Dr. Gregory Smit's presentation at the Parades & Processions in Edo Symposium on February 11, 2013 @ the University of Hawaii at Manoa. His full paper is also available at <http: />

1. Making a Good Impression:
Cultural Drama in the Ryukyu-China Relationship
Overall argument:
The Ryukyu-China (Ming and Qing) relationship
included essential performative components,
with the burden on Ryukyuans to make a good
impression on Chinese officials. The best and
most important example was the process of
royal investiture by the Chinese court. Indeed,
insofar as the Ryukyuan court strove with
considerable success to convey a good
impression, the investiture process possessed a
parade-like quality. Moreover, the Ryukyuan
court skillfully nurtured a positive image in
Chinese eyes, in what we might call an early
form of public relations management.

2. A few points about Ryukyu-Satsuma relations . . .
Satsuma controlled Ryukyu’s foreign relations—to a point
But Ryukyuan cooperation was essential
One requirement: the need for Ryukyu to appear fully independent
One result: sharp decrease in Japanese residents
Another result: strong Chinese cultural influence, mid 17th century onward
Confucian temple
Envoy to the bakufu w/
Satsuma escort
(Southern Chinese influence)

3. Regarding Ryukyuan elite society . . .
In documents, terms like yukatchu 良人, keimochi 係持, or samurei 士
Late 17th century onward: aristocrat vs. commoner distinction codified
But the use of Japanese-derived terminology can be deceptive
Basis was the possession of kafu 家譜 (ancestors served as officials)
King was not part of a separate aristocracy
18th century: Chinese scholar-official model became influential

4. Early Ming – Okinawa relations
Began in the late 14th century
Mediated by immigrant Chinese
Mainly seafaring merchants
Kumemura 久米村 / Tōei 唐営
Image of a boat pointing toward Fujian.
Below: Part of Ryūtan Pond, designed
by Kaiki 懐機, an ethnic Chinese &
Daoist who worked for the royal court.
Kumemura

5. 古琉球時代 Before 1609 . . .
官生制度 ７回、３０人
The Ryukyuan court dispatched
students (kanshō) to the Ming
capital to study at the National
Academy (Guózǐjiān 國子監)
近世琉球 After 1609 . . .
Kumemura enjoyed a revival in the 17th
century and gradually became a talent
magnet owing to the crucial importance of
Ryukyu’s connection with China. In addition
to the official students, Kumemura residents
engaged in extensive private study in Fujian
and elsewhere.

6. 1678年 蔡肇功 暦法
1623年 麻平衡 製糖の方法
1663年 陸得先 白砂糖と氷砂糖の製造
1688年 魏士哲 唇の修復手術
1714年 程順則 『六輸衍義』、他の漢書
1743年 晏孟得 口舌の医療
陳其湘 御書院の楽師 （6年間留
学）
程順則の『指南広義』
魏士哲
Gi Shitetsu
1678: Sai Chōkō / calendar
1623: Ma Heikō / sugar production
1663 : Riku Tokusen / white sugar & other varieties
1668: Gi shitetsu / lip surgery
1714: Tei Junsoku / Rikuyu engi & other works
1743: An Motoku / tongue surgery
. . . To mention a few examples
Tei Junsoku’s book on navigation
Personal study
in Fujian
(kingaku 勤学)
Sugar

7. Making a Good Impression
Overall Goal: present Ryukyu as a society thoroughly steeped in Chinese civilization
Poetry 漢詩: Lubricated the gears of diplomatic and cultural exchange
Fujian
Okinawa
Shandong
Satsuma
Amami
Taiwan
Poetry exchange accompanied many diplomatic situations,
and the presentation of poems as gifts was a common
practice. For example, investiture envoy Xú Bǎoguāng’s 徐
葆光 Zhōngshān chuánxìnlù (Chūzan denshinroku) 中山傳
信録 ends with poems presented as parting gifts to the
envoys by the king and leading Ryukyuan officials. In a
different type of example, in 1761 a group of Ryukyuan
students in Beijing made a good impression on their hosts
by presenting a book of poems they wrote in honor of the
empress dowager’s seventieth birthday.

8. Making a Good Impression: Official Histories Translated to Please
Chūzan seikan 中山世鑑 (Mirror of Chūzan) 
Zhōngshān shìpǔ (Chūzan seifu 中山世譜 [Genealogy of Chūzan])
Ryūkyūkoku yuraiki 琉球国由来記 (Origins of Ryukyu) 
Liúqiúguó jiùjì (Ryūkyūkoku kyūki 琉球国舊記 [Account of Ryukyu’s past])
Example: the section on Shuri in Ryūkyūkoku kyūki includes a lengthy discussion of
the geomancy (chiri 地理) of the region. It begins by explaining, “nothing was more
important than geomancy to the sage kings of old in establishing the capital of
their state,” even though geomancy was a relatively new technology in
seventeenth century Ryukyu and the founders of Shuri would have been ignorant
of it.
Example: Chūzan seifu, especially Sai On’s 蔡温 eighteenth century revision if it,
substantially transformed Ryukyu’s past into a moral drama centered on the
kingdom’s line of monarchs. The accounts of Ryukyu’s history found in the reports
of investiture envoys during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries drew heavily
upon the kingdom’s own revised official histories.

9. Making a Good Impression: Putting the Royal Ancestors in Line
In 1683, Qing investiture envoy Wāng Jí 汪楫 viewed the royal tablets at Sōgenji and wrote
that their order appeared random. Shunten was in the middle as the great
progenitor, flanked by Eiso and Satto. The arrangement did not make sense to Wāng, who
had expected to see the customary Chinese zhāo-mù order 昭穆秩序, with the dynastic
founder in the middle, the even numbered reigns 2, 4, 6, etc. to his left (zhāo), and the odd
numbered reigns, 3, 5, 7, etc. to his right (mù). The Ryukyuan logic had the most important
founding figure flanked by the founders of two ancient lines, followed by the kings of the
current second Shō dynasty.
Shunten
Eiso
Satto
2nd Shō 2nd Shō1st Shō & Earlier 1st Shō & Earlier
The next investiture envoy, Xú Bǎoguāng, was aware of the strange arrangement
his predecessor had encountered. Arriving in Ryukyu in 1719, Xu found that the
tablets were in the “proper” zhao-mu order.
Sunten
Shunbajunki
Eiso
Gihon
2nd Shō
2nd Shō
1st Shō & Earlier 1st Shō & Earlier

10. The ancestral tablet arrangement was part of a larger
debate over posthumous titles, the proper housing and
arrangement of royal tablets, and related matters of court
ritual that took place between approximately 1690 and
1731. The details of the debates are complex and need not
concern us, but the basic goal was to reconcile Chinese and
Ryukyuan practices. Although the general trend was greater
conformity to Chinese practices, even Kumemura scholars
agreed that deceased Ryukyuan kings should receive both
Confucian and Buddhist veneration. Prior to the arrival of
Xu, however, all of the royal tablets were arranged in the
Chinese manner, even in Enkakuji, the kingdom’s major
Buddhist temple. After Xú’s return to China, the tablets in
Enkakuji reverted to their Buddhist layout.
Part of a larger debate over rites, titles, arrangements, and appearances . . .
Xu’s diagram of the layout of Enkakuji
(housing tablets of the 2nd shō dynasty 
Shō En

11. The investiture rites themselves
were, of course, terribly important,
but the envoys remained . . .
. . . in Okinawa for months. The
PR campaign never stopped.

12. The best example of cultural drama designed to enhance Ryukyu’s image in the
eyes of investiture officials is kumiodori 組踊, a combination of drama and
music based mainly on local Okinawan legends, music, and dance. Its creator,
Tamagusuku Chōkun 玉城朝薫 (1684-1734) had travelled to Japan five times,
where he studied dramatic arts such as nō, kyōgen, puppet theater, and kabuki.
“Monument commemorating the 300-year anniversary of the birth of drama sage Tamagusuku Chōkun”

13. The first known performance was in 1719, at a banquet to entertain the investiture envoys.
Xu describes the second of six plays as “Tsuru and Kame—two sons avenge their father,” a
reference to the play Nidō tekiuchi 二童敵討 (Two boys avenge their enemy). Based on the
conflict between Gosamaru 護佐丸 (1393?-1458) and Amawari 阿摩和利 (?-1458), the sons
of the unjustly destroyed Gosamaru kill the scheming Amawari, who had wrongly convinced
the king that Gosamaru was plotting rebellion. Xu summarizes the plot without commenting
on it. The play transforms the violent events connected with the early formation of the
kingdom into a cultural drama highlighting loyalty and filial piety.
↑ Marker of
Gosamaru’s tomb

14. Another kumiodori Xú saw at a later event was
Kōkō no maki 孝行之巻 (Tale of filial piety),
which was particularly suitable for the task of
highlighting Ryukyuan virtue. Set in the time of
the semi-legendary King Gihon (r. 1249-1259), a
filial son and daughter from a poor household
offered themselves as sacrifices to appease a
violent dragon and thus provide money for their
family. It was the daughter who had to make the
ultimate sacrifice, thus resonating with Chinese
tales of dutiful women who sacrifice their lives.
However, owing to her steadfast filial piety, the
cosmic forces intervened to provide a happy
outcome for everyone involved. In 1800,
Investiture envoy Lǐ Dǐngyuán 李鼎元 saw this
episode and was moved by it. He devoted
considerable space in his writing to summarizing
and quoting from the play. At the end he
commented, “For Heaven to reward filial
behavior is deeply satisfying.”
And here it is today . . .

15. And for effective PR, do your
homework.
There was at least one more event Li found
deeply satisfying. The 11th day of the 10th month
was his mother’s birthday. However, Li had
intended to keep this matter to himself and did
not tell anyone. Ryukyuan officials had done
their research, however, and royal envoys
surprised Li with gifts of five elegant fans, an
incense burner, and a commemorative longevity
manuscript. The event led to a celebratory feast
with the Ryukyuan envoys, and of course,
enhanced Ryukyu’s image as a small but highly
refined kingdom worthy of Chinese esteem.

16. Therefore I argue:
The Ryukyu-China (Ming and Qing) relationship included
essential performative components, with the burden on
Ryukyuans to make a good impression on Chinese officials.
The best and most important example was the process of
royal investiture by the Chinese court. Indeed, insofar as the
Ryukyuan court strove with considerable success to convey
a good impression, the investiture process possessed a
parade-like quality. Moreover, the Ryukyuan court skillfully
nurtured a positive image in Chinese eyes, in what we might
call an early form of public relations management.
Thank you!