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===The Investiture Ceremony===
===The Investiture Ceremony===
[[File:Sappogishi.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The investiture ceremony, as depicted in a model on display at Shuri castle]]
[[File:Sappogishi.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The investiture ceremony, as depicted in a model on display at Shuri castle]]
The investiture ceremony itself was performed in the central courtyard (O: ''unaa'') of Shuri Castle, where a structure called ''kettei'' (闕庭) was erected to represent the Chinese Imperial Court. A temporary wooden structure ringed with yellow curtains, it had a table in the center called an "incense platform" (香案), with incense burners, candlesticks in the form of dragons, and metal flower ornaments atop it. Five smaller platforms behind it held the Imperial seal, formal letters of investiture, and gifts from the Emperor. Much of the ceremony took place either within or just in front of this structure.<ref name=plaques>Plaques on-site at Shuri castle.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/30647141921/in/dateposted-public/][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/30735555565/sizes/l]</ref> At dawn on the day of the ceremony, the Imperial patent<ref>For a brief overview of Chinese Imperial patents, see [http://www.npm.gov.tw/exh96/treasure/02_en.html this page] at the official website of the National Palace Museum, Beijing.</ref>, Imperial edict of investiture, and Imperial gifts to the king and queen were placed in small portable pavilions. A group of Ryukyuan officials involved with the ceremony met the Chinese envoys at the [[Shuri_castle#Gates|Chûzanmon]]<ref name=chan39/> (the second outer gate of the castle), kowtowed to the patent, edict, and Imperial gifts, and then led the envoys and these Imperial objects in procession to the ''unaa'', a distance of about three miles (ten ''[[Japanese Measurements|ri]]'') from the Envoys' Residence, passing huge crowds of people who had turned out on the sides of the road to see the procession<ref name=chen/>.
The investiture ceremony itself was a lengthy and extensive process. When first reenacted in 2004, it took nearly nine hours; since then, the organizers of such events have abbreviated the ceremony considerably, omitting many repetitive sections, such as the number of times that participants kowtow.<ref>Yeh, 64.</ref>
The ceremony was traditionally performed in the central courtyard (O: ''unaa'') of Shuri Castle, where a structure called ''kettei'' (闕庭) was erected to represent the Chinese Imperial Court. A temporary wooden structure ringed with yellow curtains, it had a table in the center called an "incense platform" (香案), with incense burners, candlesticks in the form of dragons, and metal flower ornaments atop it. Five smaller platforms behind it held the Imperial seal, formal letters of investiture, and gifts from the Emperor. Much of the ceremony took place either within or just in front of this structure.<ref name=plaques>Plaques on-site at Shuri castle.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/30647141921/in/dateposted-public/][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/30735555565/sizes/l]</ref> At dawn on the day of the ceremony, the Imperial patent<ref>For a brief overview of Chinese Imperial patents, see [http://www.npm.gov.tw/exh96/treasure/02_en.html this page] at the official website of the National Palace Museum, Beijing.</ref>, Imperial edict of investiture, and Imperial gifts to the king and queen were placed in small portable pavilions. A group of Ryukyuan officials involved with the ceremony met the Chinese envoys at the [[Shuri_castle#Gates|Chûzanmon]]<ref name=chan39/> (the second outer gate of the castle), kowtowed to the patent, edict, and Imperial gifts, and then led the envoys and these Imperial objects in procession to the ''unaa'', a distance of about three miles (ten ''[[Japanese Measurements|ri]]'') from the Envoys' Residence, passing huge crowds of people who had turned out on the sides of the road to see the procession<ref name=chen/>.
The use of temporary structures was not limited to the Ryukyuan case, for example because of the great distance from Beijing and the necessity of erecting something not normally used in Shuri; temporary structures were regularly erected in Beijing as well, for certain Imperial ceremonies and special occasions.<ref>Murakami Masakazu 村上正和, "18 seiki Pekin no gyôretsu to shukuten" 十八世紀北京の行列と祝典, in Kurushima Hiroshi (ed.), ''Egakareta gyôretsu'' 描かれた行列, University of Tokyo Press (2015), 350-351.</ref>
The use of temporary structures was not limited to the Ryukyuan case, for example because of the great distance from Beijing and the necessity of erecting something not normally used in Shuri; temporary structures were regularly erected in Beijing as well, for certain Imperial ceremonies and special occasions.<ref>Murakami Masakazu 村上正和, "18 seiki Pekin no gyôretsu to shukuten" 十八世紀北京の行列と祝典, in Kurushima Hiroshi (ed.), ''Egakareta gyôretsu'' 描かれた行列, University of Tokyo Press (2015), 350-351.</ref>