Satto
King of Chūzan (r. 1350–1395)
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Satto (r. 1350 to 1395) was a 14th-century king of the Okinawan kingdom of Chūzan. The first Okinawan ruler mentioned in Chinese sources, Satto accepted tributary status to Ming China, for which he was given lucrative trade license and declared the King of Ryukyu. He likely controlled only a small portion of central Okinawa, including his capitals of Urasoe and Shuri, and the main port of Naha. In the traditional histories of the Ryukyu Kingdom, he is described as the successor to King Seii, and as a virtuous ruler who later became decadent. He established the temple of Gokoku-ji and may have begun construction on Shuri Castle. His son Bunei took the throne after his death and was later overthrown by the First Shō dynasty.
Biography
The traditional histories of the Ryukyu Kingdom claim the island of Okinawa split into three kingdoms under the reign of the legendary king Tamagusuku. Northern Okinawa was said to have become the lordship of Hokuzan, while southern Okinawa became the lordship of Sannan. Tamagusuku controlled the region of Chūzan in central Okinawa around the communities of Urasoe, Shuri, and Naha, owing the allegiance of a number of local lords and chieftains known as aji.[1] Whether these three polities existed as territorial states is debated academically.[2] Tamagusuku was said to have died in 1336, and left the kingdom to his ten-year-old son Seii. His mother served as his regent.[1]
Reign
An aji named Satto (察度) rose to prominence and took control of Urasoe, the capital of Chūzan, around the time of Tamagusuku's death. Seii died in 1349, and local rulers refused to enthrone the young king's heir. Satto took control of the kingdom the following year, ruling from the gusuku of Urasoe, purportedly with a large amount of popular support.[3][4][5] Although later histories describe the gusuku as the capital of the legendary king Shunten and the proto-historical Eiso, Satto is likely the earliest known king to rule from the site. Remains from the site date to around the late 14th century, and the gusuku appears to have become a significant power base around 1350.[6]
"Satto" may be a generic title for a ruler; a king of Sannan bears the name Shōsatto, and a Ryukyuan diplomat sent by Satto to China in 1392 is also named Satto in the Ming annals.[7]
The Chūzan Seikan ('Mirror of Chūzan'), a 17th century official history of the Ryukyu Kingdom, described Satto as a good king who in his later reign fell into decadence and lost his humility. The chronicle states that he was punished by heaven by touching a poisonous snake with his left hand.[8] He is credited with establishing Gokoku-ji, the second Buddhist temple in Okinawa, in 1384.[9] The earliest portions of Shuri Castle may have been constructed under his reign, and he purportedly transferred the capital to Shuri.[10] He is credited with establishing the community of Kumemura, a Chinese merchant enclave adjacent to Shuri, in 1392.[11]
Tribute and international relations
The Ming dynasty took over China from the previous Yuan in 1368, and began to establish its tributary system across East Asia.[12] A Ming official named Yang Zai traveled to Okinawa after an unsuccessful mission to Kyushu, and likely explained the Chinese tributary system to Satto before returning home to China. He returned to Chūzan in 1372 with a decree from the Ming court asking for tribute. Satto accepted, and was given the title "King of Ryukyu", despite only controlling a small region of central Okinawa.[13]
Accepting tributary status allowed for lucrative trade licenses with China. Two years later, Satto dispatched his brother Taiki to Nanjing alongside a group of emissaries and an offering of Okinawan goods. The Hongwu Emperor gave the Chūzan emissaries various gifts, and sent a court official to accompany them home. Satto was given textiles, ceramics, books, alongside a silver royal seal and documents officially recognizing him as king.[12][13] In 1382, the Ming began to recognize two other polities in Okinawa, Hokuzan and Nanzan, as kingdoms. All three states sent frequent tributary missions, although Hokuzan and Nanzan were forced to conduct trade through Chūzan's port of Naha. Between 1372 and 1398, 57 tributary missions were sent from Okinawa, the most sent to China by any country.[13] Satto is recorded to have dispatched a tributary mission to Joseon Korea in 1394.[14]
Satto is the first ruler of Okinawa mentioned in Chinese records.[15] Historian Ikuta Shigeru theorizes from inconsistencies in tribute records that Satto, his supposed prince Bunei, and the Sannan king Shōsatto, may have been siblings.[16]
Legends describe Yonahasedo Toyomiya, a member of one of the feuding noble clans in the Miyako Islands, sailing to Okinawa as part of a group of Miyako students and studying in Chūzan for three years of Satto's reign. Toyomiya pledged tribute to Chūzan and received gifts and trade agreements from Satto, after which he returned south, purportedly becoming the lord of Miyako and Yaeyama.[17]
Death and legacy
Satto died in 1395 and his son Bunei took the throne. Later official histories, such as the Chūzan Seifu, describe Bunei as a decadent ruler. He was overthrown by Shō Hashi in 1405, who installed his father Shō Shishō as king, ending Satto's dynasty and beginning the First Shō dynasty.[18][4]
By the early 16th century and the reign of Shō Shin, Satto was acknowledged as part of a line of rulers which eventually formed the Ryukyu Kingdom.[9] He was granted the divine name Oho-mamono (大真物).[19] Historian Gregory Smits describes his biographies in later official histories as hagiographical, emphasizing his virtue to justify him taking over the throne from Seii's heir.[4]