was one of three kingdoms which controlled
Okinawa in the 14th century. Okinawa, previously controlled by a number of local chieftains or lords, loosely bound by a paramount chieftain or king of the entire
island, split into these three more solidly defined kingdoms within a few years after 1314; the
Sanzan period
The is a period in the history of the Okinawa Islands when three lines of kings, namely , and , are said to have co-existed on Okinawa Island. It is said to have started during King Tamagusuku's reign (traditional dates: 1314–1336) and, accord ...
thus began, and would end roughly one hundred years later, when Chūzan's King
Shō Hashi
was the last King of Chūzan and the first king of the Ryukyu Kingdom, uniting the three polities of Chūzan, Hokuzan, and Nanzan by conquest and ending the Sanzan period.
Family
* Father: Shishō
* mother: daughter of Miiko
* Wife: sister of ...
conquered
Hokuzan
, also known as before the 18th century, located in the north of Okinawa Island, was one of three independent political entities which controlled Okinawa in the 14th century during Sanzan period. The political entity was identified as a tiny co ...
in 1419 and
Nanzan in 1429.
The united Okinawan state was called 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 ...
, but would continue to be referred to as "Chūzan" in various official documents of the Ryukyuan royal government, and those of many other states in the region.
History
Tamagusuku succeeded his father
Eiji
Eiji is a common masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
Eiji can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
*, "prosperity, peace"
*, "great, peace"
*, "great, second"
*, "eternity, next"
The name can also be written in ...
as king
[Eiji is also identified as head chieftain of Okinawa] of Okinawa at the age of nineteen, in 1314. However, he lacked the charisma or leadership abilities to command the respect and loyalty of the various territorial lords (''
aji''), and many rebelled soon afterwards. The Lord of
Ozato fled south and, along with his followers, formed the kingdom of
Nanzan (南山, Southern Mountain), while the Lord of
Nakijin
is a village located in Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
As of 2003, the village has an estimated population of 9,529 and a population density of 239.00 persons per km2. The total area is 39.87 km2.
Education
The village ope ...
, based some distance to the north, declared himself king of
Hokuzan
, also known as before the 18th century, located in the north of Okinawa Island, was one of three independent political entities which controlled Okinawa in the 14th century during Sanzan period. The political entity was identified as a tiny co ...
(北山, Northern Mountain). Thus, Tamagusuku, in
Urasoe
is a city located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The neighboring municipalities are Naha to the south, Ginowan to the north, and Nishihara to the east. As of November 2012, the city has an estimated population of 113,718 and a population dens ...
, became king of Chūzan.
Tamagusuku died in 1336, and was succeeded by his son
Seii, then ten years of age. Seii's reign was relatively short, and defined by the interference and political abuses of his mother which led to an erosion of what little support the young king may have had from the territorial lords. It is important to note that the three "kingdoms" were little different from the loosely unified chiefdoms which came before, and the "kings" did not wield considerably greater power, nor were their administrations more organized or more politically stable than what came before. However, this became gradually less true over the generations; the king's power and organization advanced considerably by the time all three kingdoms were unified as the Kingdom of Ryukyu.
Seii was overthrown by the lord of Urasoe around 1349–55; the reign of the new king,
Satto
Satto (察度) (1321 – November 17, 1395) was King of Chūzan. He is the first ruler of Okinawa Island who was recorded by contemporary sources. His reign was marked by expansion and development of Chūzan's trade relations with other states, ...
, marked the emergence of Chūzan as a small but not insignificant player in regional trade and politics. A number of domestic policies and foreign relations begun at this time would continue until the end of the kingdom five hundred years later. Satto established diplomatic and trade relations with a number of states in the region, including the
Ayutthaya Kingdom
The Ayutthaya Kingdom (; th, อยุธยา, , IAST: or , ) was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is consid ...
of
Thailand and
Joseon Dynasty of
Korea, and saw the beginnings of Ryukyu's role in a flourishing system of regional trade. The first
Ming Dynasty envoys arrived in Okinawa in 1372, marking the beginning of
tributary relations with China. From then on, Chūzan (and unified Ryukyu later) would send frequent tribute missions, and would rely upon the Chinese court to officially recognize each successive Ryukyuan king with a formal statement of investiture. China would have an incredibly strong influence on Ryukyu for the next five hundred years, politically, economically, and culturally, as it did with its numerous other tributary states.
This period also saw the beginnings of a bureaucracy in the royal government which would later grow to rule in the king's place and in his name, replacing direct monarchical rule.
Kumemura
was an Okinawan community of scholars, bureaucrats, and diplomats in the port city of Naha near the royal capital of Shuri, which was a center of culture and learning during the time of the Ryukyu Kingdom. The people of Kumemura, traditionally ...
, a community for Chinese immigrants was established; the Chinese living here, and their Ryukyuan descendants, would serve Chūzan (and later the unified kingdom) as diplomats, interpreters, and government officials. Kumemura quickly grew into Ryukyu's cultural capital, something of a complement to the political capital at
Shuri and the commercial center at the port of
Naha. A community for Ryukyuan envoys and scholars was similarly established in
Fukien in China, and the first Ryukyuans to study in China's capital did so at this time as well, again establishing precedents for developments which would continue for centuries.
Satto's son
Bunei
was King of Chūzan. He was the second and last ruler of the Satto dynasty.
Biography
Bunei inherited the throne upon the death of his father, King Satto. His reign saw the continuation of many of the previous trends and developments; in partic ...
succeeded him in 1395, and oversaw the continuation of the policies and developments of his father's reign. Relations with China grew stronger, and a number of institutions were established to cater to Chinese envoys to Chūzan. Trade boomed, and relations with other countries likewise continued to be expanded. Though China accepted tributary missions from Hokuzan and Nanzan as well at this time, they officially recognized only the King of Chūzan as a head of state in Ryukyu. Chūzan continued to enjoy formal diplomatic relations with Ayutthaya and Korea, and trade relations with
Java,
Sumatra, and other states, as did the other two Ryukyuan kingdoms. However, only Chūzan managed to establish formal relations with Japan's
Ashikaga shogunate
The , also known as the , was the feudal military government of Japan during the Muromachi period from 1336 to 1573.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Muromachi-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 669.
The Ashikaga shogunate was establis ...
, having sent a mission in 1403. These political advantages, coupled with control of Naha, the most active port on Okinawa, allowed Chūzan to gain significant political and economic superiority over its two neighbors. It also benefited greatly culturally; trade always brings cultural exchange along with it, and many of the states in the region were experiencing great cultural surges as a result. In particular, it is believed that
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
from Korea and
Shintō
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintoist ...
from Japan were first introduced to Okinawa to a significant extent at this time. Students and other travelers to Korea brought back texts, statues, rituals, and other Buddhist objects and ideas, and in exchange, King Bunei promised to send shipwrecked Koreans, and those who were the victims of Japanese pirates (''
wakō''), back home safely.
Domestically, Bunei's reign saw significant development in the organization and formalization of the royal administration, and increased literacy and education among the administrative officials. Government documents, particularly those concerning trade and diplomacy, were first compiled in 1403. This compilation, the "Treasury of Royal Succession," is called ''
Rekidai Hōan'' in the Japanese pronunciation, and continued to be compiled fairly regularly until 1619. However, this increased organization was not accompanied by political stability; the kings of Nanzan and Hokuzan, along with the emperor of China, all died within the span of just a few years (1395–98). These events heightened tensions between the three kingdoms, all of which sought the favor of the Ming court, which was largely unresponsive; Bunei only received his formal investiture in 1406, ten years after succeeding his father, and less than a year before his own death.
As a result of these political instabilities, the ''aji'' (local territorial lords) began to seize more power for themselves within their tiny local domains. One ''aji'', by the name of Hashi, deposed his neighboring lord of Azato in 1402 and seized his territory. Five years later, he led a rebellion and overthrew Bunei, establishing his own father, Shishō, as King of Chūzan. Hashi effectively ruled from the behind the scenes, and led Chūzan's army against the neighboring kingdoms, conquering Hokuzan in 1419 and Nanzan in 1429. In the intervening years, he formally succeeded his father to the throne and received investiture and the dynastic family name "Shang" (尚, ''Shō'' in Japanese or Okinawan) from the Ming court. Thus, the three kingdoms were united into the Ryūkyū Kingdom; "Chūzan" was not truly abolished, and the term "Chūzan" continued to be used to refer to the unified kingdom, or its king, up until the late 19th century.
Notes
References
*Kerr, George H. (2000). Okinawa: the History of an Island People. (revised ed.) Boston: Tuttle Publishing.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chuzan
1872 disestablishments in Asia
States and territories established in 1314
Ryukyu Kingdom
Ryukyu Islands
Former kingdoms