kingdom, ''inaka no hô'' in modern Japanese, in contrast to Shuri, Kume, [[Tomari]], and Naha, the four "towns" (''machi'') which comprised the "urban" or "metropolitan" areas of the kingdom.<ref name=nahacity>Gallery labels, Naha City Museum of History.</ref> Officials not of an ''anji'' ("warlord") background were appointed by the royal court to govern these districts; thus, the power of the ''anji'' to act as independent feudal states was removed, and put into the hands of administrators who were reliant on the royal court for the ability to continue to hold that post. By the end of Shô Shin's reign, all military forces in the kingdom were under his command, rather than under the command of individual regional lords; regional forces were now known as ''magiri gun'', rather than ''anji gun'', associating them with the districts, and not with the regional lords. Shô Shin also expanded the reach of the kingdom by sending military forces to conquer or subjugate other islands, sometimes coming into conflict with Japanese forces from [[Satsuma province]] seeking to expand their influence south into the Ryukyus.<ref name=pacifism>Smits, Gregory. "[http://www.japanfocus.org/-Gregory-Smits/3409 Examining the Myth of Ryukyuan Pacifism]." ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'' 37-3-10 (September 13, 2010).</ref>
Shô Shin addressed these competing powers by forcing the ''anji'' to reside in Shuri, transforming them into an aristocratic-bureaucrat class, and reorganizing their lands into ''[[magiri]]'' (districts)<ref>Though this term may have previously existed, it now became a more formalized unit of political geography as delineated by Shuri, and governed by those appointed from Shuri.</ref>. Each ''magiri'' consisted of a number of villages known either as ''mura'' or ''shima''; all together, the ''magiri'' comprised the "rural" or "provincial" portion of the kingdom, ''inaka no hô'' in modern Japanese, in contrast to Shuri, Kume, [[Tomari]], and Naha, the four "towns" (''machi'') which comprised the "urban" or "metropolitan" areas of the kingdom.<ref name=nahacity>Gallery labels, Naha City Museum of History.</ref> Officials not of an ''anji'' ("warlord") background were appointed by the royal court to govern these districts; thus, the power of the ''anji'' to act as independent feudal states was removed, and put into the hands of administrators who were reliant on the royal court for the ability to continue to hold that post. By the end of Shô Shin's reign, all military forces in the kingdom were under his command, rather than under the command of individual regional lords; regional forces were now known as ''magiri gun'', rather than ''anji gun'', associating them with the districts, and not with the regional lords. Shô Shin also expanded the reach of the kingdom by sending military forces to conquer or subjugate other islands, sometimes coming into conflict with Japanese forces from [[Satsuma province]] seeking to expand their influence south into the Ryukyus.<ref name=pacifism>Gregory Smits. "[http://www.japanfocus.org/-Gregory-Smits/3409 Examining the Myth of Ryukyuan Pacifism]." ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'' 37-3-10 (September 13, 2010).</ref>
Shô Shin and his predecessors also worked to consolidate royal power, and weaken the threat of rivalry from the ''anji'', by developing royal monopolies on maritime trade. They acquired oceangoing vessels from the Ming, monopolized [[lacquerware]] production, and maintained royal sources of various other goods, including [[Ryukyuan horses|horses]] and [[sulphur]];<ref>Chan, 58.</ref> much later, in the 1680s, the royal government ordered all [[Ryukyuan pottery|potters]] in the kingdom to relocate to the [[Tsuboya pottery|Tsuboya]] neighborhood of Naha, thus solidifying a royal monopoly on pottery as well.<ref>Gallery labels, Okinawa Prefectural Museum.; Gallery labels, "The Tsuboya-yaki region" and "Okinawan pottery," Gallery 4: Minzoku, National Museum of Japanese History.</ref>
Shô Shin and his predecessors also worked to consolidate royal power, and weaken the threat of rivalry from the ''anji'', by developing royal monopolies on maritime trade. They acquired oceangoing vessels from the Ming, monopolized [[lacquerware]] production, and maintained royal sources of various other goods, including [[Ryukyuan horses|horses]] and [[sulphur]];<ref>Chan, 58.</ref> much later, in the 1680s, the royal government ordered all [[Ryukyuan pottery|potters]] in the kingdom to relocate to the [[Tsuboya pottery|Tsuboya]] neighborhood of Naha, thus solidifying a royal monopoly on pottery as well.<ref>Gallery labels, Okinawa Prefectural Museum.; Gallery labels, "The Tsuboya-yaki region" and "Okinawan pottery," Gallery 4: Minzoku, National Museum of Japanese History.</ref>
Shô Shin also addressed the power of the priestesses by establishing a new religious hierarchy, with his sister [[Utuchitunumuigani]] as the first ''[[kikoe-ogimi|kikôe-ôgimi]]'', spiritual protector of the king and kingdom, and head of a hierarchy overseeing all ''[[noro]]'' and ''[[yuta]]'' priestesses in the kingdom. Though quite powerful still, the priestess establishment was now contained within the kingdom's institutions, and was less of a separate, independent, autonomous, power unto itself.
Shô Shin also addressed the power of the priestesses by establishing a new religious hierarchy, with his sister [[Utuchitunumuigani]] as the first ''[[kikoe-ogimi|kikôe-ôgimi]]'', spiritual protector of the king and kingdom, and head of a hierarchy overseeing all ''[[noro]]'' and ''[[yuta]]'' priestesses in the kingdom. Though quite powerful still, the priestess establishment was now contained within the kingdom's institutions, and was less of a separate, independent, autonomous, power unto itself.
Beginning around [[1500]], and continuing well into the 16th century, the kingdom expanded its control over other islands in the Ryûkyû chain, both to the north and to the south. In 1500, [[Oyake Akahachi]], the dominant power on [[Ishigaki Island]], rose up in rebellion against the Shuri government, refusing to pay taxes or [[tribute]] to Shuri, and also making efforts to extend his own power over other nearby islands; Shuri's successful suppression of this rebellion, with the aid of [[Nakasone Toyomiya]] of [[Hateruma Island]] and other local elites, was followed immediately by Shuri appointing local "chiefs" or "heads" (''kashira''), many of them already elites native to the [[Miyako Islands|Miyako]] or [[Yaeyama Islands]], as official administrators recognized by, and in service to, the kingdom. A system of high priestesses, called ''[[oamu]]'', were also dispatched to the various southern islands. Meanwhile, the kingdom made efforts to expand to the north, where it encountered considerably greater resistance. Battles between the kingdom's forces and local resistance on [[Amami Oshima|Amami Ôshima]], [[Kikaigashima]] and other parts of the [[Amami Islands]] continued well into the 1550s and 1560s. Ryukyuan forces also clashed with samurai forces from southern Kyushu, who were pushing southward. The Shimazu clan attacked Amami Ôshima in 1571, the same year as the island finally formally submitted to Shuri's authority, as part of an ultimately abortive attempt to conquer the entire kingdom. The furthest north Ryukyuan forces ever managed to attain territory was on [[Gajashima]], one of the [[Tokara Islands]] to the north of Amami. These expansionist efforts were aimed chiefly at consolidating power, and securing access to trade and resources. The kingdom made local elites dependent on Shuri for their legitimacy and authority, and required a certain amount of tax or tribute payments, along with certain other forms of service, but otherwise gave the Miyakos and Yaeyamas, as well as the Amami Islands, considerable leeway in managing their own affairs and maintaining their own cultures.<ref>Smits, "Examining the Myth of Ryukyuan Pacifism"; Smits, "Rethinking Ryukyu," ''International Journal of Okinawan Studies'' 6:1 (2015), 7.</ref>
The kingdom's booming trade declined around the 1570s, as the seas came to be dominated by other powers. Spanish and Portuguese galleons arrived around the mid-16th century, followed by the agents of the [[British East India Company|English]] and [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch]] [[East India Company|East India Companies]] at the beginning of the 17th. Meanwhile, Ming China lifted its bans on Chinese trade with, and in, Southeast Asia, in [[1567]], and Japan under [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] began to engage in licensed trade under the ''[[shuinsen]]'' system after around [[1582]]. The dispatch of Ryukyuan trading ships to Siam in [[1570]] was to be the last act of direct Ryukyuan involvement in maritime trade in Southeast Asia.<ref>''Ryûkyû ôchô no bi'' 琉球王朝の美. Hikone Castle Museum 彦根城博物館. Hikone, 1993. p75.</ref>
The kingdom's booming trade declined around the 1570s, as the seas came to be dominated by other powers. Spanish and Portuguese galleons arrived around the mid-16th century, followed by the agents of the [[British East India Company|English]] and [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch]] [[East India Company|East India Companies]] at the beginning of the 17th. Meanwhile, Ming China lifted its bans on Chinese trade with, and in, Southeast Asia, in [[1567]], and Japan under [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] began to engage in licensed trade under the ''[[shuinsen]]'' system after around [[1582]]. The dispatch of Ryukyuan trading ships to Siam in [[1570]] was to be the last act of direct Ryukyuan involvement in maritime trade in Southeast Asia.<ref>''Ryûkyû ôchô no bi'' 琉球王朝の美. Hikone Castle Museum 彦根城博物館. Hikone, 1993. p75.</ref>