Ryukyu Kingdom

The Ryukyu Kingdom was an island kingdom in the Ryukyu chain between Kyushu and Taiwan, unified in 1429 when Sho Hashi of Chuzan conquered the northern and southern principalities of Hokuzan and Nanzan. Its capital was Shuri, near the port of Naha on Okinawa, and its kings conducted a flourishing maritime trade that made the small kingdom a hub between China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia. Ryukyu entered the Ming tribute system under the Hongwu emperor and remained a tributary of Ming and later Qing China, adopting Chinese writing, Confucian learning and official ceremonies while preserving its own language and court music. In 1609 the Satsuma domain of southern Japan invaded the islands, annexed the Amami group and imposed a resident commissioner, so that the kingdom became a dual vassal of China and Japan. The Meiji government ended the arrangement by transforming Ryukyu into a domain in 1872 and abolishing it in favour of Okinawa Prefecture in 1879.