Shō Gen

Shō Gen (尚元, 1528–1572) was king of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1556 to 1572.^[2] He was called "Gen, the mute."^[3] The king required considerable support from the Sanshikan (Council of Three), the chief council of royal advisors. His reign marked the beginning of the council's demonstration of significantly greater effectiveness and efficiency than previously.

Shō Gen 尚元 shoo gwan
King Shō Gen in a painting by Shō Genko in 1796.
King of Ryūkyū
Reign	1556–1572
Predecessor	Shō Sei
Successor	Shō Ei
Born	Kanichiyo (金千代) (1528-03-25)March 25, 1528
Died	May 12, 1572(1572-05-12) (aged 44)
Burial	Tamaudun, Shuri
Spouse	Mawashi Kikoe-ōkimi-kanashi
Concubine	Kume-Gushikawa Aji-shirare Mēagari no Aji Mafē Aji
Issue	Shō Kōhaku, Prince Kume-Gushikawa Chōtsū Shō Ei, Prince Aoriyae Shō Kyū, Prince Kin Chōkō Princess Shuri-ōkimi Ajiganashi
Names Shō Gen (尚元)
Divine name	Tedahajime-ajisohe (日始按司添 tiidahajimi ajishii)[1]
House	Second Shō dynasty
Father	Shō Sei
Mother	Umimajingani Aji-ganashi

Shō Gen received his official investiture from the Ming Court in 1562, and received emissaries from the Shimazu clan of the Japanese province of Satsuma in 1570 and 1572. The Shimazu wished to establish some control over the Ryukyus, making them either a tributary or a vassal state. The kingdom resisted the Shimazu overtures, and a small punitive mission launched by the Shimazu created a small skirmish on the island of Amami Ōshima in 1571, although the Ryukyuans defeated them.

He was the second son of King Shō Sei, who he succeeded, and was succeeded in turn by his second son, Shō Ei.

See also

• Imperial Chinese missions to the Ryukyu Kingdom

Notes

1. 琉球国王の神号と『おもろさうし』 (PDF) (in Japanese).
2. Suganuma, Unryu. (2000). Sovereign Rights and Territorial Space in Sino-Japanese Relations, p. 46. at Google Books
3. Kerr, George H. (2000). Okinawa: The History of an Island People, p. 123., p. 123, at Google Books

References

• Kerr, George H. (1965). Okinawa, the History of an Island People. Rutland, Vermont: C.E. Tuttle Co. OCLC 39242121
• Smits, Gregory. (1999). Visions of Ryukyu: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-824-82037-4; OCLC 39633631
• Suganuma, Unryu. (2000). Sovereign Rights and Territorial Space in Sino-Japanese Relations: Irredentism and the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824821593; ISBN 9780824824938; OCLC 170955369

Regnal titles
Preceded by Shō Sei	King of Ryūkyū 1556-1572	Succeeded by Shō Ei