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was a king of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the third ruler the
second Shō dynasty The was the last dynasty of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1469 to 1879, ruled by the under the title of Genealogy of the Kings of Chūzan, King of Chūzan. This family took the family name from the earlier rulers of the kingdom, the first Shō family ...
. Shō Shin's long reign has been described as "the Great Days 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 ...
", a period of great peace and relative prosperity. He was the son of Shō En, the founder of the dynasty, by Yosoidon, Shō En's second wife, often referred to as the queen mother. He succeeded his uncle, Shō Sen'i, who was forced to abdicate in his favor.


Reign

Much of the foundational organization of the kingdom's administration and economy is traced back to developments which occurred during Shō Shin's reign. As government became more institutionalized and organized, the '' aji'' (按司, local lords) gradually lost power and independence, becoming more closely tied to the central government at Shuri. In order to strengthen central control over the kingdom, and to prevent insurrection on the part of the ''aji'', Shō Shin gathered weapons from all the ''aji'' to be put to use for the defense of the kingdom, and ordered ''aji'' to make their residences in Shuri; lords separated from their lands and from their people were far less able to act independently or to organize rebellion, and, over time, their emotional connections to Shuri grew, those with their territory weakening. The residences at Shuri of the ''aji'' were divided into three districts – one each for those coming from the northern, central, and southern areas 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 ...
which had formerly been the independent kingdoms 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 ...
, Chūzan, and Nanzan respectively. These regions were now renamed
Kunigami is a village in Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It occupies the north tip of Okinawa Island, with the East China Sea to the west, Pacific Ocean to the east, and villages of Higashi and Ōgimi to the south. As of 2015, the village ...
,
Nakagami Nakagami (written: 中上) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese therapist * (1946–1992), Japanese writer, critic and poet * (born 1992), Japanese motorcycle racer See also * Nakagami District, Okinawa * N ...
, and Shimajiri, respectively, place names which remain in use today. Through intermarriage, residence in Shuri, and other factors, the ''aji'' came to be more integrated as a class, more closely associated with life and customs and politics at Shuri, and less attached to their ancestral territorial identities. The ''aji'' left deputies, called ''aji okite'' (按司掟), to administer their lands on their behalf, and some years later a system of ''jito dai'' (地頭代), agents sent by the central government to oversee the outlying territories, was established. Some ''aji'' of the northern regions were allowed to remain there, not moving to Shuri, as they were too powerful for the king to force their obedience in this matter; the king's third son was made Warden of the North, however, and granted authority to maintain peace and order in the region. The Shuri dialect of 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 ...
used by administrators and bureaucrats became standardized at this time, and a golden age of poetry and literature blossomed. The first volumes of the ''
Omoro Sōshi The is a compilation of ancient poems and songs from Okinawa and the Amami Islands, collected into 22 volumes and written primarily in hiragana with some simple kanji. There are 1,553 poems in the collection, but many are repeated; the number of ...
'', a collection of poems, songs, and chants reflecting centuries-old oral tradition as well as contemporary events, were completed in 1532. Along with later volumes, the ''Omoro Sōshi'' would become one of the chief primary sources for modern-day historians studying the kingdom's history. The process of moving the ''aji'' to Shuri also brought about major changes to the city, including the construction of a great many grand gates, pavilions, lakes, bridges, monuments, and gardens. There came to be a great demand for masons, carpenters, and others, as well as for a wide variety of goods and materials, imported by each ''aji'' from his own territories. Okinawa Island quickly became more economically integrated, with goods and labor traveling to and from Shuri and the neighboring port city of Naha. Economic integration allowed territories to become more specialized, and the production of luxury goods expanded significantly. Various kinds of hairpins and other ornaments became standard elements of the fashions of courtiers and bureaucrats, new techniques in producing and weaving silk were imported, and the use of gold, silver, lacquer, and silk became more common among townspeople. Urbanization led to increased prosperity for merchants, traders, courtiers, townsmen and others, though historian
George H. Kerr George H. Kerr (November 7, 1911 – August 27, 1992), also known in Taiwan as 葛超智 (or 柯喬治), was a United States diplomat during World War II, and in later years he was an author and an academic. His published works and archived pap ...
points out that farmers and fishermen, who made up the vast majority of the Okinawan population, remained quite poor. Many monuments, temples, and other structures were also erected during the prosperous reign of Shō Shin. A new palace building was constructed, in Chinese style, and court rituals and ceremonies were dramatically altered and expanded, in emulation of Chinese modes. A pair of tall stone "Dragon Pillars" were placed at the entrance to the palace, patterned not after Chinese, Korean or Japanese models, but after those of Thailand and Cambodia, reflecting, as Kerr points out, the reach and extent of Okinawan trade and the cosmopolitan nature of the capital at this time. The Buddhist temple Enkaku-ji was built in 1492, Sōgen-ji was expanded in 1496, and in 1501,
Tamaudun is one of the three royal mausoleums of the Ryukyu Kingdom, along with Urasoe yōdore at Urasoe Castle and Izena Tamaudun near Izena Castle in Izena, Okinawa. The mausoleum is located in Shuri, Okinawa, and was built for Ryūkyūan royalty ...
, the royal mausoleum complex, was completed. Shō Shin successfully petitioned the Korean royal court, several times, to send volumes of Buddhist texts; In the thirtieth year of his reign, a stele was erected in the grounds of
Shuri Castle was a Ryukyuan ''gusuku'' castle in Shuri, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Between 1429 and 1879, it was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom, before becoming largely neglected. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was almost completely destroyed. ...
, listing Eleven Distinctions of the Age enumerated by court officials. A reproduction of this stele, destroyed in the 1945
Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...
along with the castle, stands in the castle grounds today. The reign of Shō Shin also saw the expansion of the kingdom's control over several of the outlying
Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonagun ...
. Okinawan ships began in the late 15th century to frequent 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 ...
; following a series of disputes among the local lords in the Yaeyama Islands which broke out in 1486, Shō Shin in 1500 sent military forces to quell the disputes and establish control over the islands.
Kumejima is a town located in Shimajiri District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The town consists of the islands of Kume, Ōjima, Ōhajima, Torishima, and Iōtorishima. Among the islands, only Kumejima and Ōjima are populated. Kumejima is located app ...
was brought under firm control of Shuri, and liaison offices were established in Miyako and Yaeyama, in 1500 and 1524 respectively. Shō Shin also effected significant changes to the organization of the native ''
noro Noro may refer to: * Noro, Solomon Islands * , in the Cíes Islands, Spain * Noro (priestess), within the Magiri system of the Ryukyu Kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands * "Noro", a song on the 2009 album '' Daisy'' by Brand New People with the surname ...
'' (巫女, village priestesses) cult and its relationship to the government. He owed his uncle's abdication, and his own succession to his sister, the ''noro'' of the royal family, a special position known as the ''
kikoe-ōgimi チフィジン
首里・那覇方言データベース was the highest ranking priestess ...
''. He established a new residence for the ''kikoe-ōgimi'' (聞得大君) just outside the gates to the castle, and erected high walls in 1519 around the Sonohyan Utaki, the sacred space and accompanying sacred hearth which she tended. A system by which the king and ''kikoe-ōgimi'' appointed local ''noro'' across the kingdom was established, tying this element of the native Ryukyuan religion into formal systems of authority under the government. After a fifty-year reign, Shō Shin died in 1526, and was succeeded by his son Shō Sei. It is said that after such a long reign, officials encountered difficulties in determining the proper way to conduct the royal funeral, succession rituals, and other important related ceremonies. Historian George Kerr writes that "Okinawa was never again to know the halcyon days of Sho Shin's reign.Kerr. p116."


See also

*
Imperial Chinese missions to the Ryukyu Kingdom Imperial Chinese missions to the Ryukyu Kingdom were diplomatic missions that were intermittently sent by the Yuan, Ming and Qing emperors to Shuri, Okinawa, in the Ryukyu Islands. These diplomatic contacts were within the Sinocentric system of ...


Notes


References

* Kerr, George H. (1965). ''Okinawa, the History of an Island People.'' Rutland, Vermont: C.E. Tuttle Co
OCLC 39242121
* "Shō Shin." ''Okinawa rekishi jinmei jiten'' (沖縄歴史人名事典, "Encyclopedia of People of Okinawan History"). Naha: Okinawa Bunka-sha, 1996. p41. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sho, Shin Second Shō dynasty Kings of Ryūkyū 1465 births 1526 deaths