Satto (察度) (1321 – November 17, 1395) was King of
Chūzan
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 ...
. He is the first ruler of
Okinawa Island
is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has an ...
who was recorded by contemporary sources. His reign was marked by expansion and development of Chūzan's trade relations with other states, and the beginning of Okinawa's
tributary relations with
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
, a relationship that continued for roughly five hundred years, almost until the fall of the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
.
Satto was Governor of the
Urasoe district, which surrounded and included Chūzan's capital. On the death of chief
Seii in 1350, Satto seized the throne for himself. His own line, or dynasty, however, did not last past his son,
Bunei, who was ousted in 1405.
Chinese envoys arrived in Chūzan in 1372, requesting admission of Chinese cultural supremacy and that Okinawa send representatives to
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...
. Satto complied with these requests without hesitation, as this granted him formal license to trade with the most powerful nation in the region. He sent his younger brother
Taiki (泰期) to Nanjing in 1374, as the leader of a mission to formally submit to China, entering into tributary and trade relations. The
Hongwu Emperor
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
As famine, plagues and peasant revolts i ...
entertained the Ryukyuan mission, accepted their gifts, and sent them back with various gifts from China, including a royal seal, which served as a symbol of investiture. A Chinese official accompanied the returning mission, and represented the Imperial Court in officially confirming Satto as chief of Okinawa. Though Okinawa was never conquered or annexed by China, this custom of investiture, of formally confirming the chief in the eyes of the Chinese court, continued as part of tributary relations until the dismantling 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 ...
five centuries later. There were at least nine tributary missions to China over the next twenty years, three of them led by Taiki.
Diplomatic and trade relations were also established with a number of other states during Satto's reign, including the kingdoms of Korea and 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 consi ...
of
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
. Trade was conducted with these kingdoms, and with China and Japan, via a number of small islands that served as way-stations.
Tanegashima
is one of the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, 444.99 km2 in area, is the second largest of the Ōsumi Islands, and has a population of 33,000 people. Access to the island is by ferry, or by air to Ne ...
, for example, was used as a transfer and supply point for traders bound for Japan's main islands and the
Inland Sea.
Miyakojima and the
Yaeyama Islands
The Yaeyama Islands (八重山列島 ''Yaeyama-rettō'', also 八重山諸島 ''Yaeyama-shotō'', Yaeyama: ''Yaima'', Yonaguni: ''Daama'', Okinawan: ''Yeema'', Northern Ryukyuan: ''Yapema'') are an archipelago in the southwest of Okinawa P ...
, small islands to the south of Okinawa in the Ryukyu island chain, were among those that sent tribute to Chūzan.
Satto also established the Chinese immigrant community of
Kumemura in 1392, a short distance from the capital at
Shuri. These Chinese would, over the ensuing decades and centuries, intermarry with the local Okinawans; Kumemura grew into a center of Chinese studies, and its Chinese inhabitants and their descendants served the kingdom as diplomats, interpreters, and related roles.
Another important development introduced by Satto was the creation of the post of ''Ō-shō'' (王相), or King's Assistant. Though direct monarchical rule remained important and powerful in Okinawa for at least a few generations, this marked the beginnings of a bureaucracy that gradually replaced the chief's direct rule, drafting and implementing policy in his name.
Satto died in 1395, and was succeeded by his son Bunei. Missions sent to Nanjing announced the chief's death, and formally requested investiture for his successor. The "
Chūzan Seikan" an official history book written by
Haneji Chōshū in the 1650s, cites Satto's death as an example of ''tentō''
[This represents the ]Okinawan language
The Okinawan language (, , , ) or Central Okinawan, is a Northern Ryukyuan language spoken primarily in the southern half of the island of Okinawa, as well as in the surrounding islands of Kerama, Kumejima, Tonaki, Aguni and a number of sma ...
reading of the characters; the same term is read as ''tendō'' in Japanese language
is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...
, and as ''tian-dao'' in Chinese ''pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...
''. (天道), a concept closely related to the
Confucian
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
Mandate of Heaven
The Mandate of Heaven () is a Chinese political philosophy that was used in ancient and imperial China to legitimize the rule of the King or Emperor of China. According to this doctrine, heaven (天, '' Tian'') – which embodies the nat ...
. Though he describes Satto as a good chief overall, Shō accuses him of giving in to luxurious temptations and of losing the proper degree of humility; thus, Shō explains, Satto was guided by ''tentō'' to touch a venomous snake in his sleep and to be killed.
See also
*
Imperial Chinese missions to the Ryukyu Kingdom
Notes
References
*
Kerr, George H. (1965). ''Okinawa, the History of an Island People.'' Rutland, Vermont: C.E. Tuttle Co
OCLC 39242121* Smits, Gregory. (1999)
''Visions of Ryukyu: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics,''Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
.
OCLC 39633631* (2002). . Naha: Okinawa Bunka-sha
OCLC 170411659 (1997 ed.)*
Suganuma, Unryu. (2000). ''Sovereign Rights and Territorial Space in Sino-Japanese Relations: Irredentism and the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands.'' Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ;
OCLC 170955369
{{Kings of Chūzan
Kings of Ryūkyū
1321 births
1395 deaths
14th-century Ryukyuan people