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[[Image:Shuri walls.jpg|right|thumb|300px|One section of the winding walls of [[Shuri castle]].]]

[[Image:Shuri walls.jpg|right|thumb|320px|One section of the winding walls of [[Shuri castle]].]]

[[File:Nakijin-walls.JPG|right|thumb|400px|A section of the walls of [[Nakijin gusuku]]]]

*''Okinawan'': 城・グスク ''(gusuku/gushiku)''

*''Okinawan'': 城・グスク ''(gusuku/gushiku)''

''Gusuku'' are Okinawan castles or fortresses. Known especially for their long, winding stone walls, the height of ''gusuku'' construction was in the 14th century, a time of conflict on [[Okinawa Island]]. Five are included alongside a handful of other Okinawan sites in a single group [[World Heritage Site]] as "Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu]]."<ref name=unesco>"[http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/972/ Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu]." UNESCO: World Heritage Convention. Accessed 15 May 2011.</ref> Most ''gusuku'' are today in ruins; only [[Shuri castle]] has been reconstructed.

''Gusuku'' are Okinawan castles or fortresses and sacred sites. Known especially for their long, winding stone walls, the height of ''gusuku'' construction was in the 14th century, a time of conflict on [[Okinawa Island]]. Five are included alongside a handful of other Okinawan sites in a single group [[World Heritage Site]] as "Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu]]."<ref name=unesco>"[http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/972/ Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu]." UNESCO: World Heritage Convention. Accessed 15 May 2011.</ref> Though some three hundred or so ''gusuku'' sites are known throughout the [[Ryukyu Islands]] chain,<ref>"Gusuku in the Islands" gallery label, Okinawa Prefectural Musuem.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/30407278555/in/photostream/]</ref> the vast majority are today in ruins; only [[Shuri castle]] has been reconstructed.

 

 

 

The [[Gusuku period]] of Okinawan history takes its name from these fortresses, which were at their peak at that time.

==History==

==History==

Local power-holders known as ''[[anji]]'' - who might be understood as chiefs, village heads, local lords, or by a number of other descriptors - first began to emerge in the 8th to 10th centuries. Communities became more organized and began to emerge as distinctive locales, building walls or other fortifications separating their villages from wilderness, and from one another. Though today, especially in standard Japanese or in English, the term "gusuku" is used almost exclusively to refer to a specific type of fortress, placenames preserve the fact that the term originally referred to villages, and was later used to refer to a wide variety of structures, including guardtowers and warehouses, places of worship, and tombs. Today, there are over 300 places on Okinawa which are called ''gusuku''.<ref name=journey>Kitahara Shûichi. ''A Journey to the Ryukyu Gusuku'' 琉球城紀行。 Naha: Miura Creative, 2003. p19.</ref>

Local power-holders known as ''anji'' - who might be understood as chiefs, village heads, local lords, or by a number of other descriptors - first began to emerge in the 8th to 10th centuries. Communities became more organized and began to emerge as distinctive locales, building walls or other fortifications separating their villages from wilderness, and from one another. Though today, especially in standard Japanese or in English, the term "gusuku" is used almost exclusively to refer to a specific type of fortress, placenames preserve the fact that the term originally referred to villages, and was later used to refer to a wide variety of structures, including guardtowers and warehouses, places of worship, and tombs. Today, there are over 300 places on Okinawa which are called ''gusuku'',<ref name=journey>Kitahara Shûichi. ''A Journey to the Ryukyu Gusuku'' 琉球城紀行。 Naha: Miura Creative, 2003. p19.</ref> including a number of villages or neighborhoods not directly evidencing a fortress site; a number of neighborhoods, villages, or locations otherwise in the [[Amami Islands]] and [[Sakishima]] also bear placenames containing the sounds "gusuku," "suku," and "shuku."<ref name=chusei171/>

''Gusuku'' construction took off in the 13th-14th centuries as a few powerful ''anji'' emerged, seeking to expand their power, and fueling a period of armed conflict. Most of the largest and most famous fortresses, and those with the most impressive stone walls, date to this period.

Settlements incorporating embedded-pillar buildings, [[Okinawan tombs|tombs]], and fields, became quite numerous across the islands in the 12th-13th centuries. ''Gusuku'' construction then developed further in the 13th-14th centuries as a few powerful ''anji'' emerged, seeking to expand their power, and fueling a period of armed conflict. They built new buildings with pillars on stone foundations, and encircled the settlements in high stone walls and waterless moats, transforming them into fortresses.<ref>Gallery labels, Okinawa Prefectural Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/29775636243/sizes/l]</ref> Most of the largest and most famous Ryukyuan ''gusuku'' fortresses, and those with the most impressive stone walls, date to this period. [[Gregory Smits]] identifies this period of the initial widespread construction of ''gusuku'' on [[Okinawa Island]] and [[Kumejima]] with the political and economic center of gravity in the [[Ryukyu Islands]] shifting from the [[Amami Islands]] (esp. [[Kikaijima]]) to Okinawa in the 13th-14th centuries.<ref>Smits, 18-26.; for the chief ''gusuku'' site on Kikaijima, see [[Gusuku site (Kikaijima)]].</ref>

The island was divided in for most of the 14th century into [[Sanzan period|three kingdoms]], known as [[Hokuzan]], [[Chuzan|Chûzan]], and [[Nanzan]], which were then united circa [[1419]]-[[1429]] by [[Sho Hashi|Shô Hashi]], king of Chûzan, who in so doing, united the island and established the Kingdom of Ryûkyû. ''Gusuku'' had already begun to become - as castles around the world do - not merely military fortifications, but residences for the powerful, and symbols of power, prestige, and wealth. Shô Hashi established Shuri castle as his palace, and the center of political & administrative affairs for the kingdom, while other ''gusuku'', such as [[Nakijin gusuku]], the largest on the island, had already been used by the lords (kings) of Hokuzan as a sort of palace as well.

Like castles around the world, ''gusuku'' were not merely military fortifications, but residences for the powerful, and symbols of power, prestige, and wealth. Shô Hashi established Shuri castle as his palace, and the center of political & administrative affairs for the kingdom, while other ''gusuku'', such as [[Nakijin gusuku]], the largest on the island, had already been used by the lords (kings) of Hokuzan as a sort of palace as well. The spiritual or sacred aspect of ''gusuku'' should not be overlooked, however. While most Japanese castles, built originally as political and/or military centers, had [[Shinto shrines]] established within their grounds, most if not all ''gusuku'' had roughly the reverse origins, with communities or power centers growing up around sacred sites (''utaki'') and then developing over time to become more heavily fortified and greater centers of martial and political power.<ref name=chusei171/>

Many ''gusuku'' continued to be occupied and used by ''anji'' under the Ryûkyû Kingdom, who served as local administrators. Many others, presumably, fell into disuse, however, in the 17th-19th centuries, and all suffered extensive damage in the 1945 battle of Okinawa. Some have since been named World Heritage Sites, and many more have become public parks or the like.

Many ''gusuku'' continued to be occupied and used by ''anji'' under the Ryûkyû Kingdom, who served as local administrators. Many others, presumably, fell into disuse, however, in the 17th-19th centuries, and all suffered extensive damage in the 1945 battle of Okinawa. Some have since been named World Heritage Sites, and many more have become public parks or the like.

The walls themselves were constructed in a number of different ways, quite similar to those employed in Japanese [[Azuchi-Momoyama period|Azuchi-Momoyama]] or [[Edo period]] castles a few centuries later. Earlier ''gusuku'' such as [[Gushikawa gusuku]] and [[Tamagusuku gusuku]] reflect the ''Nozura-zumi''<!--野面積--> style, in which uncut rocks were simply piled. Cut, rectangular stones were used in the ''Nuno-zumi''<!--布積--> style, which can be seen at, for example, [[Itokazu gusuku]]. The ''Kikkô-midare-zumi''<!--亀甲乱れ積み--> technique, in which stones were carefully carved and fitted, was used to make the elegant curves for which some of the most famous ''gusuku'' are known.<ref name=journey/>

The walls themselves were constructed in a number of different ways, quite similar to those employed in Japanese [[Azuchi-Momoyama period|Azuchi-Momoyama]] or [[Edo period]] castles a few centuries later. Earlier ''gusuku'' such as [[Gushikawa gusuku]] and [[Tamagusuku gusuku]] reflect the ''Nozura-zumi''<!--野面積--> style, in which uncut rocks were simply piled. Cut, rectangular stones were used in the ''Nuno-zumi''<!--布積--> style, which can be seen at, for example, [[Itokazu gusuku]]. The ''Kikkô-midare-zumi''<!--亀甲乱れ積み--> technique, in which stones were carefully carved and fitted, was used to make the elegant curves for which some of the most famous ''gusuku'' are known.<ref name=journey/>

''Gusuku'' were organized in a variety of different ways, as best suited their geography, but most featured a sacred grove (''[[utaki]]'') alongside the lord's residence in the innermost bailey, or ''unaa'' (御庭). Shuri castle, for example, is organized in a roughly concentric format, with each set of walls surrounded by another, larger, set of walls. Those entering the castle make many turns as they pass through each gate, moving further towards the center. By contrast, Nakijin castle followed a more stepped layout, with the innermost sections of the castle - the lord's residence, and a sacred grove - at the top of the hill, the path there from the outermost gates following a more or less straight path up the hill, through one gate after another.

''Gusuku'' were organized in a variety of different ways, as best suited their geography, but most featured a sacred grove (''[[utaki]]'') alongside the lord's residence in the innermost bailey, or ''unaa'' (御庭), at the highest point of elevation within the space. [[Okinawan villages]] were organized similarly, with the village headman's home located at the highest point up a hill, below an ''utaki''.<ref>Plaque, "Mutuya," Okinawa Furusato Mura, Nakijin.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15021673984/sizes/l]</ref> Shuri castle, for example, is organized in a roughly concentric format, with each set of walls surrounded by another, larger, set of walls. Those entering the castle make many turns as they pass through each gate, moving further towards the center. By contrast, Nakijin castle followed a more stepped layout, with the innermost sections of the castle - the lord's residence, and a sacred grove - at the top of the hill, the path there from the outermost gates following a more or less straight path up the hill, through one gate after another.

==References==

==References==