Changes

The ''Omoro Sôshi'' was first compiled in [[1532]], and again in [[1613]] and [[1623]], as part of attempts by the royal government to help secure their cultural or spiritual legitimacy and power. The first compilation came just after the reign of [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]], who consolidated, centralized, and reformed the government, and the second was performed only a few years after Ryukyu became a direct vassal to [[Satsuma han]]. At both times, cultural and ideological means, as well as more mundane political ones, were needed to help ensure unity, and to maintain a connection to tradition and history.

The ''Omoro Sôshi'' was first compiled in [[1532]], and again in [[1613]] and [[1623]], as part of attempts by the royal government to help secure their cultural or spiritual legitimacy and power. The first compilation came just after the reign of [[Sho Shin|Shô Shin]], who consolidated, centralized, and reformed the government, and the second was performed only a few years after Ryukyu became a direct vassal to [[Satsuma han]]. At both times, cultural and ideological means, as well as more mundane political ones, were needed to help ensure unity, and to maintain a connection to tradition and history.

Only a small handful of scholars have studied the documents in any significant depth. The vast changes in Ryukyuan culture and language over the last several centuries have made the poetry difficult to access and understand, and Iha Fuyû (d. 1947) and Nakahara Zenchû (d. 1964) were among the only ones to study it extensively. Torigoe Kenzaburô (b. 1914) after focusing on the indigenous [[Ryukyuan religion]] earlier in his academic career (c. 1940-44), studied the Omoro sôshi for roughly thirty years in the 1940s-60s, eventually publishing in 1968 a five-volume, roughly 3000 page ''Omoro sôshi zenshaku'', or "Complete Translation of the Omoro sôshi," based on the so-called ''Shô-ke bon'', the manuscript copy held by the Shô family, the former royal family of Ryûkyû.<ref>Yamaguchi Eitetsu, "[http://venus.unive.it/okinawa/en/sunti/yamaguchi.html On Torigoe Omoro]," Presentation at 5th International Conference on Okinawan Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, 14-16 September 2006.</ref> Nakahara, Iha, and several others have used the compilation as a basis for research into ancient Ryukyuan customs and society. Thorough analysis has been able to yield some elements of a foundation of understanding of ancient governance, social structures, and folk religion, but it cannot be expected that a fuller understanding will be able to be derived from the material.

Only a small handful of scholars have studied the documents in any significant depth. The vast changes in Ryukyuan culture and language over the last several centuries have made the poetry difficult to access and understand, and Iha Fuyû (d. 1947) and Nakahara Zenchû (d. 1964) were among the only ones to study it extensively. Torigoe Kenzaburô (b. 1914) after focusing on the indigenous [[Ryukyuan religion]] earlier in his academic career (c. 1940-44), studied the Omoro sôshi for roughly thirty years in the 1940s-60s, eventually publishing in 1968 a five-volume, roughly 3000 page ''Omoro sôshi zenshaku'', or "Complete Translation of the Omoro sôshi," based on the so-called ''Shô-ke bon'', the manuscript copy held by the Shô family, the former royal family of Ryûkyû.<ref>Yamaguchi Eitetsu, "[http://venus.unive.it/okinawa/en/sunti/yamaguchi.html On Torigoe Omoro]," Abstract for presentation at 5th International Conference on Okinawan Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, 14-16 September 2006.</ref> Nakahara, Iha, and several others have used the compilation as a basis for research into ancient Ryukyuan customs and society. Thorough analysis has been able to yield some elements of a foundation of understanding of ancient governance, social structures, and folk religion, but it cannot be expected that a fuller understanding will be able to be derived from the material.

==References==

==References==