A Study of Ryukyuan Tributary Trades with China in the Transition Period of Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty.

1998 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 08610339
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese history
• Research Institution: University of Ryukyus
• Principal Investigator: KISHABA Kazutaka University of the Ryukyus, School of Law and Letters, Professor, 法文学部, 教授 (90044833)
• Project Period (FY): 1996 – 1998
• Keywords: Ming / Qing / Ryukyu / tribute paying / South Ming government / tributary goods / Satsuma / Edo shogunate

Research Abstract

This study deals with the period between the end of Ming dynasty and the beginning of Qing dynasty in China. This period is characterized by extreme political instability, due to continuous disturbances of war. Because of this, there were virtually no known historical documents concerning the topic of this project, leaving the study of this field uncultivated. Therefore, my research focused on finding and examining relevant historical documents in order to fill in the void. As a result, three historical documents were found. The first of them is a diary that has been preserved in the Kiwaki family of Kagoshima City. This diary was written in the last years of Ming dynasty, and documents the relationship between Satsuma and Ryukyu. Since the diary contains statements about such various topics as politics, economy, and culture, one can get a glimpse of the state of affairs of Ming and Qing through the relationship between Satsuma and Ryukyu. This makes the diary an extremely valuable his torical document. The other two historical documents are not directly relevant to the current project, but are expected to be quite useful in future research as indirect resources. One of them is called Ryukyujin Sanpuki ("Record of Ryukyuans' Visit" written in 1850), which records the visit of Edo by a delegation from the Kingdom of Ryukyu. This document is included in the book collection of the Ogasawara family (located in Yukuhashi City, Fukuoka Prefecture), but was not known at all to researchers in the past. Though accidentally found during my project, it is a newly discovered valuable historical document. The last item that was discovered is a document concerning sea tangles, which constituted one of the most important export goods of tributary trading by Ryukyuans. Sea tangles grow in northern seas, and during the Edo period, they were carried by ships from Hokkaido going southward in the Japan Sea. The sea merchants of Satsuma went as far as the Hokuriku district (Toyama Prefecture), bought sea tangles there, and shipped them southwards to Ryukyu. The document was found in a family collection in Toyama Prefecture. My research brought to light the "Road of Sea Tangles" mentioned above, contributing to the future study of tributary trading. The three historical documents described above constitute the major discoveries of this research project.