was king of the

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom was a kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands from 1429 to 1879. It was ruled as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of Ming dynasty, imperial Ming China by the King of Ryukyu, Ryukyuan monarchy, who unified Okinawa Island t ...

from 1556 to 1572. He was called "Gen, the mute."Kerr, George H. (2000).

Life

The king required considerable support from the ''

Sanshikan The ''Sanshikan'' ( ), or Council of Three, was a government body of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, which originally developed out of a council of regents. It emerged in 1556, when the young Shō Gen, who was speech disorder, mute, ascended to the throne ...

'' (Council of Three), the chief council of royal advisors. His reign marked the beginning of the council's demonstration of significantly greater effectiveness and efficiency than previously. Shō Gen received his official investiture from the Ming Court in 1562, and received emissaries from 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 contr ...

of the Japanese province of Satsuma in 1570 and 1572. The Shimazu wished to establish some control over the Ryukyus, making them either a tributary or a vassal state. The kingdom resisted the Shimazu overtures, and a small punitive mission launched by the Shimazu created a small skirmish on the island of

Amami Ōshima , also known as Amami, is the largest island in the Amami Islands, Amami archipelago between Kyūshū and Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa. It is one of the Satsunan Islands, all of which belong to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, 712.35 ...

in 1571, although the Ryukyuans defeated them. He was the second son of King Shō Sei, who he succeeded, and was succeeded in turn by his second son, Shō Ei.

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 tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

.
OCLC 39633631
* 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
1528 births 1572 deaths Second Shō dynasty Kings of Ryūkyū Mute people Royalty and nobility with disabilities {{RyukyuKingdom-stub

Life

See also

Notes

References