Editor’s Comment: From 1374 to 1875, for a period of 500 years, the Ryukyu Kingdom enjoyed a tributary relationship with, first, Ming and, later, Qing China. In that span, 347 missions have been recorded. Missions from Ryukyu entered China via Quanzhou and, later, Fuzhou, and traveled overland to the capital in Nanjing or Beijing to pay their respects to the Emperor. To facilitate these missions, the Ming sent large trading ships and “36 families” skilled in shipping, trade, and cultural transmission to Okinawa. Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki’s trip to China with a delegation of Japanese economic organizations in July 2023 is a provocative reminder of Okinawa’s tenuous position between two superpowers, China and Japan, and its historical reliance on diplomacy for survival. In the coming months and years, it’ll be interesting to monitor Okinawa’s development as it rekindles cultural ties with China. -Jim

Katsuji Nakazawa, in “Analysis: Xi throws Okinawa into East Asia geopolitical cocktail” (Nikkei Asia, 15 June 2023), draws attention to the little-known fact that Chinese President Xi Jinping, a quarter-century ago, was acting governor of Fujian Province and played a prominent role in greeting, in Fuzhou, Fujian’s capital, descendants of the original 36 Min families visiting from Kumemura in Okinawa.

Andreas Quast, in “The 36 Clans of the Min-People,” says, beginning in 1392, “These people were sent by the Ming to serve the Ryūkyū kingdom as marine laborers (zhougong 舟工), merchants and ship craftsmen or to take charge of navigation in connection with the large seagoing vessels presented to Ryūkyū by the Ming. They were later joined by scholars and took over diplomatic duties within Ryūkyū’s official tribute trade with China. Their descendants, among whom are found many important families of government officials, cultivated Confucian learning and Chinese traditions down to the end of the nineteenth century.”

Zhou Kunmin*: “The friendship between China and Ryūkyū has a long history. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Chinese-Ryūkyūan foreign trade once held an important position within the sphere of world trade. In 1370, Quanzhou established the ‘Overseas Trading Department,’ and in 1405, it opened the ‘Station for Those Coming From Afar’ (later transferred to Fuzhou, and known as the Ryūkyūkan). Placed under the jurisdiction of the ‘Overseas Trading Department,’ this station hosted the Ryūkyūan missions and stipulated that Ryūkyū shall only pass through Quanzhou Port. More than a hundred years before the ‘Overseas Trading Department’ moved to Fuzhou, Quanzhou played an important role as a hub for China and Ryūkyū. The Ryūkyūan envoys and visitors who traveled to Quanzhou passed on their culture, regional products, and written language to China, and at the same time, they spread a wide range of Chinese ethnic cultures to Ryūkyū. The exchange spanned a wide range, including commerce, agriculture, science, religion, culture, arts, architecture, and medicine. Influenced by Chinese folk customs, Ryūkyū became a Land of Courtesy (Shurei-no-Kuni), which values courtesy” (*from “A study on the origins of Okinawa Karate and Southern Shaolin Boxing from Quanzhou,” March 2015, translated by Andreas Quast).

Excerpt from Asahi Shimbun, 5 July 2023: “BEIJING–Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki is visiting China as part of a business delegation amid growing interest in Okinawa’s historical ties with China, sparked by remarks by Xi Jinping, the country’s supreme leader. Tamaki on July 4 paid his respects at the former site of a graveyard here for people from the Ryukyu Kingdom (1429-1879) who died in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties. ‘I offered prayers with hopes to strengthen the bonds between China and Okinawa and help create an era of peace and affluence,’ Tamaki, who is accompanying a delegation of a Japanese economic organization, told Japanese and Chinese reporters. The independent Ryukyu Kingdom, which was turned into Okinawa Prefecture in 1879, was in a tributary relationship with the two Chinese dynasties. Tamaki will travel to Fuzhou, the capital of the southeastern province of Fujian, on July 6 to meet with local leaders and visit the Fujian-Okinawa friendship hall, which opened in 1998 to promote exchanges in business and other areas. The Okinawan governor’s trip to China is garnering particular attention because Xi, the Chinese president, referred to ‘deep interactions’ between the Ryukyu Kingdom and Fuzhou in June.”

Additional photos of the Ryukyu Pavilion in Fuzhou, Fujian province:

The following photos are from “Ancient House in Fuzhou: Ryukyu Hotel,” Seen News, 4 Aug. 2020:

The following photos are from “Category: Ryukyu House,” Wikimedia Commons: