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50-617: Okinawa does not have their own contemporary records of the Sanzan period. Contemporary sources are limited to Chinese and, to a far lesser extent, Korean diplomatic records. They are in a fragmentary fashion and probably overshadowed by diplomatic fictions. Since the Chinese sources simply record local rulers who contacted China, they do not rule out the possibility that some other local rulers co-existed without establishing diplomatic contacts. For this reason, Okinawa's real situation remains largely

100-594: A credible threat to military rule. The failure of the Kenmu Restoration had rendered the court weak and subservient, a situation that Ashikaga Takauji reinforced by establishing his court within close proximity to the Emperor in Kyoto. The authority of the local daimyō greatly expanded from that of Kamakura times. In addition to military and policing responsibilities, the shogunate-appointed shugo now absorbed

150-521: A mystery. According to the Veritable Records of the Ming , the newly formed Ming dynasty sent an envoy to what it called the "State of Ryūkyū," among many other countries, in 1372 to start tributary relations. In response, a ruler who was referred to as Satto , King of Chūzan, sent his younger brother Taiki to pay tribute. In 1380, Shōsatto , King of Sannan, sent a mission to Ming China, which

200-402: A year. Chūzan's missions were also unusual in that some of them were sent under the name of the crown prince although it should have been done by the king. In 1404, Crown Prince Bunei reported King Satto's death and was recognized as the next king. In 1407, Crown Prince Shishō 's envoy reported his "father" Bunei's death to seek the approval of the succession to the throne. An article of 1425 in

250-472: Is Aji of Ōzato . Alternatively, he is referred to as Shimo no yo-no-nushi ( 下の世の主 ) . They are no different from other regional rulers. According to Ryūkyū's official history books, King Tamagusuku, who had maintained a unified polity, lost the support of local rulers. People in the south followed the Aji of Ōzato while the northern region was controlled by the Aji of Nakijin. In other words, these books identify

300-468: Is helpful in understanding Okinawa's own world-view although it is a compilation of poems and by no means a history book. The Chūzan Seikan and Sai Taku's edition of the Chūzan Seifu follow Chinese sources in that they refer to the supposed polities as Sanhoku ( 山北 , lit. north of the mountain ) , Chūzan and Sannan ( 山南 , lit. south of the mountain ) . For some unknown reason, however, Sai On changed

350-628: Is noted by historians that the Veritable Records make no mention of the supposed unification. The only thing that can be inferred from the records is that the Kings of Sanhoku and Sannan ceased to send diplomatic missions. The King of Chūzan retained the title of "King of Chūzan" even after he became the sole ruler of the State of Ryūkyū. In 1416, the Ashikaga shōgun sent a letter in reply to

400-498: The Kyūyō (1745). They reflect Okinawa's historical tradition to some degree. They are, however, desperate attempts to reconcile conflicting sources. Sai On, in particular, extensively rewrote his father's edition of the Chūzan Seifu using newly obtained Chinese sources. As a result, he damaged its historical value, from modern historians' perspective. Additionally, the Omoro Sōshi (1623)

450-881: The daimyō lords of the samurai class. The Ashikaga shogunate began the Nanboku-chō period between the Pro-Ashikaga Northern Court in Kyoto and the Pro-Go-Daigo Southern Court in Yoshino until the South conceded to the North in 1392. The Ashikaga shogunate collapsed upon outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, entering a state of constant civil war known as the Sengoku period , and

500-454: The Chūzan Seifu , are not based on Okinawa's own narrative. Another problem is about the identification of the place of Ōzato. There are two candidates for it: Shimasoe-Ōzato in modern-day Nanjō City and Shimajiri-Ōzato in modern-day Itoman City . In addition, the Omoro Sōshi divides southern Okinawa into three regions: the eastern region (covering Shimasoe-Ōzato), the central region and

550-453: The Chūzan Seifu . He identified Taromai as the eldest son of Shō Hashi and concluded that Taromai, King of Sannan, was a puppet of Chūzan. According to Wada, Shō Hashi overthrew the King of Sannan in 1403 and ascended to the throne. He overthrew Bunei, King of Chūzan, in 1405 and installed his father Shishō as King of Chūzan. He gave the title of King of Sannan to his son Taromai in 1415 to become

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600-696: The Genpei War was fought between the Taira and Minamoto clans, which had a longstanding violent rivalry for influence over the Emperor of Japan and his Imperial Court . The Genpei War ended with victory for the Minamoto under Minamoto no Yoritomo , establishing the Kamakura shogunate after being pronounced Shōgun and beginning the Kamakura period . The Hōjō clan rose to power and governed Japan from

650-582: The Kenmu Restoration . The Kamakura shogunate ordered Ashikaga Takauji to squash the uprising, but for reasons that are unclear, Takauji turned against Kamakura and fought on behalf of the Imperial court, successfully overthrowing the shogunate. It is possibly because Takauji was the unofficial leader of the powerless Minamoto clan while the Hōjō clan were from the Taira clan the Minamoto had previously defeated. Japan

700-484: The Korean Peninsula and with imperial China. Bloody succession crises amongst the warrior families led to a decline in the authority of the bakufu until it almost vanished by 1441 at the death of Ashikaga Yoshinori . The lack of government control was especially acute when the daimyō feuded among themselves in the pursuit of power during the Ōnin War (1467–1477), until it erupted into open warfare in

750-457: The Muromachi period from 1336 to 1573. The Ashikaga shogunate was established when Ashikaga Takauji was appointed Shōgun after overthrowing the Kenmu Restoration shortly after it had overthrown the Kamakura shogunate in support of Emperor Go-Daigo . The Ashikaga clan governed Japan from the Imperial capital of Heian-kyō ( Kyoto ) as de facto military dictators along with

800-564: The Qing dynasty . The Veritable Records ( shilu ) for each emperor was composed after the emperor's death by a History Office appointed by the Grand Secretariat using different types of historical sources such as: Ashikaga shogunate The Ashikaga shogunate ( 足利幕府 , Ashikaga bakufu ) , also known as the Muromachi shogunate ( 室町幕府 , Muromachi bakufu ) , was the feudal military government of Japan during

850-525: The Veritable Records states that Ming China let Crown Prince Shō Hashi succeed the late King Shishō. Historians have noted suspicious patterns in the Sanzans' diplomatic missions. While Ming China bestowed vessels and their crews on the Kings of Chūzan and Sannan, the King of Sanhoku had no such record. This may explain why the King of Sanhoku's missions almost always coincided with Chūzan's even though they were supposedly in conflict. In addition, staffs in

900-510: The yo-no-nushi of the State of Ryūkyū (りうきう國のよのぬし). This rare record has been handed down only on the mainland Japanese side. Okinawa's own narratives on the Sanzan period were recorded centuries later by Ryūkyū . Major history books include the Chūzan Seikan (1650), Sai Taku 's edition of the Chūzan Seifu (1701), Sai On 's revised edition of the Chūzan Seifu (from 1724 onwards) and

950-409: The 11 regions of Sashiki, Chinen, Tamagusuku, Gushikami, Kochinda, Shimajiri-Ōzato, Kyan, Mabuni, Makabe, Kanegusuku and Tomigusuku. The Chūzan King subjugated Naha, Tomari, Urasoe, Chatan, Nakagusuku, Goeku, Yomitanzan, Gushikawa, Katsuren and Shuri. Shuri is treated as the everlasting capital of Chūzan. However, it is clear from literary evidence and archaeological findings that Urasoe was the center of

1000-460: The Aji of Nakijin as the King of Sanhoku and the Aji of Ōzato as the King of Sannan. Most modern historians question this alleged split because they do not support the existence of a unified polity on Okinawa before the "reunification" in the 15th century. No personal names were recorded for the Aji of Nakijin in the Chūzan Seikan or Sai Taku's edition of Chūzan Seifu , except Hanishi, whose name

1050-533: The Crown Prince of Chūzan. He succeeded his father Shishō as King of Chūzan in 1422. After the death of Taromai around 1429, Shō Hashi formally abolished Sannan. The reason that Shō Hashi nominally maintained Sannan was that he wished to keep profitable Chinese trade conducted under the name of the King of Sannan. Ikuta Shigeru presented an even more radical interpretation of the Sanzan period. He dismissed Okinawa's later narratives as mere legends. He argued that

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1100-486: The King of Chūzan only after Shishō's death in 1421. Sai On's edition of Chūzan Seifu is drastically different from these two books. It claims that Shō Hashi defeated the King of Chūzan and installed his father Shishō in 1406. He conquered the King of Sanhoku in 1416 and the King of Sannan in 1429. The Chūzan Seikan seems to follow Okinawa's own tradition. Sai Taku "corrected" the Chūzan Seikan with Chinese records which stated that Shishō, Crown Prince of Chūzan, reported

1150-401: The King of Chūzan. He died there in the same year. These records clearly contradict the Veritable Records , raising questions about the reliability of Okinawa's diplomatic correspondence to foreign countries. The King of Chūzan sent envoys to China much more frequently than the Kings of Sanhoku and Sannan. The King of Chūzan paid tribute biennially from 1372 to 1382 and after that once or twice

1200-448: The King of Sannan and claimed the title. He then overthrew Bunei, King of Chūzan, in 1421 to become the King of Chūzan. He finally killed the King of Sanhoku in 1422. Sai Taku's edition of Chūzan Seifu generally follows the Chūzan Seikan . However, it dates Shō Hashi's conquest of Chūzan 16 years earlier than the Chūzan Seikan . It also claims that Shō Hashi installed his father Shishō as King of Chūzan instead of himself. Shō Hashi became

1250-503: The King of Sannan was under the control of the King of Chūzan from the very beginning. Due to lack of sufficient evidence, he refrained from determining Sanhoku's relationship with Chūzan. He related these alleged kings to Ming China's haijin (sea ban) policy. Unlike the preceding Mongol Yuan Dynasty , the Ming Dynasty prohibited Chinese merchants from engaging in oversea trade. In order to maintain international trade that covers

1300-588: The Kitsuregawa domain. The shogunal residence, also known as the "Flower Palace", was in Kyoto on the block now bounded by Karasuma Street (to the east), Imadegawa Street (to the south), Muromachi Street (to the west, giving the name), and Kamidachiuri Street (to the north). The location is commemorated by a stone marker at the southwest corner, and the Kanbai-kan ( 寒梅館 , Winter Plum Hall) of Dōshisha University contains relics and excavations of

1350-521: The Southern Court gave up during the reign of Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1392. The Ashikaga shogunate was the weakest of the three Japanese military governments. Unlike its predecessor, the Kamakura shogunate , or its successor, the Tokugawa shogunate , when Ashikaga Takauji established his government he had little personal territory with which to support his rule. The Ashikaga shogunate

1400-543: The city of Kamakura , while the Emperor and his Imperial Court remained in the official capital city of Heian-kyō as largely symbolic figures. The Hōjō monopoly of power, as well as the lack of a reward of lands after the defeat of the Mongol invasions , led to simmering resentment among Hōjō vassals . In 1333, the Emperor Go-Daigo ordered local governing vassals to oppose Hōjō rule, in favor of Imperial rule in

1450-435: The death of "his father" Bunei. Sai On's drastic revision was also based on Chinese records. The last diplomatic contact of the King of Sannan was of 1429 while that of the King of Sanhoku was of 1416. From these records, Sai On naïvely inferred that these two kings ceased to exist immediately after the last contacts. Modern historians have also struggled to resolve contradictions. Unlike Sai On, Wada Hisanori attached weight to

1500-587: The imperial annals of the emperors of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). It is the single largest historical source for the dynasty. According to modern historians, it "plays an extremely important role in the historical reconstruction of Ming society and politics." After the fall of the Ming dynasty, the Ming Veritable Records was used as a primary source for the compilation of the History of Ming by

1550-466: The judicial, economic, and taxation powers of the local Imperial governors, while the government holdings in each province were rapidly absorbed into the personal holdings of the daimyō or their vassals. The loss of both political clout and an economic base deprived the Imperial court of much of its power, which were then assumed by the Ashikaga shōgun . This situation reached its peak under the rule of

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1600-399: The late Muromachi period, also known as the Sengoku period . When the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiteru was assassinated in 1565, an ambitious daimyō , Oda Nobunaga , seized the opportunity and installed Yoshiteru's brother Ashikaga Yoshiaki as the 15th Ashikaga shōgun and Nobunaga's puppet . However Yoshiaki was not entirely subservient to Nobunaga: he continued to strike bargains amongst

1650-400: The missions were apparently shared. For example, Sangurumi (三吾良亹), who was sent to China by the King of Sannan in 1392, claimed to be a nephew (姪) of Shōsatto, King of Sannan. In Chūzan's missions, however, he appeared as a nephew (従子) of Satto, King of Chūzan, in 1403 and as a nephew (姪) of Bunei, King of Chūzan, in 1404. Even though historian Wada Hisanori regarded him as multiple persons with

1700-514: The monasteries to gain favor, and mediated between powerful clans such as the Otomo and Mori . The Ashikaga shogunate was finally destroyed in 1573 when Nobunaga drove Yoshiaki out of Kyoto. Initially, Yoshiaki fled to Shikoku . Afterwards, he sought and received protection from the Mōri clan in western Japan. The Ashikaga family survived the 16th century, and a branch of it became the daimyō family of

1750-479: The most powerful polity on the island before the capital was moved to Shuri. Tamagusuku, King of Chūzan, was succeeded by King Seii . After Seii's death, people deposed the crown prince and enthroned Satto, the ruler of Urasoe, in 1350. Although his existence was supported by contemporary sources, his life is colored by mythology: he was a son of a humble farmer and a swan maiden . During his reign, he started to pay tribute to Ming China. Also, he received tribute from

1800-498: The name of Shōsatto, King of Sannan, lasted from 1380 to 1396. An unusual characteristic of Sannan was that the "King's father's younger brother" (王叔) Ōeishi also sent envoys from 1388 to 1397. In 1403, Ōōso , who claimed to be Shōsatto's younger brother or cousin, reported Shōsatto's death in 1403 and was recognized as King of Sannan the next year. In 1415, Crown Prince Taromai reported that King Ōōso had been murdered by his "elder brother" Tafuchi. Taromai's blood relationship with Ōōso

1850-428: The names of Sanhoku and Sannan to Hokuzan ( 北山 ) and Nanzan ( 南山 ) respectively. A world view presented in the Omoro Sōshi is strikingly different from that of the history books. The perception that Okinawa was divided into three polities is absent from the poem anthology. It never uses the terms of Sanzan, Sanhoku, Chūzan or Sannan. The King of Sanhoku is referred to as Aji of Nakijin . The supposed King of Sannan

1900-423: The region who engaged in conflict. It recognized them as "kings" and called for peace. As for the Kings of Sanhoku, the Veritable Records record the un-Okinawan-looking names of three kings, Hanishi, Min and Han'anchi, but make no mention of their blood relations. The last diplomatic contact of the King of Sanhoku was of 1416. The records of the Kings of Sannann are more complicated. The diplomatic missions under

1950-465: The same name, Wada acknowledged that the envoys and vessels sent by Taromai, King of Sannan, clearly overlapped with those of the King of Chūzan. The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty states that in 1418, Katsuren, the second son of the King of Chūzan, called for trade with Korea and sent vessels that carried Chinese and Southeast Asian goods. Historians have no consensus on his true identity. It

2000-399: The southern island groups of Miyako and Yaeyama for the first time in history. Satto was succeeded by his son Bunei in 1395. Although the history books agree that Shō Hashi unified Okinawa, the accounts of the unification process contain non-negligible inconsistencies. The oldest Chūzan Seikan states that after Shō Hashi succeeded his father Shishō as Aji of Sashiki in 1402, he overthrew

2050-645: The subject of how to govern the country. That dispute led Takauji to cause Prince Yutahito, the second son of Emperor Go-Fushimi , to be installed as Emperor Kōmyō while Go-Daigō fled Kyoto. Japan was subsequently divided between two Imperial courts: the Northern Court located in Kyoto, in favor of Kōmyō under Ashikaga influence; and the Southern Court located in Yoshino , in favor of Go-Daigō. The Northern and Southern courts engaged in an ideological struggle for power that continued for 56 years, until

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2100-454: The third shōgun , Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. After Yoshimitsu however, the structural weakness of the Ashikaga shogunate was exposed by numerous succession troubles and early deaths. This became dramatically more acute after the Ōnin War , after which the shogunate itself became reduced to little more than a local political force in Kyoto. The Ashikaga shogunate's foreign relations policy choices were played out in evolving contacts with Joseon on

2150-483: The vast area from Southeast Asia to Japan and Korea, they set up tribute-paying missions under the names of foreign kings. At their height, they used three dummy names. As Okinawa's importance in international trade decreased, the names of Sanhoku and Sannan ceased to be used. Ming Shilu The Ming Veritable Records or Ming Shilu ( traditional Chinese : 明實錄 ; simplified Chinese : 明实录 ; lit. ' Veritable Records of Ming'), contains

2200-473: The western region (including Shimajiri-Ōzato). The Chūzan Seifu identify the Shimasoe-Ōzato Aji as the King of Sannan, which appears to reflect Okinawa's own narratives. However, both editions of the Chūzan Seifu identify Shimajiri-Ōzato as the capital of Sannan. According to the Chūzan Seikan , the Aji of Nakijin's domain included Haneji, Nago, Kunigami, Kin, Ie and Iheya. The Aji of Ōzato controlled

2250-474: Was finally dissolved when Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki was overthrown by Oda Nobunaga in 1573. The Ashikaga shogunate's alternative name Muromachi and the Muromachi period are derived from the Muromachi district of Kyoto, where the third Shōgun , Ashikaga Yoshimitsu , established his residence nicknamed the "Flower Palace" ( 花の御所 , Hana no Gosho ) on Muromachi Street in 1379. From 1180 to 1185,

2300-411: Was followed by Hanishi , King of Sanhoku in 1383. The names of Sanhoku and Sannan are apparently Chūzan-centric. It is not clear who coined these names. Ming China's perception of the co-existence of the three "kings" can be found in an article of 1383 of the Veritable Records , which was based on the report of a Ming envoy who visited Okinawa in 1382. The Ming considered that there were three rulers in

2350-407: Was not mentioned. As the King of Sannan, Taromai sent envoys from 1416 to 1429. The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea records mysterious events about the King of Sannan. In 1394, Satto, King of Chūzan, requested Korea to return Shōsatto, Crown Prince of Sannan (山南王子承察度), who had supposedly fled to Korea. In 1398, Onsadō, King of Sannan (山南王温沙道), fled to Korea after reportedly being banished by

2400-424: Was obviously taken from Chinese sources. It was not known to Ryūkyū how many rulers assumed the title. Sai On's edition of Chūzan Seifu adds two personal names, Min and Han'anchi, which were taken from a Chinese source, not from Okinawa's own. Similarly, the Chūzan Seikan and Sai Taku's edition of Chūzan Seifu have no record of personal names of the Aji of Ōzato. The names of Ōōso and Taromai, added by Sai On to

2450-519: Was returned to Imperial civilian rule , but Emperor Go-Daigo's policies were unpopular and failed to satisfy those who had fought for him. In 1336, Takauji established his own military government in Kyoto, effectively overthrowing the Kenmu Restoration and appointing himself as the new Shōgun . After Ashikaga Takauji established himself as the Shōgun , a dispute arose with Emperor Go-Daigo on

2500-463: Was thus heavily reliant on the prestige and personal authority of its shōgun . The centralized master-vassal system used in the Kamakura system was replaced with the highly de-centralized daimyōs (local lord) system, and because of the lack of direct territories, the military power of the shōgun depended heavily on the loyalty of the daimyō . On the other hand, the Imperial court was no longer

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