Maritime Ryukyu, 1050-1650 / Gregory Smits.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smits, Gregory, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pirates--East Asia.

Pirates.

Ryukyu Islands--History--To 1879.

Ryukyu Islands.

Ryukyu Islands--Politics and government.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 303 pages) : illustrations, maps

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Why do Ryukyu's official histories locate the origins of its early dynastic founders in Iheya and Izena, small islands located northwest of Okinawa? Why did the Ming court extend favorable trade terms to Ryukyuan rulers? What was the nature of Okinawa's enigmatic principalities, Sannan, Chūzan, and Hokuzan? When and how did the Ryukyu islands become united under a single ruler? Was this Ryukyuan state an empire, why did it go to war with the powerful Japanese domain of Satsuma in 1609, and what actually happened during that war? Answers to these and other key questions concerning early Ryukyuan history can be found in this bold reappraisal by a leading authority on the subject.Conventional portrayals of early Ryukyu are based on official histories written between 1650 and 1750. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Gregory Smits makes extensive use of scholarship in archaeology and anthropology and leverages unconventional sources such as the Omoro sōshi (a collection of ancient songs) to present a fundamental rethinking of early Ryukyu. Instead of treating Ryukyu as a natural, self-contained cultural or political community, he examines it as part of a maritime network extending from coastal Korea to the islands of Tsushima and Iki, along the western shore of Kyushu, and through the Ryukyu Arc to coastal China. Smits asserts that Ryukyuan culture did not spring from the soil of Okinawa: He highlights Ryukyu's northern roots and the role of wakō (pirate-merchant seafarers) in the formation of power centers throughout the islands, uncovering their close historical connections with the coastal areas of western Japan and Korea. Unlike conventional Ryukyuan histories that open with Okinawa, Maritime Ryukyu starts with the northern island of Kikai, an international crossroads during the eleventh century. It also focuses on other important but often overlooked territories such as the Tokara islands and Kumejima, in addition to bringing the northern and southern Ryukyu islands into a story that all too often centers almost exclusively on Okinawa. Readers interested in the history of the Ryukyu islands, premodern Japan, and East Asia, as well as maritime history, will welcome this original and persuasive volume.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations and Conventions

Introduction

PART I. Ryukyu's Network, 1050-1470

Chapter 1: Ryukyu in the East China Sea Network

Chapter 2: Wakō and the Ryukyu Islands

Chapter 3: A State for Trade Purposes

Chapter 4: The Enigma of the Three Principalities

Chapter 5: Geographies of Power

PART II. Dynastic Turbulence, 1400-1600

Chapter 6: The First Shō Dynasty

Chapter 7: Seizures, Erasures, and Resurgences

Chapter 8: The Second Shō Dynasty's Challenges

Chapter 9: Assembling a Royal Line

PART III. Wakō to Kings, 1477-1556

Chapter 10: Centering Shuri and Forging an Empire

Chapter 11: The Ryukyu Empire

Chapter 12: Politics and Religion

PART IV. The New Order, 1550-1650

Chapter 13: A Changing World and the Road to War

Chapter 14: The War

Chapter 15: Aftermath

Chapter 16: Many Ryukyus

Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-292) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 28. Aug 2019)

ISBN:

9780824877088

082487708X

9780824877095

0824877098

OCLC:

1098213229