, compiled in 1650 by

Shō Shōken , also known as , was a Ryukyuan scholar and served as ''sessei'', a post often translated as "prime minister," from 1666 to 1673. Shō wrote the first history of the Ryukyu Kingdom, , and enacted a number of practical political reforms aimed at i ...

, is the first

official history An official history is a work of history which is sponsored, authorised or endorsed by its subject. The term is most commonly used for histories which are produced for a government. The term also applies to commissions from non-state bodies includin ...

of the

Ryūkyū Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' was a kingdom in t ...

. In six scrolls, the main text occupies five and an accompanying summary the sixth. Unlike later official histories such as ''

Chūzan Seifu was an official history of the Ryūkyū Kingdom compiled between 1697 and 1701 by a group of scholar-officials led by Sai Taku. It was a Kanbun translated version of ''Chūzan Seikan''. Later, it was rewritten into Classical Chinese by Sai Tak ...

'' and ''

Kyūyō is an official history of the Ryūkyū Kingdom compiled between 1743 and 1745 by a group of scholar-officials led by . Written in kanbun, and numbering twenty-two scrolls, a supplementary volume in three scrolls documents relations with Satsuma, ...

'', which were written in

kanbun A is a form of Classical Chinese used in Japan from the Nara period to the mid-20th century. Much of Japanese literature was written in this style and it was the general writing style for official and intellectual works throughout the period. ...

, ''Chūzan Seikan'' is largely written in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, other than for the summary and a number of quotes in Chinese. The account of

Shō Nei was king of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1587 to 1620. He reigned during the 1609 invasion of Ryukyu and was the first king of Ryukyu to be a vassal to the Shimazu clan of Satsuma, a Japanese feudal domain. Shō Nei was the great-grandson of Shō S ...

, whose reign saw

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity aggressively enter territory (country subdivision), territory owned by another such entity, gen ...

and subjugation by

Satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a sou ...

, opens with the statement that the kingdom had been in subordinate vassal status to the

Shimazu clan The were the ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in cont ...

since the

Eikyō was a after ''Shōchō'' and before '' Kakitsu''. This period spanned the years from September 1429 through February 1441. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1429 : The era name was changed to mark the beginning of the reign of Empero ...

era. The account of the siring of

Shunten , also known as , was a legendary ruler of Okinawa Island. Shunten is the earliest chief in Okinawa for whom a name is known. He is said to have taken power after defeating an usurper to the throne by the name of Riyū who had overthrown the 25th ...

by Minamoto no Tametomo was similarly exploited during the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

and after to help legitimize the annexation of the kingdom and its reconfiguration first as the

Ryūkyū Domain The was a short-lived domain of the Empire of Japan, lasting from 1872 to 1879, before becoming the current Okinawa Prefecture and other islands at the Pacific edge of the East China Sea. When the domain was created in 1872, Japan's feudal han ...

and subsequently as Okinawa Prefecture.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chuzan Seikan Japanese chronicles Ryukyu Kingdom 1650 books Edo-period history books

See also

References