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Over the course of the next hundred years, the three polities consolidated their power, build a great many fortresses (''[[gusuku]]''), and expanded through trade. Chûzan entered into tributary relations with Ming China in [[1372]], the other two polities following suit within the next decade, and began to receive royal investiture from China as well. The three polities expanded their territory in this period as well, slowly acquiring the other nearby islands either as tributary states or as outright annexed territories, and entering into diplomatic and trade relations with Japan and Korea.
Over the course of the next hundred years, the three polities consolidated their power, build a great many fortresses (''[[gusuku]]''), and expanded through trade. Chûzan entered into tributary relations with Ming China in [[1372]], the other two polities following suit within the next decade, and began to receive royal investiture from China as well. The three polities expanded their territory in this period as well, slowly acquiring the other nearby islands either as tributary states or as outright annexed territories, and entering into diplomatic and trade relations with Japan and Korea.
A local lord (''[[anji]]'') by the name of Hashi rose to power at the beginning of the 15th century, and overthrew the king of Chûzan, [[Bunei]], around 1407. Hashi originally set up his father as king, but continued to wield power behind the scenes, succeeding his father in 1422. The two received formal investiture from the Ming Court, and were granted the surname Shô (尚, "Shang" in Chinese); father and son thus became [[Sho Shisho|Shô Shisho]] and [[Sho Hashi|Shô Hashi]] respectively, marking the beginning of the first [[Shô Dynasty]]. Under their leadership, Chûzan conquered Hokuzan in 1419 and Nanzan in 1429, uniting the island of Okinawa and establishing the Kingdom of Ryûkyû.
A local lord (''[[anji]]'') by the name of Hashi rose to power at the beginning of the 15th century, and overthrew the king of Chûzan, [[Bunei]], around 1407. Hashi originally set up his father as king, but continued to wield power behind the scenes, succeeding his father in 1422. The two received formal investiture from the Ming Court, and were granted the surname Shô (尚, "Shang" in Chinese); father and son thus became [[Sho Shisho|Shô Shisho]] and [[Sho Hashi|Shô Hashi]] respectively, marking the beginning of the first [[Shô Dynasty]]. Under their leadership, Chûzan conquered Hokuzan in 1419 and Nanzan in 1429, uniting the island of Okinawa, establishing the Kingdom of Ryûkyû, and moving the capital from [[Urasoe]] to [[Shuri]].
===Independence===
===Independence===
Despite its tiny land area, the kingdom came to play a crucial role in regional trade networks as a transshipping point. Much of the tribute goods paid by the kingdom to China came originally from Southeast Asia. Hundreds of Ryukyuan vessels, operating on behalf of the royal government, traversed the seas, making port in China, Korea, Japan, and at least eight different ports across Southeast Asia, engaging not only in trade but also in diplomatic exchanges. Goods from Japan consisted primarily of precious metals and objects of fine art; the kingdom acquired primarily medicinal herbs, ceramics, and textiles from Korea and China. These were then exchanged in Southeast Asian ports for a variety of spices, aromatic woods, skins, ivory, and other animal products, and sugar.
Most sources indicate that, while the majority of the Ryukyuan peasantry were illiterate and led very simple lives, they always had enough to subsist on. The great wealth acquired by the royal government, government officials, aristocrats, and merchants did not spill over into conspicuous prosperity for all, but neither did the government truly oppress or impoverish the peasantry.
The bureaucratic and governmental structures of the kingdom, based on those of Chûzan, developed and solidified over the course of the 15th century, following, in many ways, a Chinese model. A complex bureaucracy ran the kingdom, the heads of each branch known collectively as the Council of Fifteen. The king was of course at the top of the hierarchy, his chief advisor known as the ''[[sessei]]''. After [[1556]], when the mute [[Sho Gen|Shô Gen]] ascended the throne, a council of regents or advisors known as the ''[[Sanshikan]]'' emerged and gradually came to wield significant power, eventually eclipsing the ''sessei''.
The village of [[Kumemura]], a short distance from the capital at Shuri, had been founded in [[1393]] by a number of Chinese scholars, bureaucrats, and craftsmen from Fukien settled there with their families by order of the Ming Court. The town rapidly developed into a center of scholarship and Chinese culture, and came to be something of a training ground for the kingdom's bureaucrats; nearly all of the administrators in the royal government came from Kumemura, and positions were based on showing in royal examinations, rather than purely on birth. A system was also established by which a select few members of the Kumemura community would travel to Fuzhou and Beijing to study. In addition to becoming well-versed in the Chinese classics, and being educated and trained in the ways of a bureaucrat, these students would frequently bring back specific skills or knowledges to be implemented in the kingdom, such as geomancy, navigation, or various craft skills.
The kingdom's booming trade declined around the 1570s, as the seas came to be dominated by other powers. Spanish and Portuguese galleons arrived around the mid-16th century, followed by the agents of the [[British East India Company|English]] and [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch]] [[East India Company|East India Companies]] at the beginning of the 17th. Meanwhile, Ming China lifted its bans on Chinese trade with, and in, Southeast Asia, in [[1567]], and Japan under [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] began to engage in licensed trade under the ''[[shuinsen]]'' system after around [[1582]].
===Invasion and Vassalage===
===Invasion and Vassalage===
Around 1590, the royal government was ordered by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, through agents of the [[Shimazu family]] of Satsuma to provide troops, weapons, and other munitions to aid in his planned [[Korean invasions|invasions of Korea]]. King [[Sho Nei|Shô Nei]] refused, and went beyond that, informing the Ming Court of Hideyoshi's plans. This was but one in a series of instances in which the kingdom refused or ignored requests or demands from Hideyoshi.
Hideyoshi died in 1598, and was replaced as secular, martial, ruler of Japan a few years later by [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]]. Shô Nei ignored demands that he formally recognize the new [[Tokugawa shogunate]]; the Shimazu family in turn requested permission from Ieyasu to launch a punitive mission. Permission was granted in 1606, and the [[invasion of Ryukyu]] was undertaken in [[1609]]. After a few battles on smaller outlying islands, the samurai forces seized Shuri Castle and took Shô Nei, along with a number of his chief officials, captive. All were brought to Japan, where they met with Ieyasu and his son, the reigning [[Shogun]] [[Tokugawa Hidetada]], and were forced to submit to a number of demands and conditions. The kingdom became a vassal state under the Shimazu, and was forced to submit tribute on a regular basis. The king was restored to his castle and his kingdom in [[1611]], and was returned to power, though only within strict limits set by the Shimazu. A vassal state, Ryukyu was not considered an integral part of Japan until it was formally annexed as Okinawa Prefecture in 1879; while the provinces of Japan were regarded as ''takoku'' (他国, "other lands"), Ryukyu was considered ''ikoku'' (異国, "foreign lands"), along with China, Korea, Holland, and the rest of the world.
For the remainder of Japan's [[Edo period]], the kingdom served two masters, ostensibly independent, though a vassal to Satsuma and a tributary to China. As formal relations between Japan and China were severed, extensive efforts were made to hide Japan's control or influence over Ryukyu from the Chinese Court. If Beijing believed Ryukyu to be a part of Japan, it would have likely severed ties with Ryukyu as well, denying the kingdom and the shogunate not only a source of income and foreign goods through trade, but also a source of intelligence on events in the outside world, particularly China. Foreign trade, along with tributary missions and student exchange to China continued throughout this period, though overseen by Japanese authorities, and controlled so as to best benefit Satsuma and the shogunate, not the kingdom itself. Ryukyuans were forbidden from speaking Japanese, dressing in Japanese fashion, or otherwise revealing the Japanese influence upon them; the very few who were allowed to go abroad were to speak Chinese and to espouse a combination of native Ryukyuan and Chinese culture.
The kingdom became in various ways a tool for both the Shimazu and the shogunate, not only for purely economic benefit, but also to political ends. Ryukyuan students and embassies to Beijing provided unparalleled intelligence on Chinese matters which could not be gained from Korea or from merchants at [[Nagasaki]], who largely knew only of coastal and maritime matters. Tributary missions from Ryukyu to [[Edo]] were accompanied by great pomp and circumstance, and considerable entourages, though subsumed within the much larger Shimazu party making its obligatory ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' journey to the capital. The enforced exoticism of the Ryukyuan embassies reinforced for the shogunate and the Shimazu family both the notion that an entire foreign kingdom submitted to their authority. The shogunate made use of this to consolidate perceptions of the legitimacy of its authority, while the Shimazu used it as leverage to gain higher [[court rank]] and to negotiate for the bending of laws and taxation.
Still, despite the overlordship of the Shimazu, the royal government enjoyed some flexibility in instituting domestic polities and reforms. Two governmental officials are of particular significance. [[Sho Shoken|Shô Shôken]], ''sessei'' from 1666-1673, wrote the first history of Ryukyu and helped institute a number of key reforms. He cut down on royal and aristocrati extravagance, in order to streamline expenses and ensure greater prosperity for the kingdom. He also
suppressed the political influence and cultural importance of the [[yuta|priestesses]] of the native religion and cut down on royal involvement in many traditional rituals. This served to not only cut down on extravagance, but also was intended to help suppress elements of Ryukyuan culture which could be seen as backwards by China and Japan. [[Sai On]], royal regent roughly a century later, in the 1750s, continued and re-enacted many of Shô Shôken's policies, and went further, making considerable reforms to the kingdom's domestic economy, particularly in agriculture and forestry. His reforms helped the kingdom recover from a series of fires, famines, and other difficulties.
===Dissolution===
===Dissolution===
Conditions changed dramatically for the kingdom in the 1850s, as they did for Japan as well. Commodore [[Matthew Perry]] was but one of a number of Westerners who made landfall in the Ryukyus around this time, seeking trade and diplomatic relations. Perry in fact signed treaties with the royal government in Ryukyu before ever traveling to Japan.
The years following the [[1868]] [[Meiji Restoration]] brought drastic changes within Japan, and for the kingdom in turn. The kingdom was briefly transformed into "Okinawa [[han]]", before the ''han'' were [[abolition of the han|abolished]] entirely in [[1871]]. The dissolution of Satsuma han brought the end of Ryukyu's vassal relationship. The kingdom itself was dissolved eight years later, in [[1879]], "Okinawa han" becoming Okinawa Prefecture and the royal family being incorporated into the new Western-style Japanese [[kazoku|aristocracy]]. [[Sho Tai|Shô Tai]], the last king of Ryukyu, was brought to [[Tokyo]] from Shuri, along with his family, and made a Marquis. The vast cultural, educational, and social changes which swept Japan in the [[Meiji period]] came to Okinawa later and more slowly. By the turn of the 20th century, however, assimilation efforts were well underway, aimed at transforming Okinawa, and its inhabitants, into part of a single homogeneous Japanese nation.
==Notes==
==Notes==
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