Death of Sho Hashi
Brings Instability
Sho Hashi, founder of the First Sho Dynasty, died in 1439, at age 68. He had held the kingdom
together by developing the personal loyalties of each of the local aji in the
country. Now that he was gone, there was
no clear leader around which the country could coalesce. A series of kings followed in quick
succession, each of whom died within five years of less of assuming the throne.
Turmoil in the Shuri Palace
Sho Hashi’s second son Sho Chu died five years after becoming king.
Sho Chu’s son Shitatsu was next in line, but he also died
five years following his coronation.
Sho Hashi’s fifth son, Kimpuku, was next. He built many roads around Shuri and Naha but
died 3 years after becoming king.
Given the split loyalties of the various aji one has to
wonder what the causes of death were for these rulers. Was it natural causes or something more
sinister?
The death of King Kimpuku led to a direct rivalry within the
royal family for succession to power.
Kimpuku’s young son Shiro asserted his right to rule but was challenged
by Sho Hashi’s sixth son. Rioting
between these factions erupted in Shuri castle.
In the course of the fighting, both rivals for the throne were killed. The
palace building itself was burned and destroyed. Many precious treasures were
lost in the fire.
When the dust settled, Sho Hashi’s seventh son Sho Taikyu
became king.
Sho Taikyu strengthened ties with Japan and with Buddhism. He
built a number of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines during his reign. However, he spent lavishly and significantly
depleted the wealth of the country that had been built up by his predecessors.
Sho Taikyu died in 1460, after only six years as king.
Sho Toku
The new king, Sho Taikyu's son Sho Toku, age 21, was quite a lover of
adventure. Following in his father’s
fiscally irresponsible footsteps, he continued to drain the royal coffers through
various ventures, including military excursions.
He adopted the Hachiman emblem of a circle with 3
comma-shapes inside as his crest.
Hachiman was the mythological Japanese god of archery and war, and the
patron saint of the samurai, sea adventurers and pirates
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| Crest of The Ryukyu Kingdom - source: Wikipedia |
In 1465 Sho Toku led an invasion of Kikai Island to the
north, an island of no economic or military value. His conquest of an island was a success, but only served to further drain the economy of Okinawa.
Unhappy with the Sho Toku’s rule, the royal treasurer Kanemaro,
along with other important figures, left Shuri court and returned to their own estates
where they plotted a conspiracy against Sho Toku.
This culminated in the king’s death in 1469 at age 29, eight years after he
became king. He did not have a son to
succeed him.
The Second Sho Dynasty
Kanemaro, no doubt with the support of the other aji who had deserted Shuri with him, assumed the throne of Ryukyu. Forty years after the unification of Ryukyu by Sho Hashi, the First Sho Dynasty was now at an end.
Kanemaro adopted the name Sho En and started what is known
as the Second Sho Dynasty. This dynasty remained
stable and lasted for another 400 years until Japan finally forced the dissolution of
the Ryukyu kingdom following the Meiji Restoration.
