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[[File:Chuzan-seifu.JPG|right|thumb|400px|A copy of the ''Chûzan seifu'' on display at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum]]

[[File:Chuzan-seifu.JPG|right|thumb|400px|A copy of the ''Chûzan seifu'' on display at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum]]

*''Compiled: [[1701]], [[Sai On]] and [[Sai Taku]]''

*''Compiled: [[1701]]-[[1712]], [[1724]]-[[1725]], [[Sai On]] and [[Sai Taku]]''

*''Japanese'': 中山世譜 ''(chuuzan seifu)''

*''Japanese'': 中山世譜 ''(chuuzan seifu)''

''Chûzan seifu'' is an official history of Okinawa. There are two versions, one by [[Sai On]] and one by [[Sai Taku]]<!--蔡鐸-->, though most often it is the former that is being referred to. Sai On's version was formally completed in [[1701]], though he continued to add additional sections until [[1712]].

''Chûzan seifu'' is an official history of Okinawa. Originally compiled by [[Sai Taku]] in [[1701]] to [[1712]], the text was revised by his son, [[Sai On]], in [[1724]]-[[1725]]. Later court chroniclers added to the text in later generations.<ref>"[https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%B8%AD%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%96%E8%AD%9C-851916 Chûzan seifu]," Hyakka jiten Mypedia, Hitachi Solutions, 2015.</ref> The ''seifu'' draws extensively on the [[Japanese language|Japanese-language]] ''[[Chuzan seikan|Chûzan seikan]]'', compiled by [[Sho Shoken|Shô Shôken]] around [[1650]], re-presenting the contents in [[Chinese language|Chinese]]; in addition, while the historical facts and overall historical narrative remain consistent with the ''seikan'', Sai Taku and Sai On reorganized, rephrased, and otherwise altered the presentation of the narrative so as to more strongly emphasize Ryûkyû's connections to China, while downplaying connections to Japan.

The text consists of five volumes of the official history, with a particular focus on Ryûkyû-China relations, plus an additional volume focusing on relations between the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] and [[Satsuma han]]. It suppresses discussion of the kingdom's military, or military activities, and presents the history of the kingdom in a mode resembling that of the Chinese dynastic histories - a moral drama, emphasizing the virtue of individual rulers or entire dynasties.<ref name=smits>[[Gregory Smits]], presentation at "[http://www.hawaii.edu/asiaref/japan/event2013/Index.htm#symposium Interpreting Parades and Processions of Edo Japan]" symposium, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 11 Feb 2013.</ref>

The text consists of 14 volumes covering the official history of the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]], with a particular focus on the islands' relationships with China, and another seven "additional" volumes focusing on relations with Japan.<ref>"[https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%B8%AD%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%96%E8%AD%9C-851916 Chûzan seifu]," Sekai daihyakka jiten, Hitachi Solutions, 2015.</ref> The text begins with a description of the geography of the [[Ryukyu Islands]], including references to the islands' locations relative to [[Fuzhou]]. It then moves on to the history, presenting the mythical [[Tenson dynasty]] similarly to how Chinese official histories discuss the earliest Chinese [[sage-kings]] - as having introduced many of the most basic technologies or cultural elements of civilization, from agriculture to cooking and the construction of homes. In other respects as well, the ''Chûzan seifu'' presents the history of the kingdom in a mode resembling that of the Chinese dynastic histories - a moral drama, emphasizing the virtue of individual rulers or entire dynasties.<ref name=smits>[[Gregory Smits]], presentation at "[http://www.hawaii.edu/asiaref/japan/event2013/Index.htm#symposium Interpreting Parades and Processions of Edo Japan]" symposium, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 11 Feb 2013.</ref>  

[[Gregory Smits]] has suggested that ''Chûzan seifu'' was not a text compiled separately, but was rather a modified version of the [[1650]] history ''[[Chuzan seikan|Chûzan seikan]]'', altered to present a more pro-China version of events. Such altered versions of Ryukyuan histories were commonly given as gifts to the Chinese Court by [[Ryukyuan students in China]],<ref name=smits/> or were presented to [[Chinese investiture envoys]] in Ryûkyû.<ref>Gregory Smits, "Rethinking Ryukyu," ''International Journal of Okinawan Studies'' 6:1 (2015), 1.</ref>

While the text does mention certain connections to Japan, such as the myth that [[Shunten]], the first king of Okinawa, was the son of [[Minamoto no Tametomo]], and was thus a descendant of the Japanese imperial family, it mentions this only briefly, putting far less emphasis on it than the ''Chûzan seikan'', which dwells on the Tametomo story at length. Another feature of the text is that it suppresses any discussion of the kingdom's military, or military activities, putting greater emphasis on peaceful and enlightened (Chinese/[[Confucianism|Confucian]]) civilization, and on Ryûkyû's role as a hub of regional trade.

 

Copies of this more pro-Chinese version of the history (in comparison to the ''Chûzan seikan'') were commonly given as gifts to the Chinese Court by [[Ryukyuan students in China]],<ref name=smits/> or were presented to [[Chinese investiture envoys]] in Ryûkyû.

==References==

==References==

*"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/modules/news/article.php?storyid=42107 Chûzan seifu]," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia 沖縄コンパクト事典, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.

*"[http://ryukyushimpo.jp/modules/news/article.php?storyid=42107 Chûzan seifu]," Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia 沖縄コンパクト事典, Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 March 2003.

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