Loading AI tools
Rank of nobility in the Ryukyu Islands From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An aji, or anji (按司) was a ruler of a small kingdom in the history of the Ryukyu Islands. The word later became a title and rank of nobility in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It ranked next below a prince among nobility. The sons of princes and the eldest sons of aji became aji. An aji established a noble family equivalent to a shinnōke of Japan.
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (July 2024) |
The aji arose around the twelfth century as local leaders began to build gusuku (Ryukyuan castles). Shō Hashi was an aji who later unified Okinawa Island as king. The title aji variously designated sons of the king and regional leaders. During the Second Shō Dynasty, when the aji settled near Shuri Castle, the word came to denote an aristocrat in the castle town.
A pattern for addressing a male aji began with the place he ruled and ended with the word aji, for example, "Nago Aji". For women, the suffix ganashi or kanashi (加那志) followed: "Nago Aji-ganashi".
The kanji used to spell this word, "按司", appears to be phono-semantic matching, consisting of the words "keep under control" + "official".[citation needed]
The Liuqiu Guan Yiyu (琉球館訳語), a Okinawan word list written in Chinese, states that "大唐大人 大刀那安只" ("[The] Tang nobility [are called] *taj.taw.na.an.tʂr̩"), while the Zhongsang Zhuanxinlu (中山伝信録) says "老爺 安主" ("[A] lord [is called] an.tʂy").[1][2]
Konkōkenshū, a Okinawan word list written in Japanese, says "某のあんしきやなし 御太子御妃井御子様方御嫁部の御事" ("Some anjikyanashi [are the] great nobility of crown princes, the well of the imperical concubine, the ways of the great child, and parts of the great bride"). Various Old and Middle Okinawan anthologies variously spell it as あし, あじ, あち, あぢ, あんし, あんじ, and 按司.[1]
Examples of the word in Ryukyuan dialects include Amami Yamatohama [ʔadʑi],[3] Okinawan Nakijin-Yonamine [ʔàdʑĭː],[4] Okinawan Shuri [ʔádʑí ~ áɲdʑí],[5] Miyako Irabu-Nakachi [azɨ].[6]
Various etymologies have been proposed for this word. For instance, Iha Fuyu had suggested that this word has been derived from the Japanese word aruji "master".[1]
 |
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
