Shō Hashi

Modern scholarship has connected Shishō's potential father, Samekawa, to a family of Southern Court-affiliated seafarers from the island of Kyushu, where Hashi was possibly born.

However, the 1725 revision of the Chūzan Seifu states that Shishō was the son of lord Samekawa of Iheya Island, citing the Irosetsuden, a collection of Ryukyuan legends.

[5] Bunei, the king of the Okinawan polity of Chūzan, had several men castrated and sent to serve as eunuchs in the court of the Yongle Emperor of China in 1406.

The Ryukyuan official histories state that Hashi had led a rebellion against the tyrannical Bunei around this time, conquered Shuri Castle, and installed his father Shishō as king, beginning the First Shō dynasty.

The Chinese merchant-official Ō Mō served as kokusō (chief minister) for portions of the reigns of Shishō and Hashi, but due to his age petitioned the Ming court to return to China.

During the latter period of Hashi's kingship (and the reigns of his successors), another Chinese merchant-official named Kaiki was appointed as chief minister.

During this visit, the Xuande Emperor is alleged to have titled Hashi the King of Ryukyu (琉球王; Liúqiú wáng) and bestowed him with the family name Shō (Chinese: 尚; Shàng).

[15][16][8] Hashi's unification likely amounted to monopolization of connections with resident Chinese merchants, and unifying the loose confederations of nobles that comprised the three kingdoms of Okinawa.

Rather than territorial states, the three kingdoms may have functioned as pure labels that various local nobles operated under to interface with the Ming tribute system.

The text of the monument, likely authored by Kaiki, notes the planting of trees and flowers on a nearby hill, the political hegemony of Chūzan, and its tributary relations with the Ming empire.

[19][20] A large lacquered tablet bearing the name Chūzan, said to be a gift from the Ming court, was placed in a gate erected at Shuri Castle in 1428.

[23] Shō Hashi died in 1439 and was buried near Shuri at Tenzan Ryō, a manmade cave tomb with a walled front.

The tomb and sarcophagus was destroyed during World War II during the Battle of Okinawa, leaving only the ornate stone platform, which remains in storage at Shuri.