King of Ryukyu

King of Ryūkyū, also known as King of Lew Chew, King of Chūzan, or more officially Ryūkyū Kingdom's King of Chūzan, was the title held by several lineages in Okinawa Island from 1372 until the monarchy's dissolution in 1879.
According to the traditional official Okinawan narrative, the legendary ruler Shunten, who supposedly ascended to the throne in 1187, was first to hold the title. Additionally, the notion of a single-line of succession has been maintained despite the Crown clearly recognising several unrelated lineages acceding. However, the monarchy effectively started in 1372 when Satto greeted a Chinese envoy from the newly established Ming dynasty, although his son Bunei was the first to be officially recognized as the King of Chūzan.
Shō Tai was the final sovereign ruler of Ryukyu until his demotion in 1872 by the government of Meiji Japan to the title of Domain King and his forced abdication in 1879. He was inducted into the kazoku with the rank of marquess , earning him a hereditary seat in the House of Peers, which his son later inherited. It is curious that Shō, a monarch, was given a rank lesser than that of some Japanese kuge and daimyo, such as the peasant turned prime minister Itō Hirobumi who received the rank of prince in recognition for his achievements in the Meiji Restoration.
Mamoru Shō is the current pretender to the Okinawan throne.

Early forms of the narrative

The earliest known form of the narrative dates to the reign of King Shō Shin of the Second Shō dynasty. A stone monument dated 1522 makes reference to "three dynasties of Shunten's, Eiso's and Satto's". His son King Shō Sei expressed the line of succession in a slightly more elaborate form. The Katanohana Inscription reads: "Shō Sei, King of Chūzan of the Great State of Ryūkyū, ascended to the throne as the 21st king since Sonton ". Similarly, another stone monument dated 1597 states that Shō Nei is the 24th king since Sonton . The numbers of kings mentioned in these monuments agree with those of the official history books compiled much later although it is not clear whether the individual members were fixed at this stage.
Historian Dana Masayuki relates the notion of the line of succession to Buddhist temples where ancestral tablets of the deceased kings were stored. According to the Chūzan Seifu, Manju-ji stored the ancestral tablets of Satto, Bunei, Shishō and Shō Hashi, while the tablets of Shō Taikyū and Shō Toku were at Tenkai-ji. Shō En, the founder of the Second Shō dynasty, established Tennō-ji and designated it as the family mausoleum. It is not certain which temples were dedicated to the missing kings of the First Shō dynasty, Shō Chū, Shō Shitatsu, and Shō Kinpuku. Nevertheless, each king performed "ancestral" worship for deceased kings from different dynasties in the presence of a Chinese envoy, presumably because they deceived the Chinese into thinking that the throne was normally succeeded from the father to the son.
According to the Ryūkyū-koku yuraiki, Ryūfuku-ji in Urasoe, in addition to the above-mentioned temples, served as the royal mausoleum. This temple stored inkstone tablets representing the deceased kings from Shunten to Shō Hashi. According to the Chūzan Seifu, Ryūfuku-ji was originally founded by Eiso under the name of Gokuraku-ji and was re-established by Shō En. Dana Masayuki surmises that Gokuraku-ji used to serve not only as the family mausoleum of the Eiso dynasty but as the state mausoleum tracing the royal line back to Shunten. The apparent conflict between Manju-ji and Gokuraku-ji is resolved if Manju-ji is seen as a representation of the state in relation to China while Gokuraku-ji was the manifestation of Okinawa's own narrative.
Shō Shin established Enkaku-ji and transferred the function of the family mausoleum from Tennō-ji to Enkaku-ji. Shō Shin founded another temple named Sōgen-ji and decided to use it as the state mausoleum while the function of Enkaku-ji was clarified as the mausoleum of the Second Shō dynasty. He moved all ancestral tablets, starting from Shunten, to Sōgen-ji and thereby visualized the single line of succession based on Okinawa's own narrative.

Minamoto no Tametomo as the father of Shunten

Minamoto no Tametomo, the uncle of the Kamakura shogunate's founder Minamoto no Yoritomo, has been consistently treated as the father of Shunten since the earliest official history book, the Chūzan Seikan. The earliest known association of Tametomo with Ryūkyū can be found in a letter written by a Zen monk in Kyoto named Gesshū Jukei with a request by Kakuō Chisen, another Zen monk serving to Ryūkyū's Tennō-ji. According to a tale which Gesshū attributed to Kakuō, Tametomo moved to Ryūkyū, used demons as servants, and became the founder of the state, which the Minamoto clan had ruled since then. The reference to demons may reflect the centuries-old Japanese Buddhist perception of Ryūkyū as the land of man-eating demons, as seen in, for example, the Hyōtō Ryūkyū-koku ki. Although at this stage, Tametomo was not explicitly associated with Shunten, the tale apparently circulated in the network of Zen Buddhists connecting Kyoto to Okinawa. A similar tale was recorded in the Ryūkyū Shintō-ki by Jōdo-shū monk Taichū, who visited Ryūkyū from 1603 to 1606. This indicates that by that time, the tale of Tametomo had been known to non-Zen Buddhists. In light of these, the apparent innovation of the Chūzan Seikan was the explicit association of Tametomo with Shunten.
The tale of Tametomo had a profound impact on Ryūkyū's self-perception. In 1691, for example, the king ordered all the male members of the royal family to use the kanji Chō as the first of their two-character given names, presumably to indicate an affinity to Minamoto no Tametomo.

Association of the foundation myth with the royal line

Another innovation of the Chūzan Seikan was the association of the foundation myth with the royal line. The foundation myth concerning the goddess Amamikyu itself was recorded in the Ryūkyū Shintō-ki. However, the Chūzan Seikan was the first to make reference to the Tenson-shi, who supposedly descended from the goddess.
Without showing a clear genealogy, the official history books connect the Tenson dynasty remotely to the Eiso dynasty. Eiso's mother dreamed that the sun intruded into her bosom, giving a miraculous birth to Eiso, but Eiso's foster father was said to have descended from the Tenson dynasty. Similarly, Satto was said to have been mothered by a swan maiden. Shō En was believed to have descended from Gihon of the Shunten dynasty, or some other king. It is not clear why the Chūzan Seikan did not provide a special link to the First Shō dynasty.

Official narrative

Tenson dynasty

The founder of the Tenson dynasty was a descendant of Amamikyu. The 25 generations of the Tenson dynasty ruled the land for 17,802 years, but their names are unknown.

Shunten dynasty

The Shunten dynasty lasted from AD 1187 to AD 1259.
In 1186, the 25th ruler's throne was usurped by Riyū. Minamoto no Tametomo's son Shunten overthrew Riyū the next year, becoming the king.

Name	Kanji	Divine name	Reign	Age at death
Shunten	舜天 suntin	Sonton 尊敦 suntun	1187–1237	71
Shunbajunki	舜馬順煕	Sonomasu 其益 unumashi or Sonomasumi 其益美 unumashimi	1238–1248	63
Gihon	義本 jifun	Unknown	1249–1259	?

Eiso dynasty

The Eiso dynasty lasted from AD 1260 to AD 1349. In 1259, Gihon, who was the last king of the Shunten dynasty, abdicated his throne. Fathered by the sun, Eiso succeeded him. During the reign of Tamagusuku, the state was divided into three polities. The King of Nanzan and the King of Hokuzan (Sanhoku) came to compete with the King of Chūzan.

Name	Kanji	Divine name	Reign	Age at death
Eiso	英祖	Wezo-no-tedako 英祖日子 iiju nu tiidakwa	1260–1299	70
Taisei	大成	Unknown	1300–1308	9 or 61
Eiji	英慈	Unknown	1309–1313	45
Tamagusuku	玉城	Unknown	1314–1336	40
Seii	西威	Unknown	1337–1354	21

Satto dynasty

The Satto dynasty lasted from AD 1350 to AD 1405. Satto, the son of a peasant and a swan maiden, replaced Seii as the King of Chūzan. Satto started a tributary relation to the Ming emperor.

Name	Kanji	Divine name	Reign	Age at death
Satto	察度	Oho-mamono 大真物 ufu mamun	1355–1397	74
Bunei	武寧	Naga-no-mamono 中之真物 naka nu mamun	1398–1406	50

First Shō dynasty

The First Shō dynasty lasted from AD 1429 to AD 1469. Shō Hashi, the virtual founder of the First Shō dynasty, overthrew Bunei in 1406. He installed his father, Shō Shishō, as the nominal King of Chūzan. Shō Hashi annihilated the King of Hokuzan in 1416. In 1421, after the death of his father, Shō Hashi became the King of Chūzan. He overthrew the King of Nanzan until 1429, unifying the island. The surname Shō was given by the Ming emperor.

Name	Kanji	Divine name	Reign	Age at death
Shō Shishō	尚思紹	Kimishi-mamono 君志真物 jinshi mamun	1407–1421	67
Shō Hashi	尚巴志	Sejitaka-mamono 勢治高真物 shiijitaka mamun	1422–1439	67
Shō Chū	尚忠	Unknown	1440–1442	54
Shō Shitatsu	尚思達	Kimiteda jintiida 君日	1443–1449	41
Shō Kinpuku	尚金福	Kimishi jinshi 君志	1450–1453	55
Shō Taikyū	尚泰久	Nanojiyomoi 那之志与茂伊 naanujiyumui also called Oho-yononushi 大世主 ufuyu nu ushi	1454–1460	45
Shō Toku	尚徳	Hachiman-no-aji 八幡之按司 also called Setaka-ō 世高王 shidaka-oo	1461–1469	29

Second Shō dynasty

The Second Shō dynasty lasted from AD 1470 to AD 1879. When Shō Toku, the last king of the First Shō dynasty, died in 1469, courtiers launched a coup d'état and elected Shō En as king. He became the founder of the Second Shō dynasty. The kingdom was at its peak during the reign of his son, Shō Shin. In 1609, the Satsuma Domain conquered the Ryukyu Kingdom. From then on, Ryūkyū was a vassal state of the Satsuma Domain, while the king was ordered to keep its tributary relation with China. The kingdom became a domain of Japan in 1872. In 1879, Japan replaced Ryukyu Domain with Okinawa Prefecture, formally annexing the islands. King Shō Tai was dethroned and later given the title of marquis.

Name	Kanji	Divine name	Warabi-naa	Nanui	Reign	Age at death
Shō En	尚円	Kanamaru-aji-sohesuwetsugiwaunise 金丸按司添末続王仁子 kanimaru aji shiishii chiji oonishi	Umitukugani 思徳金	–	1470–1476	61
Shō Sen'i	尚宣威	Nishi no yononushi 西之世主 nishi nu yuu nu ushi	?	–	1477	48
Shō Shin	尚真	Ogiyakamowi 於義也嘉茂慧 ujakamui	Makatutarugani 真加戸樽金	–	1477–1526	61
Shō Sei	尚清	Tenitsugi-no-ajisohe 天続之按司添 tinchiji nu ajishii	Manichiyutarugani 真仁堯樽金	–	1527–1555	59
Shō Gen	尚元	Tedahajime-ajisohe 日始按司添 tiidahajimi nu ajishii	Kanichiyuu 金千代	–	1556–1572	44
Shō Ei	尚永	Wezoniyasuhe-ajisohe 英祖仁耶添按司添 iijuniyashii ajishii also called Tedahokori-ō 日豊操王 tiidafukui-oo or Tedayomutori-ō 日豊操王 tiida yumutui oo	?	–	1573–1586	30
Shō Nei	尚寧	Tedagasuhe-ajisohe 日賀末按司添 tiidagasui ajishii	Umitukugani 思徳金	–	1587–1620	56
Shō Hō	尚豊	Tenigiyasuhe-ajisohe 天喜也末按司添 tinjagashii ajishii	Umigurugani 思五郎金	Chōshō 朝昌	1621–1640	50
Shō Ken	尚賢	–	Umimatsugani 思松金	?	1641–1647	23
Shō Shitsu	尚質	–	Umitukugani 思徳金	?	1648–1668	39
Shō Tei	尚貞	–	Umigurugani 思五郎金	Chōshū 朝周	1669–1709	64
Shō Eki	尚益	–	Umigurugani 思五郎金	?	1710–1712	34
Shō Kei	尚敬	–	Umitukugani 思徳金	Chōshi 朝糸	1713–1751	52
Shō Boku	尚穆	–	Umigurugani 思五郎金	Chōkō 朝康	1752–1795	55
Shō On	尚温	–	Umigurugani 思五郎金	Chōkoku 朝克	1796–1802	18
Shō Sei	尚成	–	Umitukugani 思徳金	–	1803	3
Shō Kō	尚灝	–	Umijirugani 思次良金	Chōshō 朝相	1804–1828	47
Shō Iku	尚育	–	Umitukugani 思徳金	Chōken 朝現	1829–1847	34
Shō Tai	尚泰	–	Umijirugani 思次良金	Chōken 朝憲	1848–1879	58