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Chûzan entered into [[tribute|tributary relations]] with [[Ming Dynasty]] China in [[1372]], with the other two doing the same within the ensuing several years. Chûzan quickly grew more wealthy and more powerful than the other two, conquering them and uniting the island of Okinawa under its control by [[1429]].

Chûzan entered into [[tribute|tributary relations]] with [[Ming Dynasty]] China in [[1372]], with the other two doing the same within the ensuing several years. Chûzan quickly grew more wealthy and more powerful than the other two, conquering them and uniting the island of Okinawa under its control by [[1429]].

Over the rest of the 15th and 16th centuries, the Ryûkyû Kingdom, as the Okinawan state might now be called, extended its influence to the north and to the south, making islands as far south as Yonaguni and Hateruma, and as far north as the Amamis its tributaries, or conquering them outright. The kingdom meanwhile engaged quite actively in overseas trade, becoming a crucial hub of maritime trade between Korea, Japan, China, and various polities of Southeast Asia.

Over the rest of the 15th and 16th centuries, the Ryûkyû Kingdom, as the Okinawan state might now be called, extended its influence to the north and to the south, making islands as far south as Yonaguni and Hateruma, and as far north as the Amamis its tributaries, or conquering them outright. As the Northern and Central Ryukyus, with their prehistoric ties to Japan, became more interlinked with the Sakishimas, with people and goods traveling between them in increasing volume, cultural exchange came with it, bringing Austronesian / Southeast Asian influences into the Northern and Central Ryukyus, and a more Japonic or East Asian culture into the Sakishima Islands.<ref>Akamine, 12.</ref> The kingdom meanwhile engaged quite actively in overseas trade, becoming a crucial hub of maritime trade between Korea, Japan, China, and various polities of Southeast Asia.

Fifteenth century Korean records indicate that dry-land rice cultivation was common in the Ryukyus at that time; archaeological finds suggest that rice was the chief crop in northern Okinawa and the Amamis, while in central and southern Okinawa, barley and wheat were more common. Up until the end of the 14th century, people on Okinawa are believed to have grown only one crop of rice a year, avoiding the dangerous typhoon season; however, from the 1400s onwards, they began to grow two crops a year. This rice would have been primarily standard Japanese rice (''Oryza japonica''), which was introduced into the islands around the year 800.

Fifteenth century Korean records indicate that dry-land rice cultivation was common in the Ryukyus at that time; archaeological finds suggest that rice was the chief crop in northern Okinawa and the Amamis, while in central and southern Okinawa, barley and wheat were more common. Up until the end of the 14th century, people on Okinawa are believed to have grown only one crop of rice a year, avoiding the dangerous typhoon season; however, from the 1400s onwards, they began to grow two crops a year. This rice would have been primarily standard Japanese rice (''Oryza japonica''), which was introduced into the islands around the year 800.