Sessei

Sessei (摂政) was the highest government post of the Ryūkyū Kingdom below the king; the "sessei" served the function of royal or national advisor. In the Ryukyuan language at the time, the pronunciation was closer to "shisshii", and has only changed relatively recently. Though the same Chinese characters which compose the modern Okinawan word "sessei" (摂政) are read as "Sesshō" in Japanese, the position is not quite the same, and is not derived originally from the Japanese model or system.

The "sessei" worked alongside the king and the "Sanshikan" (Council of Three) to draft and enact laws, though the king gradually became more and more of a figurehead over the course of the period when Ryūkyū was a subsidiary of the Japanese feudal domain of Satsuma (1609-1870s). Like most Ryukyuan government officials at the time, most "sessei" were appointed from the elite class of "yukatchu", scholars of Chinese subjects from the town of Kumemura.

According to the "Mirror of Chūzan" (中山の世鑑, chūzan no sekan), the classical Ryukyuan history text by "sessei" Shō Shōken, the "sessei" have always been a part of the system of the Ryukyuan Kingdom and were originally appointed by the "excellent ancestors" (英祖). The three men who held the position of "sessei" during the first Shō Dynasty of Ryukyuan kings were Chinese, but beginning with the Second Shō Dynasty, "sessei" were native Ryukyuans. Royal officials, sometimes princes, would select the "sessei", and the appointment would come with an appropriate rank and title, often that of "prince" (王子), despite the "sessei" being in essence a bureaucrat and not royalty himself. It was not uncommon for such a title to be conferred upon anyone who performed great service to the kingdom, though right of succession and other such royal rights implied by the title of "prince" did not accompany such an honor.

While most "sessei" essentially played the role of a bureaucrat and privileged member of the royal entourage, Shō Shōken, who held the post from 1666 to 1673, is particularly known for acting as a lawmaker, issuing a great many important and beneficial reforms during his short tenure.

References

*Smits, Gregory (1999). "Visions of Ryukyu: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics." Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.