Changes

Roughly 200,000 Ryukyuans are believed to have traveled to China over the course of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (the vast majority of them entering via Fuzhou), while a total of 320,000 are believed to have journeyed to Southeast Asian polities during the Ming Dynasty alone.<ref>Takara Kurayoshi 高良倉吉. ''Hosetsu to sankô mondai - Ryûkyû ôkoku-shi no kadai'' 「補説と参考問題」『琉球王国史の課題』. Hirugi-sha ひるぎ社, 1989.</ref> This included officials and students, as well as merchants and, on occasion, castaways who, for logistical and legal reasons often passed through Fuzhou after making shore or being found/rescued.

Roughly 200,000 Ryukyuans are believed to have traveled to China over the course of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (the vast majority of them entering via Fuzhou), while a total of 320,000 are believed to have journeyed to Southeast Asian polities during the Ming Dynasty alone.<ref>Takara Kurayoshi 高良倉吉. ''Hosetsu to sankô mondai - Ryûkyû ôkoku-shi no kadai'' 「補説と参考問題」『琉球王国史の課題』. Hirugi-sha ひるぎ社, 1989.</ref> This included officials and students, as well as merchants and, on occasion, castaways who, for logistical and legal reasons often passed through Fuzhou after making shore or being found/rescued.

Fuzhou was also the chief waypoint by which Chinese officials departed China on [[Chinese investiture envoys|missions to Ryûkyû]], and the site of meetings between Ryukyuan and Chinese officials, as well as other Ryûkyû-related Chinese official business. Ryukyuan official reports to the Chinese authorities took place here, alongside the paying of tribute, as well as official requests for investiture, and Ryukyuan meetings with Chinese investiture envoys prior to the departure of the latter for Ryûkyû. The local Fuzhou authorities were responsible, of course, not only for housing and otherwise accommodating Ryukyuan visitors at the ''Ryûkyû-kan'', but for doing the same for these Chinese officials passing through Fuzhou on their way between Beijing and Ryûkyû.

Fuzhou was also the chief waypoint by which Chinese officials departed China on [[Chinese investiture envoys|missions to Ryûkyû]], and the site of meetings between Ryukyuan and Chinese officials, as well as other Ryûkyû-related Chinese official business. Ryukyuan official reports to the Chinese authorities took place here, alongside the paying of tribute, as well as official requests for [[investiture]], and Ryukyuan meetings with Chinese investiture envoys prior to the departure of the latter for Ryûkyû. The local Fuzhou authorities were responsible, of course, not only for housing and otherwise accommodating Ryukyuan visitors at the ''Ryûkyû-kan'', but for doing the same for these Chinese officials passing through Fuzhou on their way between Beijing and Ryûkyû.

Tributary relations between Qing Dynasty China and the Ryûkyû Kingdom ended with the [[Ryukyu Shobun|abolition of the latter in the 1870s]], and for a brief period Fuzhou became a center of Ryukyuan activism as a small group of prominent Ryukyuan figures petitioned (though ultimately unsuccessfully) the Chinese government to do something to oppose the Japanese takeover of the Ryukyus. A group of authorized merchants known as ''qiú shāng'' (球商) held an official monopoly on commerce with Ryukyuan missions and traders; they bought Ryukyuan goods and sold them on Chinese markets, bought Chinese local goods to sell to the Ryukyuans, and served to an extent as interpreters.<ref>Schottenhammer, Angela. “Empire and Periphery? The Qing Empire’s Relations with Japan and the Ryūkyūs (1644–c. 1800), a Comparison.” ''The Medieval History Journal'' 16, no. 1 (April 1, 2013): 181.</ref>

Tributary relations between Qing Dynasty China and the Ryûkyû Kingdom ended with the [[Ryukyu Shobun|abolition of the latter in the 1870s]], and for a brief period Fuzhou became a center of Ryukyuan activism as a small group of prominent Ryukyuan figures petitioned (though ultimately unsuccessfully) the Chinese government to do something to oppose the Japanese takeover of the Ryukyus. A group of authorized merchants known as ''qiú shāng'' (球商) held an official monopoly on commerce with Ryukyuan missions and traders; they bought Ryukyuan goods and sold them on Chinese markets, bought Chinese local goods to sell to the Ryukyuans, and served to an extent as interpreters.<ref>Schottenhammer, Angela. “Empire and Periphery? The Qing Empire’s Relations with Japan and the Ryūkyūs (1644–c. 1800), a Comparison.” ''The Medieval History Journal'' 16, no. 1 (April 1, 2013): 181.</ref>