The was the last dynasty of the
Ryukyu 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 ...
from 1469 to 1879, ruled by the under the title of
King of Chūzan. This family took the family name from the earlier rulers of the kingdom, the
first Shō family, even though the new royal family has no blood relation to the previous one. Until the abolition of
Japanese peerage in 1947, the head of the family was given the rank of marquess while several cadet branches held the title of baron.
Kings of Chūzan
The second Shō family claims
Izena Island to be its ancestral home.
["Shō En." ''Okinawa rekishi jinmei jiten'' (沖縄歴史人名事典, "Encyclopedia of People of Okinawan History"). Naha: Okinawa Bunka-sha, 1996. p39.]["Shō En." ''Okinawa konpakuto jiten'' (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia")]
Ryukyu Shimpo
(琉球新報). 1 March 2003. Born on the small island lying off the northwestern coast 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 a ...
, its founder
Kanemaru traveled to
Shuri in 1441, and became a retainer of Prince
Shō Taikyū. He was appointed as the treasurer after Shō Taikyū became the king. After a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, ...
in 1469, Kanemaru set aside King
Shō Toku's family and ascended to the throne.
Assuming the family name of Shō, he pretended to be the crown prince of
Shō Toku, which resulted in his reign being accepted by the
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 ...
in 1471. The kingdom reached its peak during the reign of the third king
Shō Shin.
With the approval of the
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...
, the
Satsuma Domain
The , briefly known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1602 to 1871.
The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of Kagoshim ...
conquered Ryūkyū in 1609. The Tokugawa shogunate decided to keep the small polity as a separate entity, with intent to make it work as a broker in the shogunate's failed attempt to establish diplomatic relations with China. After several twists and turns, Ryūkyū's position within the shogunate was finalized in 1634. Ryūkyū, with its ''
kokudaka
refers to a system for determining land value for taxation purposes under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo-period Japan, and expressing this value in terms of '' koku'' of rice. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Koku"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. ...
'' assessed as 123,700 ''koku'', was recognized as part of the Satsuma Domain,
though it was excluded from the . In 1635, Satsuma Domain ordered Ryūkyū's rulers to use the title of instead of "king".
[
] After that, the Ryukyuan ruler signed "Ryūkyū ''kokushi''" in the diplomatic letter to Japan.
However, the rulers during this period were referred to in their ' () inscriptions in the family mausoleum
Tamaudun.
[, p.75] The title ''King of Chūzan'' was also remained in the diplomatic letter to China, concealing its vassalage to Satsuma. In 1712, Satsuma changed the policy and allowed the ruler to style himself ''King of Chūzan''.
In 1872, the
Meiji government
The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan.
Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...
recognized the Ryūkyū Kingdom as a ''
han'' and renamed it ,
Shō Tai
was the last king of the Ryukyu Kingdom (8 June 1848 – 10 October 1872) and the head of the Ryukyu Domain (10 October 1872 – 27 March 1879). His reign saw greatly increased interactions with travelers from abroad, particularly from Europe ...
was appointed as . In 1879, the Meiji government abolished the Ryūkyū Domain, and the last king Shō Tai abdicated.
Peerage
After the establishment of Japanese peerage, the last kind Shō Tai was given the rank of marquess. Shō Tai's three close relatives were given the rank of baron. The son of the last regent
Ie Chōchoku
, also known by the Chinese-style name , was a prince of Ryukyu Kingdom. Sometimes he was called Prince Ie () for short.
Prince Ie was the fifth son of King Shō Kō. He served as '' sessei'' from 1872 to 1875. After Ryukyu was annexed by Japa ...
, who was from a cadet branch of the Shō family, was also given the rank of baron.
* Marquess
Shō Tai
was the last king of the Ryukyu Kingdom (8 June 1848 – 10 October 1872) and the head of the Ryukyu Domain (10 October 1872 – 27 March 1879). His reign saw greatly increased interactions with travelers from abroad, particularly from Europe ...
(1885–1901), the last king
** Marquess
Shō Ten
was . He lost that title upon the abolition of the kingdom and the forced abdication of the king, his father, Shō Tai, in 1879, and later succeeded to the title of in the '' kazoku'' peerage following his father's death in 1901.
Life
Sh ...
(1901–1920), the eldest son of Shō Tai
*** Marquess
Shō Shō (1920–1923), the eldest son of Shō Ten
**** Marquess
Shō Hiroshi
Sho, Shō or SHO may refer to:
Music
* ''Shō'' (instrument) (笙), a Japanese wind instrument
* ''Kane'' (instrument) (鉦), a Japanese percussion instrument
* Sho?, a Dubai rock band
People
* Shō (given name), including ''Sho''
* Shō (sur ...
(1923–1947), the eldest son of Shō Shō
* Baron Shō In (1896–1905), the second son of Shō Tai
** Baron Shō Rin (1905–1947), the eldest son of Shō In
* Baron
Shō Jun (1896–1945), the fourth son of Shō Tai
** Baron Shō Sei (1945–1947), the second son of Shō Jun
* Baron
Nakijin Chōfu (1890–1915), a younger brother of the last king
** Baron Nakijin Chōei (1916–1943), a grandson of Nakijin Chōfu
*** Baron Nakijin Chōshū (1943–1945), the eldest son of Nakijin Chōei
* Baron Ie Chōei (1890–1904), the eldest son of
Ie Chōchoku
, also known by the Chinese-style name , was a prince of Ryukyu Kingdom. Sometimes he was called Prince Ie () for short.
Prince Ie was the fifth son of King Shō Kō. He served as '' sessei'' from 1872 to 1875. After Ryukyu was annexed by Japa ...
, the last regent
** Baron Ie Chōshin (1905–1921), the eldest son of Ie Chōei
*** Baron Ie Chōjo (1921–1947), the eldest son of Ie Chōshin
Names
The Chinese-style surname (''sei'') was used for diplomatic relations with China. The second Shō family took the surname Shō from the first Shō family only to disguise the coup d'état as a normal succession. Domestically, direct references to the king's personal name were avoided because they were considered rude.
The royal surname was managed in a rather Japanese-like manner. With some exceptions, only the immediate family members of the king were allowed to take the surname Shō (尚). Cadet branches used different surnames. In 1691, the king ordered all the cadet branches to assume the surname Shō (向), no matter how distant they were from the king. This new surname was pronounced the same as the king's one but had a different
kanji
are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subse ...
with fewer
strokes
Stroke (also known as a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or brain attack) is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, ...
(an example of a
Naming taboo
A naming taboo is a cultural taboo against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons, notably in China and within the Chinese cultural sphere. It was enforced by several laws throughout Imperial China, but its cultural and possibly ...
).
[
]
In Ryūkyū's administrative documents and in relation to Satsuma, the Shō family's male members except the king used Japanese-style names, which consisted of ''kamei'' (house name), ''ikai'' (rank), and ''nanori'' (given name). A ''kamei'' referred to a land in which the samurai was enfeoffed by the king. Because the Shō family members occupied a large portion of high-ranking positions, they often changed their ''kamei'' during the course of their career. A ''nanori'', which was given when the person reached adulthood, consisted of two kanji. The first character, called ''nanori-gashira'', was shared by all the male members of a lineage. In other words, the "given name", not the "house name", effectively indicated the person's lineage. The king's order of 1691, mentioned above, also designated ''Chō'' (朝) as the Shō family's ''nanori-gashira''.
The character ''Chō'' (朝) was chosen to indicate an affinity to
Minamoto no Tametomo (源為朝), who by that time had been considered to be the father of
Shunten, the legendary king of Chūzan.
While the ''
Chūzan Seikan
, compiled in 1650 by Shō Shōken, is the first official history of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. In six scrolls, the main text occupies five and an accompanying summary the sixth. Unlike later official histories such as ''Chūzan Seifu'' and ''Kyūyō' ...
'' (1650) only presented a wishful speculation that Shō En's father might have descended from a former king, Sai On's edition of the ''
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 T ...
'' (1725) explicitly referred to Gihon as a possible ancestor, connecting the second Shō family to the
Minamoto clan
was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during th ...
through Shunten.
Under the modern Japanese naming regulation, a person has only two name components, a family name and a given name. Only the last king Shō Tai and his children chose the Chinese-style surname Shō (and accordingly, Chinese-style given names for males). The other members of the family chose the combinations of ''kamei'' and ''nanori''. Hence, the king's younger brother is referred to as Nakijin Chōfu, not Shō Hitsu.
Family crest
The second Shō family adopted as its ''mon'' or family crest the mitsudomoe, which is otherwise closely associated with the Shinto deity
Hachiman
In Japanese religion, ''Yahata'' (八幡神, ancient Shinto pronunciation) formerly in Shinto and later commonly known as Hachiman (八幡神, Japanese Buddhist pronunciation) is the syncretic divinity of archery and war, incorporating elements f ...
and
Hachiman shrine
A is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the ''kami'' Hachiman. It is the second most numerous type of Shinto shrine after those dedicated to Inari Ōkami (see Inari shrine). There are about 44,000 Hachiman shrines.
Originally the name 八幡 was re ...
s in Japan. It was called in Okinawa. Since it was the royal family's crest, its usage was once severely restricted in Okinawa. Because of this, Okinawans who visited Japan shortly after the annexation of the kingdom were surprised that mitsudomoe banners were flown everywhere.
The adoption of the Hidari Gomon is attested to the last ruler of Okinawa's First Shō Dynasty, King
Shō Toku. The King, possibly inspired by
Japanese pirates
''Wokou'' (; Japanese: ''Wakō''; Korean: 왜구 ''Waegu''), which literally translates to "Japanese pirates" or "dwarf pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century to the 16th century.[Hachiman
In Japanese religion, ''Yahata'' (八幡神, ancient Shinto pronunciation) formerly in Shinto and later commonly known as Hachiman (八幡神, Japanese Buddhist pronunciation) is the syncretic divinity of archery and war, incorporating elements f ...]
, adopted Hachiman's symbol and led an invasion of
Kikai Island
is one of the Satsunan Islands, classed with the Amami archipelago between Kyūshū and Okinawa.
The island, in area, has a population of approximately 7,657 persons. Administratively the island forms the town of Kikai, Kagoshima Prefectu ...
in 1467, later building the
Asato Hachimangū Asato may refer to:
*Asatō Line, a Japanese railway line
*Asato Station, a railway station in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
*Kadjeto-Asato, a town in the Volta Region, Ghana
People with the given name
*, Japanese women's footballer
People with ...
shrine and taking the divine name of Hachiman-aji in response to his victory. Corroborating this was the discovery of a wooden coffin inscribed with a mitsudomoe and the year 1500 found in the Momojana tombs in Northern Okinawa.
Family tree
References
{{Kings of Ryukyu