Changes

It is not clear when the castle was built. Most sources place its construction during the reign of [[Satto]], king of [[Chuzan|Chûzan]] (r. c. 1355-1395), some as early as [[1237]].<ref>Kerr. p50.</ref> Official histories produced by the kingdom in the 18th-19th centuries, such as the ''[[Kyuyo|Kyûyô]]'', ''[[Chuzan seikan|Chûzan seikan]]'', and ''[[Ryukyu-koku yuraiki|Ryûkyû-koku yuraiki]]'', indicate that a tall tower several ''jô'' high, called Takayosôri 高世層裡, was constructed during Satto's reign, to the south of the Shicha-nu-unaa, and faced north. This location corresponds to what would later become the Kyô-no-uchi, the most sacred space within the Shuri ''gusuku'' grounds.<ref>Uezato Takashi 上里隆史, “Ko-Ryūkyū ki ni okeru Shurijō no yōsō to hensen” 「古琉球における首里城の様相と返遷」, in ''Shurijō o toku'' 首里城を解く, eds. Takara Kurayoshi 高良倉吉 and Shimamura Kōichi 島村幸一, Tokyo: Bensei shuppan (2021), 64.</ref> There has been some debate as to the existence of this tower as a separate structure, or whether documentary mentions of this "Takayosôri" in fact refer to the Main Hall of Shuri castle as we know it today, albeit in an earlier incarnation. Historians Takara Kurayoshi and Uezato Takashi have suggested that it is rather unlikely that a tower that tall would have been built with the technology of the time, and that certain other sources (such as the diaries of Korean castaways) make no mention of such a structure, but only of those with which we would be more familiar, organized around the ''Unaa'', the central plaza of the ''gusuku''/palace complex as we know it today. Still, excavations in the Kyô-no-uchi have uncovered foundation stones and the remains of grey, 14th-15th century Japanese-style roof tiles, suggesting that some structure of note did once exist on that location.<ref>Uezato, 64-65.</ref> Excavations on the side of the Main Hall have also revealed remains of a tiled-roof structure from that time, leading scholars such as Uezato to conclude that even prior to Shuri becoming the royal palace, it functioned as a ''gusuku''.<ref>Uezato, 65-67.</ref>

It is not clear when the castle was built. Most sources place its construction during the reign of [[Satto]], king of [[Chuzan|Chûzan]] (r. c. 1355-1395), some as early as [[1237]].<ref>Kerr. p50.</ref> Official histories produced by the kingdom in the 18th-19th centuries, such as the ''[[Kyuyo|Kyûyô]]'', ''[[Chuzan seikan|Chûzan seikan]]'', and ''[[Ryukyu-koku yuraiki|Ryûkyû-koku yuraiki]]'', indicate that a tall tower several ''jô'' high, called Takayosôri 高世層裡, was constructed during Satto's reign, to the south of the Shicha-nu-unaa, and faced north. This location corresponds to what would later become the Kyô-no-uchi, the most sacred space within the Shuri ''gusuku'' grounds.<ref>Uezato Takashi 上里隆史, “Ko-Ryūkyū ki ni okeru Shurijō no yōsō to hensen” 「古琉球における首里城の様相と返遷」, in ''Shurijō o toku'' 首里城を解く, eds. Takara Kurayoshi 高良倉吉 and Shimamura Kōichi 島村幸一, Tokyo: Bensei shuppan (2021), 64.</ref> There has been some debate as to the existence of this tower as a separate structure, or whether documentary mentions of this "Takayosôri" in fact refer to the Main Hall of Shuri castle as we know it today, albeit in an earlier incarnation. Historians Takara Kurayoshi and Uezato Takashi have suggested that it is rather unlikely that a tower that tall would have been built with the technology of the time, and that certain other sources (such as the diaries of Korean castaways) make no mention of such a structure, but only of those with which we would be more familiar, organized around the ''Unaa'', the central plaza of the ''gusuku''/palace complex as we know it today. Still, excavations in the Kyô-no-uchi have uncovered foundation stones and the remains of grey, 14th-15th century Japanese-style roof tiles, suggesting that some structure of note did once exist on that location.<ref>Uezato, 64-65.</ref> Excavations on the side of the Main Hall have also revealed remains of a tiled-roof structure from that time, leading scholars such as Uezato to conclude that even prior to Shuri becoming the royal palace, it functioned as a ''gusuku''.<ref>Uezato, 65-67.</ref>

Though the timing of the shift of the royal capital from [[Urasoe]] to Shuri remains somewhat unclear, architectural historian Matayoshi Shinzô notes that the [[1372]] Ming embassy seems to have been sent to Shuri (not Urasoe), and that the [[36 Min families]] who founded [[Kumemura]] in 1392 did so in Kume/Naha, and not at [[Makiminato]] near Urasoe, suggesting that Shuri was already the political center by that time.<ref>Matayoshi Shinzô 又吉真三, "Shurijô ha Ryûkyû kenchiku bunka no shûtaisei" 「首里城は琉球建築文化の集大成’, ''Shurijô fukugen charity tokubetsu kôen'' 首里城復元チャリティ特別公演 (Naha: Kudaka Shôkichi geinô kikaku 久高将吉芸能企画, 1987), 104-105.</ref>

Though the timing of the shift of the royal capital from [[Urasoe]] to Shuri remains somewhat unclear, with some scholars suggesting the possibility of a considerable period of dual capitals,<ref>Uezato, 67-68.</ref> architectural historian Matayoshi Shinzô notes that the [[1372]] Ming embassy seems to have been sent to Shuri (not Urasoe), and that the [[36 Min families]] who founded [[Kumemura]] in 1392 did so in Kume/Naha, and not at [[Makiminato]] near Urasoe, suggesting that Shuri was already the political center by that time.<ref>Matayoshi Shinzô 又吉真三, "Shurijô ha Ryûkyû kenchiku bunka no shûtaisei" 「首里城は琉球建築文化の集大成’, ''Shurijô fukugen charity tokubetsu kôen'' 首里城復元チャリティ特別公演 (Naha: Kudaka Shôkichi geinô kikaku 久高将吉芸能企画, 1987), 104-105.</ref>

In any case, Shuri was definitively the primary royal palace by [[1427]], during the reign of [[Sho Hashi|Shô Hashi]] (r. 1422-1439), first king of the united Kingdom of Ryûkyû. That the castle was extant at that time is confirmed by the inscription on the [[Ankoku-zan jukaboku stele]], the oldest example of Okinawan writing surviving today, erected there in 1427.<ref>Matayoshi, 105.; "[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-40170-storytopic-121.html Ankokuzan jukaboku no kihi]," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.</ref> The stele also relates that [[Kaiki]] (Huái Jī), a prominent Chinese-born official in service to [[Sho Hashi|Shô Hashi]], oversaw the landscaping of the castle grounds in accordance with ''[[feng shui]]'' / geomantic beliefs and traditions. After traveling to China in [[1417]] and coming back to Ryûkyû, Kaiki directed the construction of the [[Ryutan|Ryûtan]] pond below the castle, the planting of flowering trees around the pond, and the construction of an artificial hill to the west of the castle.<ref name=maritime93>Gregory Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2019), 93-94.</ref>

In any case, Shuri was definitively the primary royal palace by [[1427]], during the reign of [[Sho Hashi|Shô Hashi]] (r. 1422-1439), first king of the united Kingdom of Ryûkyû. That the castle was extant at that time is confirmed by the inscription on the [[Ankoku-zan jukaboku stele]], the oldest example of Okinawan writing surviving today, erected there in 1427.<ref>Matayoshi, 105.; "[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/storyid-40170-storytopic-121.html Ankokuzan jukaboku no kihi]," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.</ref> The stele also relates that [[Kaiki]] (Huái Jī), a prominent Chinese-born official in service to [[Sho Hashi|Shô Hashi]], oversaw the landscaping of the castle grounds in accordance with ''[[feng shui]]'' / geomantic beliefs and traditions. After traveling to China in [[1417]] and coming back to Ryûkyû, Kaiki directed the construction of the [[Ryutan|Ryûtan]] pond below the castle, the planting of flowering trees around the pond, and the construction of an artificial hill to the west of the castle.<ref name=maritime93>Gregory Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2019), 93-94.</ref>