"The Ryukyu Kingdom" The Ancient Kingdom of Okinawa Island (Part 1)
ปราสาทชูริ สัญลักษณ์แห่งอาณาจักรริวกิว ตั้งอยู่บนเนินเขาสูงทำให้สามารถมองเห็นท่าเรือนาฮาและทิวทัศน์ของเกาะได้ทั้งหมด ปัจจุบันเป็นสถานที่ท่องเที่ยวเชิงประวัติศาสตร์ของจังหวัดโอกินาว่า (ภาพจาก www.nippon.com) Shuri Castle, the symbol of Ryukyu kingdom, it was built on the highest slope to be able to observe Naha port and all over the island. Nowadays, it is the historical tourist attraction of Okinawa prefecture. (Credit to www.nippon.com)
If mentioned about Okinawa Island, I believed that most people have known them as one of the prefecture of Japan with Shuri Castle and its grandiose and stunningly beautiful. But if dated back ages ago, this island was belong to one of the ancient kingdom which was mighty in the South China Sea. This kingdom was called "The Ryukyu Kingdom"
In 14th century, there were many domains on the island and then they were unified until there were only 3 kingdoms left such as Hokuzan, Chuzan and Nanzan. This period was called "The three kingdoms period". At this time, all three kingdoms were tributary states of Ming dynasty of China.
Later, these three kingdoms battled and Chuzan kingdom was victorious and successfully unified Okinawa island. The Ryukyu Kingdom and Sho dynasty were founded (Shang in Chinese) to rule the kingdom with the recognition of the Ming's emperor. Shuri was the capital city and Shuri Castle was built for being the king's residence and issue the edict.
การแสดงพิธีฉลองวันขึ้นปีใหม่ของกษัตริย์แห่งอาณาจักรริวกิว (ภาพจาก shuttershock) The demonstration of The New Year Ceremony perform by the King of Ryukyu Kingdom (Credit to shuttershock)