Eiso (Ryukyu)
Encyclopedia
also known as Yingzu, was a king of the Ryūkyū Islands
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...

.

Eisō was a member of the Tenson family; and he is also known as the first of the Eiso Lineage of Ryukyuan monarchs. He served as Regent from 1235 to 1260, and afterwards as king, succeeding Gihon
Gihon (Ryukyu)
' , also known as Yoshimoto or as Yiben in Chinese, was a king of the Ryūkyū Islands.Gihon was the third and last of the Shunten Lineage. He succeeded his father Shunbajunki at the age of 44, in 1248....

 and reigning until his death in 1299.

Eisō's reign is generally seen as one of great growth for the fledgling Okinawan principality. Eiso instituted a variety of tax and land reforms, and the nation recovered from famines and other problems which plagued the previous reigns. Several outlying islands, including Kumejima, Kurama
Kurama
Kurama may refer to:In Japan:* Mount Kurama, a mountain in Japan frequently referenced in martial arts* Japanese armored cruiser Kurama, an Ibuki class armored cruiser named after Mount Kurama...

, and Iheya, came into the sphere of Okinawan control, and began sending tribute
Tribute
A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often the case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states, which could be called suzerains, exacted tribute from areas they had conquered or threatened to conquer...

 in 1264. An envoy was sent to Amami Ōshima
Amami Oshima
is a semi-tropical island in the Amami Islands, which is part of the larger Nansei Islands in Japan. Ōshima literally means big island, and it is the largest of the Amami Islands. It lies roughly halfway between the islands of Okinawa and Kyūshū. Briefly part of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, in 1624 it was...

 in 1266, though it was not until much later that Okinawa's sphere of control would be expanded to include the Amami Islands
Amami Islands
The are a group of islands that is part of the Satsunan Islands, which are then part of the Nansei Islands. The islands are part of Kagoshima Prefecture, in the Kyūshū region of Japan...

. In short, Eiso's reign saw the establishment of many governmental institutions, and helped to set the foundation for the structure of the government of the following centuries.

Eiso's reign also saw contact with the Mongol Empire
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...

, which was at the time planning to invade Japan
Mongol invasions of Japan
The ' of 1274 and 1281 were major military efforts undertaken by Kublai Khan to conquer the Japanese islands after the submission of Goryeo to vassaldom. Despite their ultimate failure, the invasion attempts are of macrohistorical importance, because they set a limit on Mongol expansion, and rank...

. Envoys from the court of Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...

 arrived in Okinawa twice, in 1272 and 1276, asking that the fledgling kingdom submit to the Mongols' authority and contribute to the effort to invade Japan. The envoys were rebuffed both times, and forcibly repelled the second time, though they made off with 130 Okinawan captives.

Eiso died at the age of 71, and was succeeded by his son Taisei
Taisei (Ryukyu)
was a king of the Ryūkyū Islands.He was the second ruler in the Eisō lineage of monarchs; that is, his father was King Eisō and his son was King Eiji. The years of Taisei's reign at Shuri were uneventful...

.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK