Sai Taitei
Sai Taitei was a Ryukyuan scholar-official who traveled to China on several occasions.
Taitei served on a tribute mission to China in the 1850s which became detained in Fuzhou, unable to travel north to Beijing due to much of the travel routes being controlled by rebels or brigands amidst the chaos of the Taiping Rebellion. Taitei is known for his kanshi (Chinese-style poems), at least one of which is said to have been composed while standing atop the Wànshòu Bridge (萬寿橋), lamenting his being stuck in Fuzhou, and thinking nostalgically of his home in Ryûkyû.[1]
Taitei was also one of a number of Ryukyuan officials who fled to China in the 1870s, where he worked with Rin Seikô, Kôchi Chôjô, and others to assemble petitions to the Qing Court, requesting aid to prevent Japan's abolition and annexation of the Ryûkyû Kingdom.[2]
References
- ↑ Maehira Fusaaki, Ryûkyû shisetsu no ikoku taiken 琉球使節の異国体験, Kokusai kôryû 国際交流 59 (1992), 66.
- ↑ "Kōchi Chōjō." Okinawa konpakuto jiten (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia"). Ryukyu Shimpo. 1 March 2003.
