Reign 1454–1460 Successor Sho Toku House House of Sho Name Sho Taikyu | Predecessor Sho Kinpuku Died 1460 Father Sho Hashi | |
Shō Taikyū (尚 泰久, c. 1415–1460, r. 1454–1460) was a king of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the sixth of the line of the first Shō Dynasty. His reign saw the construction of many Buddhist temples, and the casting of the "Bridge of Nations" Bell (万国津梁の鐘, Bankoku shinryō no kane).
Life and reign
Shō Taikyū was the seventh son of Shō Hashi, founder of the Ryukyu Kingdom and of the Shō Dynasty. In 1453, he was named Prince of Goeku, and given Goeku magiri (today part of Okinawa City) as his domain.
When King Shō Kinpuku died in 1453, a succession dispute erupted between the king's son Shiro (志魯) and his younger brother Furi (布里). Shuri Castle was burned down in the conflict, which ended in the death of both Shiro and Furi, and the succession of Shō Taikyū to the throne.
Having studied under Kaiin, a Zen monk from Kyoto, Shō Taikyū had a number of Buddhist temples founded, including the Kōgen-ji, Fumon-ji, Manju-ji, and Tenryū-ji., and the so-called "Bridge of Nations" Bell cast. The bell, with an inscription describing the kingdom's prosperity in maritime trade and diplomacy, hung in Shuri Castle for centuries and became a famous symbol of the castle and of the kingdom.
Shō Taikyū's reign was, indeed, a period of prosperity in maritime trade. Historian George H. Kerr writes that Okinawan merchants sometimes earned as much as a thousand-percent return on luxury goods, that Naha grew more fully into a prosperous-looking port town, and the estates of the local lords (anji) grew as well. However, Kerr also writes that Shō Taikyū's patronage of Buddhism and temple-building efforts far exceeded that which would have been demanded or supported by the populace, and that these activities impoverished the royal treasury.
The reign of Shō Taikyū also saw one of the more famous episodes of political intrigues among the Aji in the history & legends of the kingdom. Informed by Amawari, lord of Katsuren gusuku and son-in-law of the king, that Gosamaru, lord of Nakagusuku and father-in-law to Shō Taikyū, was plotting to overthrow the kingdom, Shō Taikyū allowed Amawari to lead a royal contingent to subjugate Nakagusuku. Following Gosamaru's defeat and subsequent death, the king discovered that it was in fact Amawari who had been plotting against him from the beginning, and whose schemes led to the destruction of a loyal retainer. Katsuren was then subsequently attacked by the Ryukyuan army led by Uni-Ufugusuku, and Amawari captured and executed.
Upon his death in 1460, Shō Taikyū was succeeded by his son, Shō Toku.