Ryusou
[7] During the Ryukyu Kingdom period, the colour, fabric, and design of the ryusou, alongside the style of headgear, was used to distinguish the social status and rank of the wearer.
[8] It is also suggested by Japanese scholar Yoshitaro Kamakura that the dyeing and painting techniques, styles, materials, motifs (e.g. Fujian-style Chinese bird and flower were introduced under the reign of King Shō Kei)[9] of bingata were also imported from Fujian.
[11]: 158–160 A woven or bingata garment, called watansu (綿御衣; ワタンス),[12] can also be worn loosely over the dujin and kakan.
[13] Ryusou can be made of high quality plain weave hemp fabric called jōfu,[4] and bashōfu (芭蕉布), which is banana fibre textile.
[10] According to the Zhongshan chuanxin lu (Records on Chûzan), bashōfu was worn by both men and women during winter and summer, and its value equalled that of silk.
[14]: 85–86 Bashōfu was also used in the making of official garments, according the Ōshima hikki (大島筆記) written in the 18th century by Japanese Confucian Tobe Yoshihiro.
[5] Compared to the kimono, the ryusou has big sleeve openings, which allows for good air circulation to keep its wearer cool in tropical weather.
[15] In 1372, the King of Chūzan entered into a tributary relationship with the Ming dynasty, and paid tribute for 500 years for trading privileges and diplomatic ties.
[6] In exchange for their tributes, the Ming dynasty gifted the Ryukyu Kingdom with Ming dynasty clothing of various designs (including round-collar robes and cross-collared robes), silk, and royal crowns (such as the sammo, known in Chinese as the wushamao, a jewelled crown).
[7] During the reign of King Shō Shin (r. 1477–1527), a decree was made in an effort to codify and ritualize the dress code as an expression of one's social status and ranks; colours were then used to distinguish the upper and lower ranks, thus defining the elite identity in Ryukyu Kingdom.
[14]: 106–109 The regal insignia was a Ryukyuan innovation, which was loosely based on the Ming dynasty regulations of dress codification.
[19] King Shō Shin was also the first to established a headwear system composed of hairpins and hachimaki-style caps with varying colours according to the official ranks of its wearer.
[7] Commoners could wear hairpins with tortoise shell in alternative hexagonal shapes of black and yellow during state occasions.
The red kakan (裙), a form of pleated underskirt, is believed to have been worn under a ceremonial attire called touishou (唐御衣装), also known as hibenfuku (皮弁服) or umanton (御蟒緞),[20] which was gifted by the Ming dynasty emperors.
[20] In the Zhongshan chuanxin lu, it is noted that both Ryukyuan men and women wore an upper garment called jin (a type of court clothing).
[15] In order to hide the dual sovereignty, the Ryukyuans were forbidden from being assimilated into Japanese culture, and they were encouraged to continue wearing their traditional clothing and speak in the local language.
[7] It also became a social status marker in the court hierarchy, as the colours of the hachimaki and the ways of folding it were strictly regulated by rigid rules.
Japanese influences increased from the year 1874, when the last King was taken prisoner in Tokyo and when Japan forbade the exchange of envoys with China.
