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Prior to the unification of [[Okinawa Island]] and the establishment of the Kingdom, China received tribute from three separate Okinawan polities. [[Chuzan|Chûzan]], the kingdom which controlled the central areas of the island, conquered the other two kingdoms in [[1419]]-[[1429]]. In the intervening time, Chûzan sent 52 missions to China beginning in [[1372]], [[Nanzan]] sent nineteen, beginning in [[1380]], and [[Hokuzan]] sent nine beginning in [[1383]], all of them vying as well for official recognition from the Ming Court as the only rightful king of Okinawa. For about a hundred years, until [[1474]], China placed no restrictions on the frequency of Ryukyuan tribute missions - the Okinawan kingdoms were the only ones to enjoy such a privilege.<ref>Akamine Mamoru, Lina Terrell (trans.), Robert Huey (ed.), ''The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia'', University of Hawaii Press (2017), 6.</ref>

Prior to the unification of [[Okinawa Island]] and the establishment of the Kingdom, China received tribute from three separate Okinawan polities. [[Chuzan|Chûzan]], the kingdom which controlled the central areas of the island, conquered the other two kingdoms in [[1419]]-[[1429]]. In the intervening time, Chûzan sent 52 missions to China beginning in [[1372]], [[Nanzan]] sent nineteen, beginning in [[1380]], and [[Hokuzan]] sent nine beginning in [[1383]], all of them vying as well for official recognition from the Ming Court as the only rightful king of Okinawa. For about a hundred years, until [[1474]], China placed no restrictions on the frequency of Ryukyuan tribute missions - the Okinawan kingdoms were the only ones to enjoy such a privilege.<ref>Akamine Mamoru, Lina Terrell (trans.), Robert Huey (ed.), ''The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia'', University of Hawaii Press (2017), 6.</ref>

From 1474 onward, the Ming court placed restrictions on the size and frequency of Ryûkyû's tribute missions. For the next four hundred years, the kingdom generally sent tribute once every two years, though the pattern changed at times along with shifts in Chinese politics. After repeated Ryukyuan petitions, the Ming allowed the kingdom to send missions annually beginning in [[1507]], but required the kingdom to return to sending missions only every two years beginning in [[1521]].<ref name=tanaka>Tanaka Takeo, "Japan's Relations with Overseas Countries," in John Whitney Hall and Toyoda Takeshi (eds.) ''Japan in the Muromachi Age'', Cornell University East Asia Program (2001), 159-178.; Akamine, 100.</ref> Similarly, in the wake of the [[1609]] [[invasion of Ryukyu|invasion of Ryûkyû]] by forces from [[Satsuma han]], Beijing restricted Ryûkyû's missions to coming once every ten years; however, from [[1633]] the kingdom was once again permitted to send missions every other year.<ref>Akamine, 100-101.</ref> Special missions were sent following the [[Chinese investiture envoys|investiture]] of a new king of Ryûkyû, to express gratitude for imperial grace (C: 謝恩, ''xiè'ēn''), and following the accession of a new emperor to the Chinese throne, to offer congratulations (C: 慶賀, ''qìnghè'').<ref name=schott176>Schottenhammer, "Empire and Periphery?", 176.</ref>

From 1474 onward, the Ming court placed restrictions on the size and frequency of Ryûkyû's tribute missions. For the next four hundred years, the kingdom generally sent tribute once every two years, though the pattern changed at times along with shifts in Chinese politics. After repeated Ryukyuan petitions, the Ming allowed the kingdom to send missions annually beginning in [[1507]], but required the kingdom to return to sending missions only every two years beginning in [[1521]].<ref name=tanaka>Tanaka Takeo, "Japan's Relations with Overseas Countries," in John Whitney Hall and Toyoda Takeshi (eds.) ''Japan in the Muromachi Age'', Cornell University East Asia Program (2001), 159-178.; Akamine, 100.</ref> Similarly, in the wake of the [[1609]] [[invasion of Ryukyu|invasion of Ryûkyû]] by forces from [[Satsuma han]], Beijing restricted Ryûkyû's missions to coming once every ten years; however, from [[1633]] the kingdom was once again permitted to send missions every other year.<ref>Akamine, 100-101.</ref> Special missions were sent following the [[investiture]] of a new king of Ryûkyû, to express gratitude for imperial grace (C: 謝恩, ''xiè'ēn''), and following the accession of a new emperor to the Chinese throne, to offer congratulations (C: 慶賀, ''qìnghè'').<ref name=schott176>Schottenhammer, "Empire and Periphery?", 176.</ref>

Tribute was sent in a variety of forms, including [[Ryukyuan horses]], [[sulphur]], [[salt]], [[lacquerware]]s, sword-polishing stones, and cowhides, and Southeast Asian goods including sappanwood, frankincense, other aromatic woods & incenses, pepper, rhino horn, and other animal products. Ryukyuan ships sent to China were known as ''shinkôsen'' (進貢船, "tribute ships"); trading ships accompanying the embassy vessels were known as ''sekkôsen'' (接貢船).<ref>This term was also used for Ryukyuan officials traveling to Fuzhou to meet investiture envoys, to then travel with them back to Ryûkyû. As the Court granted Ryûkyû tax exemptions for trade performed by these ''sekkôsen'' (C: ''jiē gòng chuán''), they were used as trading vessels at that time as well. Schottenhammer, "Empire and Periphery?," 176, 181. The practice of sending ''sekkôsen'' in the intervening years to retrieve the previous year's envoys (and, incidentally, to engage in trade) was permitted by the Qing Court beginning in [[1678]]. Akamine, 74.</ref> While hosting Chinese envoys was quite expensive for the kingdom, the interaction was beneficial for the kingdom, which generally received more in gifts from China than it gave in tribute.<ref>Gregory Smits, "Ryukyu and its Geo-cultural Context," presentation at Parades & Processions Joint Event, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 10 Feb 2013.</ref>

Tribute was sent in a variety of forms, including [[Ryukyuan horses]], [[sulphur]], [[salt]], [[lacquerware]]s, sword-polishing stones, and cowhides, and Southeast Asian goods including sappanwood, frankincense, other aromatic woods & incenses, pepper, rhino horn, and other animal products. Ryukyuan ships sent to China were known as ''shinkôsen'' (進貢船, "tribute ships"); trading ships accompanying the embassy vessels were known as ''sekkôsen'' (接貢船).<ref>This term was also used for Ryukyuan officials traveling to Fuzhou to meet [[Chinese investiture envoys|investiture envoys]], to then travel with them back to Ryûkyû. As the Court granted Ryûkyû tax exemptions for trade performed by these ''sekkôsen'' (C: ''jiē gòng chuán''), they were used as trading vessels at that time as well. Schottenhammer, "Empire and Periphery?," 176, 181. The practice of sending ''sekkôsen'' in the intervening years to retrieve the previous year's envoys (and, incidentally, to engage in trade) was permitted by the Qing Court beginning in [[1678]]. Akamine, 74.</ref> While hosting Chinese envoys was quite expensive for the kingdom, the interaction was beneficial for the kingdom, which generally received more in gifts from China than it gave in tribute.<ref>Gregory Smits, "Ryukyu and its Geo-cultural Context," presentation at Parades & Processions Joint Event, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 10 Feb 2013.</ref>

For a time, the Ryûkyû Kingdom also sent tribute to the [[Ashikaga Bakufu|Ashikaga shogunate]] once every three or four years. Tribute and trade goods carried by these ships included [[currency|Chinese copper coins]], wine, <i>nanban</i> silks, aloe, sappanwood, and other scented and medicinal products, many of them obtained from Southeast Asian ports or from Iberian traders.<ref name=tanaka/>

For a time, the Ryûkyû Kingdom also sent tribute to the [[Ashikaga Bakufu|Ashikaga shogunate]] once every three or four years. Tribute and trade goods carried by these ships included [[currency|Chinese copper coins]], wine, <i>nanban</i> silks, aloe, sappanwood, and other scented and medicinal products, many of them obtained from Southeast Asian ports or from Iberian traders.<ref name=tanaka/>