Satto

Satto (察度) (c. 1320 – 1395) was a king of Chūzan, one of three kingdoms which formerly existed on the island of Okinawa. His reign was marked by the expansion and development of Chūzan's trade relations with other states, and the beginning of Okinawa's tributary relations with Ming Dynasty China, a relationship which would continue for roughly five hundred years, almost until the fall of the Qing Dynasty.

Governor of the Urasoe district which surrounded and included Chūzan's capital, Satto seized the throne for himself upon the death of King Seii in 1354 or 1355. His own line, or dynasty, however, would not last past his son, Bunei, who would be ousted in 1405.

Chinese envoys arrived in Chūzan in 1372, requesting admission of Chinese cultural supremacy and that Okinawa send representatives to Nanjing. Satto complied with these requests without hesitation, as this would grant him formal license to trade with the most powerful nation in the region. He sent his younger brother Taiki to Nanjing in 1374, as the leader of a mission to formally submit to China, entering into tributary and trade relations. The Hongwu Emperor entertained the Ryukyuan mission, accepted their gifts, and sent them back with various gifts from China, including a royal seal which served as a symbol of investiture. A Chinese official accompanied the returning mission, and represented the Imperial Court in officially confirming Satto as king of Okinawa. Though Okinawa would never come to be conquered or annexed by China, this custom of investiture, of formally confirming the king in the eyes of the Chinese court, would continue as part of tributary relations until the dismantling of the Ryūkyū Kingdom five centuries later. There would be at least nine tributary missions to China over the next twenty years, three of them led by Taiki.

Diplomatic and trade relations were also established with a number of other states during Satto's reign, including the kingdoms of Korea [Relations are believed to have been first established with Goryeo in 1389, which fell three years later and was replaced by Joseon, though relations were for the most part undisrupted.] and the Ayutthaya Kingdom of Thailand. Trade was conducted with these kingdoms, and with China and Japan, via a number of small islands which served as way-stations. Tanegashima, for example, was used as a transfer and supply point for traders bound for Japan's main islands and the Inland Sea. Miyakojima and the Yaeyama Islands, small islands to the south of Okinawa in the Ryukyu island chain, were among those which sent tribute to Chūzan.

Satto also established the Chinese immigrant community of Kumemura in 1392, a short distance from the capital at Shuri. These Chinese would, over the ensuing decades and centuries, intermarry with the local Ryukyuans; Kumemura would grow to become a center of Chinese studies, and its Chinese inhabitants and their descendants would serve the kingdom as diplomats and interpreters, and in other related roles.

Another important development introduced by Satto was the creation of the post of "Ō-shō" (王相), or King's Assistant. Though direct monarchical rule would remain important and powerful in Okinawa for at least a few generations, this marked the beginnings of the creation of a bureaucracy which would gradually come to replace the king's direct rule, drafting and implementing policy in his name.

Satto died in 1395, and was succeeded by his son Bunei. Missions were sent to Nanjing to announce the king's death, and to formally request investiture for his successor. The "Mirror of Chūzan," a history of Ryukyu written by Shō Shōken in the 1650s, cites Satto's death as an example of "tentō" [This represents the Okinawan language reading of the characters; the same term is read as "tendō" in Japanese language, and as "tian-dao" in Chinese "pinyin".] (天道), a concept closely related to the Confucian Mandate of Heaven. Though he describes Satto as a good king overall, Shō accuses him of giving in to luxurious temptations and of losing the proper degree of humility; thus, Shō explains, Satto was guided by "tentō" to touch a venomous snake in his sleep and to be killed.

Notes

References

*Kerr, George H. (2000). Okinawa: the History of an Island People. (revised ed.) Boston: Tuttle Publishing.
*Smits, Gregory (1999). "Visions of Ryukyu: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics." Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.