Kyūyō


The, generally abridged in is an official history of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, compiled by a group of historians led by Tei Heitetsu Kohagura Uēkata Yūjitsu between year 8 of the Qianlong era and year 10 of the same era, at the request of king. It includes a ”central” part and an ”external” ” part.

Title

The name is composed of two ideograms, the first, 球, corresponds to the “” of and the second, 陽, corresponds to the Chinese philosophic principle of yang, linked to light. It is a poetic way of naming Ryūkyū.
In Japan, the same type of poetic name is used to evoke Nagasaki or Satsuma. It seems this habit appeared in Japan by the 1770s in order to evoke Chinese-sounding names, many Chinese cities having the suffix 陽 in their name
The abridged name of “” has mainly spread after the fall of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. The original name of the book is “”, then abridged in “”. literally means “the articles of Ryūkyū”.
The “external” part of the is sometimes considered as an independent book and is known under the name of Irōsetsuden.

Edition

Dates

The redaction of the started in year 8 of the Qianlong era at the request of king, under the direction of Tei Heitetsu Kohagura Uēkata Yūjitsu, a bureaucrat from, and was finished in year 10 of the same era. The then counted fourteen volumes but the bureaucrats-historians of the Ministry of Genealogies completed it regularly until year 5 of the Guangxu era. Part of the original text has been lost.
It is possible that the “external” part of the, the Irōsetsuden, was written beforehand, at the beginning of the 18th century, at the same time as the.
The preface of the gives a list of the persons involved in its redaction:
  • Sai On
  • Shō Kentoku Nakijin Ueekata, will later become Fukuyama Uēkata
  • Shō Tokukō Ginowan Uēkata Chōga
General supervisors
  • Shō Bunshi Motobu Wōji Chōryū
  • Shō Yiren Ufugusuku Aji, will later become Ie Wōji
  • Shō Heiken Kunigami Uēkata Chōsei
Editors
  • Tei Heitetsu Isagawa Uēkata Yūjitsu, will later become Kohagura Uēkata
  • Sai Kōbo Kudaka Satonushi Pēchin Katsujō
  • Ryō Kō Tōma Pēchin Shimei
  • Mō Jōhō Wauke Satonushi Pēchin''
After the first edition of 1745, the articles are written by the Ministry of Genealogies, that employed bureaucrats-historians who had been to China.

Editorial choices

Whereas most of the official documents of the Ryūkyū Kingdom make use of Chinese era names, the is the only document to use a chronology based on the reigns of the kings of Ryūkyū.
It is integrally written in traditional Chinese characters.
It should be mentioned that arbitrary dates have been added to some events, some articles that were distinct in the sources have been merged, some others have been reinterpreted and can be different from the source from which they are extracted.

Contents

The is an official history of the Ryūkyū Kingdom listing the events chronologically for the reign of each king. It covers a period going from the foundation myths of the kingdom to the end of the 19th century.
It includes a “central” part and an “external” part. The “external” part is known under the name of Irōsetsuden.
The appendix volumes gather articles concerning the Satsuma domain or Japan, and the Irōsetsuden gathers the legendary events that do not have a precise date.
The reports the incidents and events of the kingdom, insisting on politics for each king. Among the official histories of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, it is the most detailed and precise. The book has a universal vocation and records any event, would they be political, economical, social or cultural, without making any distinction between events occurring in the capital city or in the peripheral s and islands, the nobility or the common people. In addition to the governmental politics, economy, culture and international relations, the also reports the creation or disappearance of s and villages, stories about commendable actions or natural phenomenons. It is an historical document of an exceptional quality, not only for historical studies, but also for ethnography or the study of local legends.

Volumes of the current version

The content of each of the currently preserved volumes is as follow:
Central volumes
  • Main volumes
  • *Vol. 1 – Tenson dynasty, king, king, king, king, king, king, king, king, king, king
  • *Vol. 2 – King, king Shoo Hachii, king, king, king, king, king
  • *Vol. 3 – King, king, king
  • *Vol. 4 – King, king, king, king
  • *Vol. 5 – King, king
  • *Vol. 6 – King
  • *Vol. 7 – King until year 14 of his reign
  • *Vol. 8 – King from year 15 to year 29 of his reign
  • *Vol. 9 – King from year 30 to year 41 of his reign, king
  • *Vol. 10 – King until year 8 of his reign
  • *Vol. 11 – King from year 9 to year 16 of his reign
  • *Vol. 12 – King from year 17 to year 20 of his reign
  • *Vol. 13 – King from year 21 to year 30 of his reign
  • *Vol. 14 – King from year 31 to year 32 of his reign
  • *Vol. 15 – King until year 19 of his reign
  • *Vol. 16 – King from year 20 to year 32 of his reign
  • *Vol. 17 – King from year 32 to year 40 of his reign
  • *Vol. 18 – King from year 39 to year 43 of his reign
  • *Vol. 19 – King 8 years of reign, king 1 year of reign
  • *Vol. 20 – King 31 years of reign
  • *Vol. 21 – King until year 10 of his reign
  • *Vol. 22 – King from year 10 to year 13 of his reign
  • *Vol. 23 – King until year 10 of his reign
  • *Vol. 24 – King from year 11 to year 29 of his reign
  • Appendix of the central volumes
  • *Appendix Vol. 1 – King, king, king, king
  • *Appendix Vol. 2 – King, king
  • *Appendix Vol. 3 – King, king, king, king, king
  • *Appendix s.n. – King
External volumes

Preserved copies

  • twelve volumes are kept at the Library of the Cabinet of the National Archives of Japan under the reference 178-398. According to the notes at the end of the text, it is a copy of the book belonging to the Shō family that had been borrowed by Yonabaru Ryōketsu and transcribed in 1885 by Manjirō Ada, an employee of the Records Office of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The handwriting is clear and clean, but the records concerning the diplomatic relations between Ryūkyū and Japan were heavily censored. The records of this copy stop at year 23 of the reign of king .
  • thirteen volumes are kept at the Library of the Cabinet of the National Archives of Japan under the reference 178-381. It is the same version as one of the aforementioned twelve volumes.
  • twenty-two volumes kept in the storeroom of the library of the University of Tsukuba. The handwriting is less neat in this version. It is more complete and includes records until the annexation by Japan in 1879.
There are several copies kept at the University of the Ryukyus and in Okinawa Prefectural Library.
The integrality of the conserved text of the main volumes of the has been published by the Yumani Editions in two volumes in 2023 and 2024.
The integrality of the text of the external volumes has been published by the Bensei Editions in 2024.