The Ryukyu Islands : a new history from the Stone Age to the present /

"The first comprehensive history of the Ryukyu Islands region in English. The Ryukyu islands between Japan and Taiwan consist of around 160 islands and host over one and a half million inhabitants. Across the islands' history, sea-lanes and trade patterns have connected them to the East Ch...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Smits, Gregory, 1960- (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2025.
Series:Silk roads (Chicago, Ill.)
Subjects:
Table of Contents:
  • Introduction. A broad overview of Ryukyuan history and historiography
  • Prestate societies, 35,000 BP-1490. First peoples: the earliest inhabitants of the Ryukyu Islands ; Origins of Japonic Ryukyu: the early Gusuku era, circa 1050-1250 ; Expanding trade and warfare: the later Gusuku era ; The early theatrical kingdom and the three principalities era in Okinawa ; The first Shō dynasty era ; Classical Ryukyuan culture ; Development and transformation of the Shuri empire, 1490-1630. Shō Shin and the Shuri empire; The sixteenth century ; War with Satsuma and the immediate aftermath, 1570-1650
  • The mature theatrical kingdom and its collapse, 1630-1880. The era of Shō Shōken and Sai On ; Extracting resources from the northern and southern Ryukyu Islands ; The mature kingdom ; The Ryūkyū shobun and the creation of Okinawa prefecture ; Literature, drama, and official portrayals of Ryukyu ; The Tametomo legend
  • The modern era, 1880-2024. The early decades of Okinawa prefecture ; Midcentury turbulence ; The era of US control, 1945-72 ; From 1972 to the twenty-first century.