Nanzan

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Nanzan in southern Okinawa during the Sanzan period.

Nanzan ( Japanese 南山 , dt. "Southern Mountain"), sometimes also Sannan ( 山南 ) was one of the three kingdoms that controlled the island of Okinawa during the Sanzan period in the 14th and early 15th centuries. The island was divided into countless tribal principalities and small kingdoms, from which three central kingdoms emerged in the years from 1314. In addition to Nanzan, these were the kingdoms of Chūzan and Hokuzan . Nanzan ceased to exist after it was conquered by King Shō Hashi of Chūzan in 1429 .

history

Before the founding of Nanzan, the rulers of Okinawa were loosely subordinate to a chief prince of Okinawa. After Prince Eiji's death in 1313, his son Tamagusuku took over the office. Tamagusuku did not manage to get all the princes to regard him as a legitimate ruler, so that rebellions against him came almost immediately. Therefore, in 1314, he proclaimed the kingdom of Chūzan from his future capital, Urasoe . Ofusato , a local prince, fled Urasoe to the south and settled in Ōzato castle . From there he expanded his control over the surrounding areas before finally proclaiming the kingdom of Nanzan in 1337. As early as 1322, another prince founded the kingdom of Hokuzan in the north. The rulers of the three kingdoms succeeded in asserting themselves as undisputed kings against the other tribal chiefs, so that Okinawa was more or less centrally united for the first time.

Although it was the smallest of the three kingdoms, Nanzan was in a much better position than Hokuzan. Its population density was higher and the land was more suitable for agriculture. Although Chūzan controlled the largest trading port with Nāfa , the ports in the south were better developed than those in Hokuzan, so that Nanzan could still participate in the increasingly important sea trade in the region. However, Nāfa was the main port for trade with China, so Chūzan was the first to be included in the tribute system of the Chinese Ming dynasty in 1372 , something that Nanzan and Hokuzan did later. Another indicator of the lesser importance attached to Nanzan was the number of tribute embassies received in China. Chūzan sent 52 missions while Nanzan only sent 19 and Hokuzan only sent nine. In addition to these official trade missions, smuggling is likely to have played a certain role. A private trader from Nanzan in China was picked up around 1381, where he wanted to buy porcelain for his own use in exchange for silver.

In 1406, Nanzan suffered another setback. The Chinese Emperor Hongwu had previously not recognized any of the three kings of Okinawa as the rightful ruler, since according to the Chinese view there could only be one ruler of Okinawa. After Hongwu's death in 1398, all three kingdoms sent ambassadors to Nanjing , who asked that their respective rulers be recognized as legitimate king. There was no response until 1406, when a Chinese embassy finally arrived in Chūzan and recognized its king, Bunei , as the legitimate ruler. Although this honor was also bestowed on King Taromai of Nanzan in 1415 , he could no longer make a profit from it, as he had to struggle with inner unrest in his kingdom. After his death in 1429, King Shō Hashi of Chūzan, who had already conquered Hokuzan by force in 1416, took advantage of the controversy for the throne of the possible successors and took control of Nanzan, whereby Okinawa was united under one king. As a result, he proclaimed the Kingdom of Ryūkyū .

literature