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''Ryûkyû ôrai'' ("Ryûkyû Communications") is a text written in [[1603]]-[[1605]] by [[Taichu|Taichû]], a Japanese Buddhist monk who was temporarily resident in the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] for that span of time. Along with Taichû's ''[[Ryukyu Shinto ki|Ryûkyû Shintô ki]]'', also completed in 1605, the ''Ryûkyû ôrai'' is one of the two first Japanese books to describe Ryûkyû at length. Both books were commissioned, or requested, by [[scholar-aristocracy of Ryukyu|Ryukyuan scholar-bureaucrat]] [[Ba Komei|Ba Kômei]]<!--馬高明-->.
''Ryûkyû ôrai'' ("Ryûkyû Communications") is a text written in [[1603]]-[[1605]] by [[Taichu|Taichû]], a Japanese Buddhist monk who was temporarily resident in the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] for that span of time. Along with Taichû's ''[[Ryukyu Shinto ki|Ryûkyû Shintô ki]]'', also completed in 1605, the ''Ryûkyû ôrai'' is one of the two first Japanese books to describe Ryûkyû at length. Both books were commissioned, or requested, by [[scholar-aristocracy of Ryukyu|Ryukyuan scholar-bureaucrat]] [[Ba Komei|Ba Kômei]]<!--馬高明-->.
Collected in two sections (上・下巻), the text is a compilation of twenty-eight documents circulated in Ryûkyû at that time, selected by Taichû to represent Ryûkyû's culture and customs. These include pieces reflecting Ryukyuan poetry, festivals, [[Buddhist temples]] & offerings made to them, events surrounding the reception of [[Chinese investiture envoys|Ming imperial envoys]], tax goods collected from the other islands, and the cargoes of Ryukyuan and Japanese ships which made port at [[Naha]].
Collected in two sections (上・下巻), the text is a compilation of twenty-eight documents circulated in Ryûkyû at that time, selected by Taichû to represent Ryûkyû's culture and customs. These include pieces reflecting Ryukyuan poetry, festivals, [[Buddhist temples]] & offerings made to them, events surrounding the reception of [[Chinese investiture envoys|Ming imperial envoys]], tax goods collected from the other islands, and the cargoes of Ryukyuan and Japanese ships which made port at [[Naha]]. Letters included in the collection, exchanged between members of Ryûkyû's cultural elite, reveal considerable familiarity with and interest in Japanese poetry (''[[Kokinshu|Kokinshû]]'', ''[[Manyoshu|Man'yôshû]]'', ''[[Ise monogatari]]'', ''[[Senzaishu|Senzaishû]]'', etc.), [[tea ceremony]], and tea utensils.
In contrast to the ''Ryûkyû Shintô ki'' which was [[Printing and Publishing|published]] as a woodblock-printed book and widely circulated in Japan, the ''Ryûkyû ôrai'' circulated only in manuscript form. It still had a considerable circulation among elite circles in Japan, thanks in large part to [[Ban Nobutomo]], but did not make it into the popular publications market. Based on the fact that most surviving manuscript copies contain a preface by Nobutomo, historian Yokoyama Manabu suggests that Nobutomo likely read and copied Taichû's own original version, or a very close copy.<ref>Yokoyama, 57-58.</ref>
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==References==
==References==
*Yokoyama Manabu 横山学, ''Ryûkyû koku shisetsu torai no kenkyû'' 琉球国使節渡来の研究, Tokyo: Yoshikawa kôbunkan (1987), 53.
*Yokoyama Manabu 横山学, ''Ryûkyû koku shisetsu torai no kenkyû'' 琉球国使節渡来の研究, Tokyo: Yoshikawa kôbunkan (1987), 53-54.
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[[Category:Historical Documents]]
[[Category:Historical Documents]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Ryukyu]]
[[Category:Ryukyu]]