Ryukyu Envoys

A general term for (1) the tribute missions sent by the King of Chūzan of the Ryūkyū Kingdom to the Chinese emperor, and (2) the missions sent to the Tokugawa shogunate. The former were sent to Beijing during the Ming and Qing dynasties (from the late 14th century to the late 19th century). The latter were called "Edo-tachi" and took place 18 times between 1634 (Kan'ei 11) after the Satsuma invasion of Ryūkyū and 1850 (Kaei 3) at the end of the Edo period. There were thank-you missions sent when the Ryūkyū king ascended to the throne, and congratulatory missions sent when the Tokugawa shogun took over the position. The tribute missions to Beijing participated in the tribute ceremony at Zijin Castle and then engaged in trade at the Ryūkyū House in Fuzhou. While Ryukyu exported marine products such as kelp, shark fin, sea cucumber, and dried bonito to Fuzhou, they also imported raw silk, silk fabrics, and herbal medicines from China and resold them on the Japanese market through the Satsuma Domain. The trading capital, Totogin, was partly funded by the Satsuma Domain.

[Maehira Fusaaki]

"The Ryukyu Kingdom" by Takara Kurayoshi (1993, Iwanami Shinsho)" ▽ "The Illustrated Ryukyu Kingdom" edited by Takara Kurayoshi and Tana Masayuki (1994, Kawade Shobo Shinsha)" ▽ "The History of Okinawa Prefecture" by Asato Susumu et al. (2004, Yamakawa Publishing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

(1)中国皇帝へ派遣された琉球国中山王(ちゅうざんおう)の朝貢使節と、(2)徳川幕府へ派遣された使節の総称。前者は明清時代（14世紀後半から19世紀後半）に北京へ派遣された。後者は「江戸立」とよばれ、薩摩の琉球侵攻後の1634年（寛永11）から幕末の1850年（嘉永3）までの間に18回行われた。琉球国王即位の際に派遣される謝恩使(しゃおんし)と、徳川将軍襲職の際に派遣される慶賀使(けいがし)とがある。北京への朝貢使節は紫金城で朝貢儀式に参加したのち、福州の琉球館(りゅうきゅうかん)で交易に従事した。琉球から福州向けに昆布・フカヒレ・ナマコ・鰹節など海産物を輸出する一方、中国から輸入した生糸・絹織物・漢方薬材などを、薩摩藩を通じて日本市場に転売した。交易資本である渡唐銀(ととうぎん)は、その一部を薩摩藩が出資した。

［真栄平房昭］

『高良倉吉著『琉球王国』（1993・岩波新書）』▽『高良倉吉・田名真之編『図説琉球王国』（1994・河出書房新社）』▽『安里進ほか著『沖縄県の歴史』（2004・山川出版社）』

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