A Chinese expedition in search of the legendary “Land of Happy Immortals” instead came across a land of natives who proved to be intensely unhappy about their Chinese visitors – and very mortal in their attempts to fight off the visitors. This land is referred to in Chinese historical records as Liu Ch’iu, or Ryūkyū in Japanese, giving the island archipelago the name which endures today. The largest of the Ryūkyū Islands, Okinawa, was also given its name by the Chinese. Okinawa (沖縄) means “rope in the offing,” To Chinese sailors the distant island looked like a rope carelessly tossed upon the ocean.
Ancient Chinese Influence
The Sui Dynasty
581 – 618
The dynastic records of the Sui Dynasty mentions contact with Ryūkyū.
The T’ang Dynasty
618 – 907
A definitive Japanese encyclopedia states that Chinese ch’uan fa was first brought to Okinawa during the T’ang Dynasty of China.
First Exposure to Chinese
Ch’uan Fa
Based on karate-like movements in traditional Okinawan dances passed down from times before recorded history, it is believed that there was an indigenous Okinawan fighting art. As early as the sixth century, this art began to be influenced by Chinese ch’uan fa.
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Ancient Japanese Influence
It is believed that shipwrecked diplomatic missions travelling from Japan to China were among the earliest, though unwilling, settlers on the island of Okinawa. Some Japanese peoples are known to have made their way from Japan south through the Ryūkyū Islands to Okinawa, bringing household items, domestic animals and tools with them. It is also known that losing warlords from feudal Japan were sometimes exiled to foreign lands, including the Ryūkyū Islands.
As a result of any or all of these unrecorded influences, ancient Ryūkyū developed a feudal society similar to that of ancient Japan, complete with castles, feudal lords and warriors. The dialect spoken on Okinawa, incomprehensible to the Chinese visitors of ancient times and to modern Japanese speakers, is thought to resemble ancient Japanese.
1314 – 1429
The Castle Period
Castle ruins abound on the island of Okinawa. Many have been listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. Most of the castles, called gusuku, were built between 1314 and 1429. This is known as the Castle Period.
The Three Kingdoms
Warring among the feudal tribes on the island of Okinawa eventually resolved into three kingdoms, the Northern, the Middle and Southern Kingdoms.
The Chinese Influence
1372
The Ming Dynasty Approaches the Three Kingdoms
The Ming Dynasty of China lasted from 1368 until 1644. During this period the Ming Dynasty was a powerful presence in all of Southeast Asia. It was customary for the Ming Dynasty to offer a less-powerful nation a tributary alliance called a suzerainty. This tributary alliance required the vassal state to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty in the form of goods and services. The Ming Dynasty, as the dominant state in the area, made many such offers to its neighbors. In 1372, the Ming Dynasty sent an envoy to the tiny island known as Ryūkyū offering a tributary alliance, first with the Middle Kingdom and soon after with the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.
1392
Chinese Culture Comes to the Ryūkyū Kingdom
The Ming Dynasty of China exerted a great influence on the developing culture and economy of Ryūkyū. The Ming Dynasty was to become the epitome of culture and learning for the privileged classes of the Ryūkyū Kingdom.
The Thirty-six Families
In 1392, the Ming Dynasty sent a group of scholars, bureaucrats, and diplomats to live on the island of Okinawa and bring culture to the Ryūkyū Kingdom. They settled in an area near Shuri called Kume Village. Known as the Thirty-six Families, they and their descendants came to form an elite class of scholars who dominated the Ryūkyū bureaucracy, serving as government officials and as diplomats in relations with China, Japan, and other nations. Ryūkyūan nobility came to Kume Village to learn the Chinese language and manners of the Ming Dynasty.
Exposure to Kung Fu
Fuzhou is the largest city in the Fukien Province of China. By sea, it is fairly close to Okinawa. Students and scholars of the Thirty-six Families traveled to Fuzhou as students. They also became members of the periodic tributary missions. It is believed that this was the path by which the Ryūkyūans were exposed to Chinese ch’uan fa.
Delivery of Tribute
The tributary alliance with the Ming Dynasty required delivery of tribute. Caravans of Ryūkyū nobility crossed the East China Sea to the Fujian province of southeastern China to deliver tribute. These were events of great ceremony and pageantry.
A permanent community of Ryūkyū settlers was established in China
Embassy
The Influence of Kung Fu
The pilgrimage of young Okinawan martial artists to the Fujian province of China has its roots in these tributary caravans. It became the dream of Ryūkyū martial artists to study kung fu with the Chinese masters. Indeed, Karate is considered to be the synthesis of Chinese kung fu with the native Okinawan fighting art of te.
1429 -1875
The Continuing Relationship With the Ming Dynasty
The tributary alliance with China continued long after the three kingdoms were united. In fact, the tributary alliance of the Ryūkyū Kingdom with China continued for five hundred years, until 1875 when Okinawa was forcibly annexed to Japan.
1429
Uniting the Three Kingdoms
In 1429, King Sho Hashi (尚巴志) of the Middle Kingdom united the three kingdoms into the Ryūkyū Kingdom. King Sho Hashi continued the tributary alliance with the Ming Dynasty. He adopted the Chinese hierarchical court system.
Uniting the Kingdoms
King Sho Hashi made the town of Shuri his capital and built Shuri Castle.
To cement his rule over the formerly warring factions, confiscated the weapons of the warriors and stored them in Shuri Castle.
King Sho Hashi also constructed Naha Harbor.
Weapons Confiscation
The warriors continued to train in spear and sword using wooden staff. You can still see spearing and slicing movements in bō kata.
Shuri-te, the oldest of the three te styles, developed in the Shuri area.
Naha-te developed in the bustling Naha harbor area.
1477
The Golden Age of the Ryūkyū Kingdom
The Ryūkyū Kingdom benefited enormously economically from the tributary alliance with China. The period beginning in 1477 with the crowning of Ryūkyū king Shoshin (Shin (尚真) and continuing for 150 years is known as the Golden Age of the Ryūkyū Kingdom.
Maritime Traders
The Ryūkyū Kingdom gladly accepted the tributary relationship with the Ming Dynasty. Able seafarers in their own right, under the auspices of the Ming Dynasty the Ryūkyū Kingdom, despite its small size, began to play a central role in the maritime trade routes throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia, an area stretching from Siberia to Siam.
Influences on Okinawa Te
As the Ryūkyū Kingdom traded throughout Southeast Asia and the South China Sea, te (ti in the Okinawa dialect) began to incorporate aspects of the fighting arts of the Ryūkyū Kingdom‘s many trading partners. Over time, this exposure was to become a major force shaping the development of karate. It is believed that the finger-thrust (nukite) of Okinawan karate may have been adopted from Taiwan, the kicks from Southeast Asia and the open-hand techniques from China.
1507
The End of Feudalism
Feudalism Ended
King Sho Shin (尚真) ended feudalism by ratifying the “Act of Eleven Distinctions,” which included a prohibition against private ownership and stockpiling of weapons.
First Weapons Prohibition
Without weapons the upper classes of the Ryūkyū Kingdom began to focus on the development of an effective unarmed means of personal defense. Peasants, of course, had no time or training for such pursuits.
The Japanese Influence
The Ming dynasty in China lasted from 1368 to 1644. Countries that wanted to have any form of relationship with China, political, economic or otherwise, had to pay tribute. This the Japanese would not do. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty prohibited trade with Japan, but the Japanese desired Chinese trade goods and coveted the wealth of the Ryūkyū Kingdom.
1609
The Satsuma of Japan Invade the Ryukyu Kingdom
The Satsuma clan of Japan devised a scheme for clandestine trade with China that involved subjugating the Ryūkyū Kingdom and using the kingdom to secretly trade with China..
In 1609, the Satsuma clan invaded the Ryūkyū Kingdom. The defenders of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, not having trained in the arts of war for over two hundred years, were easily defeated in just two days.
Much like King Shō-Hashi in 1429, the Japanese victors confiscated all weapons. Moreover, they outlawed the fighting arts. The result was that the fighting arts could only be practiced in secrecy. Knowledge of the family’s fighting art was typically passed from father to eldest son to minimize the chances of discovery.
1609 – 1868
Dual Subjugation To Japan and China
For Japan to benefit by trade with China, it was essential that China not know that the Ryūkyū Kingdom was now under Japanese control. In order to prevent China from discovering that the Ryūkyū Kingdom was now under Japanese control, Japanese people could not visit the Ryūkyū Kingdom without special permission. The people of Ryūkyū were forbidden to speak Japanese or adopt Japanese names, clothes, or customs.
Contrary to popular lore, the farmers and fisherman of Okinawa did not rise up against the Japanese invaders using the humble tools of their trades.
First, the ancient weapons of Okinawa were never weapons of warfare. There was no attempt to overthrow the Japanese subjugators.
Second, it was the warriors of the subjugated Ryūkyū Kingdom who, using little more than their bare hands and feet and whatever tools were at hand, were able to defend against attacks by better-armed Japanese samurai. Karate and kobudō honed its deadly effectiveness during these dangerous times.
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1629
Bruce Haines
1700’s
By the 1700’s, three distinct types of Okinawa te had developed on the island of Okinawa. The town of origin was used to distinguish among the different types resulting in Naha-te, Shuri-te, and Tomari-te. The oldest of these was Shuri-te. It developed in the region around the Ryūkyū capital city of Shuri. Naha-te developed in the port city of Naha. The village of Tomari eventually faded away along with its style of te.
Karate is considered to be the synthesis of Chinese ch’uan fa (kung fu) with the native Okinawan fighting art of te. Indeed, karate (empty hand) was originally known as tō-de (China hand).
Tō-de developed first in the Ryukyu capital city of Shuri. Later tō-de variants developed in the villages of Naha and Tomari. Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te became the three main branches of tō-de.
Many of the great karate masters of Okinawa traveled to the Fujian province of China to develop their martial arts skills. Higaonna Kanryō, Naha-te master and founder of Gōjū Ryū, trained in Fuzhou from 1873 to 1882. Kanbun Uechi would later train at the same Shaolin Temple beginning in 1897. Higaonna Kanryō studied White Crane ch’uan fa. This style of ch’uan fa combined with Naha-te to become known as Gōjū Ryū under Miyagi Cho
1872
The Ryūkyū Kingdom is Abolished
The Golden Age of Ryukyu drew to a close under the heavy burden of paying tribute to two nations, plus the increasing competition for trade from Western nations. On March 27th, 1872, the Meiji government of Japan abolished the Ryūkyū Kingdom. The last tributary convoy to China took place in 1874.
1879
Okinawa Prefecture Is Established
n 1879, Okinawa Prefecture is established.
1897
The Draft Comes to Okinawa
In 1897, Japan introduced a program of universal male conscription in Okinawa Prefecture.
Uechi Kanbun, founder of the Uechi Ryū family of karate styles, traveled to the Fujian province of China in 1897 at the age of 19 to avoid being drafted into the Japanese army. At the Shaolin Temple in Fuzhou, Kanbun Uechi studied Pangainoon, the tiger, crane and dragon styles of Chinese kung fu.
1903
Karate Goes Public
1941
The Second World War
The Second World War broke out in 1941.
The American Influence
1945
The Allied Forces Invade Okinawa
Okinawa was invaded by U.S. forces beginning on April 1st, 1945. and continued until the Japanese surrender of the Ryūkyū Islands on June 23rd. Possession of Okinawa would give the United States a base large enough for an invasion of the Japanese home islands. … With the capture of Okinawa, the Allies prepared for the invasion of Japan, a military operation predicted to be far bloodier than the 1944 Allied invasion of Western Europe.
1948
1951
Okinawa is placed under U.S. administration.
Modern Day Okinawa
1972
Okinawa reverts to Japan after 27 years of U.S. control.
1992
Shuri Castle is restored for the 20th anniversary of the reversion of Okinawa to Japan.
Sources for Okinawa History
“Karate’s History and Traditions, revised edition” by Bruce A. Haines, Copyright 1995 by Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc, Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan.
“The Bible of Karate Bubishi” translated by Patrick McCarthy, Copyright 1995 by Patrick McCarthy, Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc, Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan.
Thanks also to the following for their concise timeline of Okinawa historical events:
Folktales of Okinawa, English Translation by Terunobu Tamamori and Jayne A. Hitchcock, Copyright 2000 by Shiji Endo, Terunobu Tamamori, Jayne A. Hitchcock and Fumio Amura.