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100-614: The Samguk sagi is written in Classical Chinese , the written language of the literati of ancient Korea. Its compilation was ordered by King Injong of Goryeo (r. 1122–1146) and undertaken by a government official and historian named Kim Bu-sik with his team of junior scholars. The document has been digitized by the National Institute of Korean History and is available online with Modern Korean translation in Hangul . Samguk sagi

200-496: A pro-drop language : its syntax often allows either subjects or objects to be dropped when their reference is understood. Additionally, words are generally not restricted to use as certain parts of speech : many characters may function as either a noun, verb, or adjective. There is no general copula in Classical Chinese akin to how 是 ( shì ) is used in modern Standard Chinese. Characters that can sometimes function as

300-418: A system of honorifics . Many final and interrogative particles are found in Classical Chinese. Beyond differences in grammar and vocabulary, Classical Chinese can be distinguished by its literary qualities: an effort to maintain parallelism and rhythm is typical, even in prose works. Works also make extensive use of literary techniques such as allusion, which contributes to the language's brevity. Prior to

400-556: A Chinese junk with Portuguese merchants on board was driven to Tanegashima. Tanegashima Tokitaka succeeded in reproducing matchlock rifles obtained from the Portuguese. Within a few decades, firearms, then known as tanegashima , were spread across Sengoku Japan . Toyotomi Hideyoshi 's reunification of Japan finalized the Tanegashima clan's status as a senior vassal of the Shimazu clan. It

500-467: A collective name for the southern islands. In the early 8th century, the northern end of the island chain was formally incorporated into the Japanese administrative system. After a rebellion was crushed, Tane Province was established around 702. Tane Province consisted of four districts and covered Tanegashima and Yakushima. Although the tiny province faced financial difficulties from the very beginning, it

600-429: A copula in specific circumstances include 為 ( wéi ; 'make', 'do') when indicating temporary circumstances, and 曰 ( yuē ; 'say') when used in the sense of 'to be called'. Classical Chinese has more pronouns compared to the modern vernacular. In particular, whereas modern Standard Chinese has one character generally used as a first-person pronoun, Classical Chinese has several—many of which are used as part of

700-589: A failed Satsuma invasion of Amami Ōshima in 1493, and two rebellions on Amami Ōshima during the 16th century. The islands were finally conquered by Satsuma during the 1609 Invasion of Ryukyu . The Tokugawa shogunate granted Satsuma the islands in 1624. During the Edo Period, Ryukyuans referred to Satsuma's ships as "Tokara ships". Various polities of the Okinawa Islands were unified as the Ryūkyū Kingdom in 1429,

800-510: A group of Koreans were shipwrecked on Gaja Island , where they found the island half under the control of Satsuma and half under the control of Ryukyu. Gaja Island is only 80 miles from Satsuma's capital at Kagoshima City . The Koreans noted that the Ryukyuans used guns "as advanced as in [Korea]". Other records of activity in the Amami Islands show Shō Toku 's conquest of Kikai Island in 1466,

900-696: A long time. Ryūkyū was considered a land of cannibals and aroused a feeling of dread among surrounding people, from Buddhist monk Enchin who traveled to Tang China in 858 to an informant of the Hyōtō Ryūkyū-koku ki who traveled to Song China in 1243. Later, some Chinese sources used "Great Ryukyu" ( Chinese : 大琉球 ; pinyin : Dà Liúqiú ) for Okinawa and "Lesser Ryukyu" ( Chinese : 小琉球 ; pinyin : Xiǎo Liúqiú ) for Taiwan. Okinawan forms of "Ryūkyū" are Ruuchuu ( ルーチュー ) or Duuchuu ( ドゥーチュー ) in Okinawan and Ruuchuu ( ルーチュー ) in

1000-564: A native population collectively called the Ryukyuan people , named for the former Ryukyu Kingdom (1429–1875) that ruled them. The varied Ryukyuan languages are traditionally spoken on these islands, and the major islands have their own distinct languages. In modern times, the Japanese language has been the primary language of the islands, with the Okinawan Japanese dialect prevalently spoken. The outlying Daitō Islands were uninhabited until

1100-612: A tributary state of Ming Imperial China . The kingdom conquered the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands. At its peak, it also subjected the Amami Islands to its rule. In 1609, Shimazu Tadatsune , Lord of Satsuma, invaded the Ryūkyū Kingdom with a fleet of 13 junks and 2,500 samurai , thereby establishing suzerainty over the islands. They faced little opposition from the Ryukyuans, who lacked any significant military capabilities, and who were ordered by King Shō Nei to surrender rather than to suffer

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1200-509: A wide area of Kyūshū in 997. In response, Dazaifu ordered "Kika Island" ( 貴駕島 , Kikashima ) to arrest the Nanban . This is the first attested use of Kikaigashima , which is often used in subsequent sources. The series of reports suggest that there were groups of people with advanced sailing technology in Amami and that Dazaifu had a stronghold on Kikai Island . In fact, historians hypothesize that

1300-573: Is critical to the study of Korean history during the Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla periods. Not only because this work, and its Buddhist counterpart Samguk yusa , are the only remaining Korean sources for the period, but also because the Samguk sagi contains a large amount of information and details. For example, the translation tables given in Books 35 and 36 have been used for a tentative reconstruction of

1400-814: Is far more common in Chinese languages than in English: for example, each of the following words had a distinct Old Chinese pronunciation, but are now perfectly homophones with a pronunciation of yì [î] in Standard Chinese: The poem Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den was composed during the 1930s by the linguist Yuen Ren Chao to demonstrate this: it contains only words pronounced shi [ʂɻ̩] with various tones in modern Standard Chinese. The poem underlines how language had become impractical for modern speakers: when spoken aloud, Literary Chinese

1500-550: Is largely incomprehensible. However, the poem is perfectly comprehensible when read, and also uses homophones that were present even in Old Chinese. Romanizations have been devised to provide distinct spellings for Literary Chinese words, together with pronunciation rules for various modern varieties. The earliest was the Romanisation Interdialectique by French missionaries Henri Lamasse  [ fr ] of

1600-581: Is not read with a reconstructed Old Chinese pronunciation; instead, it is read with the pronunciations as categorized and listed in a rime dictionary originally based upon the Middle Chinese pronunciation in Luoyang between the 2nd and 4th centuries. Over time, each dynasty updated and modified the official rime dictionary: by the time of the Yuan and Ming dynasties , its phonology reflected that of early Mandarin. As

1700-405: Is the first attested use of Amami . Articles of the late 7th century give a closer look at the southern islands. In 677, the imperial court gave a banquet to people from Tane Island ( 多禰島 , Tanejima ) . In 679, the imperial court sent a mission to Tane Island. The mission carried some people from the southern islands who were described as the peoples of Tane, Yaku, and Amami ( 阿麻彌 ) in

1800-498: The Azuma Kagami state that Ata Tadakage of Satsuma Province fled to Kikai Island ( 貴海島 , Kikaishima ) sometime around 1160. The Azuma Kagami also states that in 1188 Minamoto no Yoritomo , who soon became the shōgun , dispatched troops to pacify Kikai Island ( 貴賀井島 , Kikaishima ) . It was noted that the imperial court objected the military expedition claiming that it was beyond Japan's administration. The Tale of

1900-528: The Book of Han (111 CE) is the oldest extant bibliography of Classical Chinese, compiled c.  90 CE ; only 6% of its 653 listed works are known to exist in a complete form, with another 6% existing only in fragments. Compared to written vernacular Chinese, Classical Chinese is terse and compact in its style, and uses some different vocabulary. Classical Chinese rarely uses words two or more characters in length. Classical Chinese can be described as

2000-487: The Engishiki (927), Dazaifu was to offer when they were obtained from the southern islands. The southern islands had strategic importance for Japan because they were on one of the three major routes used by Japanese missions to Tang China (630–840). The 702 mission seems to have been the first to successfully switch from the earlier route via Korea to the southern island route. The missions of 714, 733 and 752 probably took

2100-477: The Zizhi Tongjian . The Samguk sagi is divided into 50 books. Originally, each of them was written on a scroll ( 권 ; 卷 ). They are listed as follows: 12 scrolls, Nagi/Silla bongi, 나기/신라 본기, 羅紀/新羅本紀. 10 scrolls, Yeogi/Goguryeo bongi, 여기/고구려 본기, 麗紀/高句麗本紀. 6 scrolls, Jegi/Baekje bongi, 제기/백제 본기, 濟紀/百濟本紀. 3 scrolls, Yeonpyo, 연표, 年表. 9 scrolls, Ji, 지, 志. 10 scrolls, Yeoljeon, 열전, 列傳. Portions of

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2200-513: The 1971 Okinawa Reversion Agreement . Today, numerous issues arise from Okinawan history. Some Ryukyuans and some Japanese feel that people from the Ryukyus are different from the majority Yamato people . Some natives of the Ryukyus claim that the central government is discriminating against the islanders by allowing so many American soldiers to be stationed on bases in Okinawa with a minimal presence on

2300-657: The Amami Islands . An extant map of Japan held by the Hōjō clan describes Amami as a "privately owned district". The Shimazu clan also claimed the rights to the Twelve. In 1227 Shōgun Kujō Yoritsune affirmed Shimazu Tadayoshi 's position as the jitō of the Twelve Islands among others. After the Kamakura shogunate was destroyed, the Shimazu clan increased its rights. In 1364, it claimed

2400-762: The First Sino-Japanese War , China officially abandoned its claims to the Ryukyus. American military control over Okinawa began in 1945 with the establishment of the United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands , which in 1950 became the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands . Also in 1950, the Interim Ryukyus Advisory Council ( 臨時琉球諮詢委員会 , Rinji Ryūkyū Shijun Iinkai )

2500-731: The Five Classics and the other philosophical treatises... as well as the histories of Qin and Han , but as to the events of our country, they are utterly ignorant from beginning to end. This is truly lamentable." The Samguk sagi was written on the basis of the Gu Samguksa (舊三國史, Old History of the Three Kingdoms), and other earlier historical records such as the Hwarang Segi (花郞世記, Annals of Hwarang), most of which are no longer extant. Concerning external sources, no references are made to

2600-544: The Kunigami language . An Okinawan man was recorded as having referred to himself as a "Doo Choo man" during Commodore Matthew C. Perry 's visit to the Ryūkyū Kingdom in 1852. From about 1829 until the mid-20th century, the islands' English name was spelled Luchu , Loochoo , Loo-choo , or Lewchew , all pronounced / ˈ l uː tʃ uː / . These spellings were based on the Okinawan form Ruuchuu ( ルーチュー ) , as well as

2700-736: The Meiji period , when their development was started mainly by people from the Izu Islands south of Tokyo , with the people there speaking the Hachijō language . The islands were held by the United States after the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco concluded the Pacific War . They were returned to Japan under the 1971 Okinawa reversion agreement , with China disputing the Senkaku Islands . Administratively,

2800-563: The Old Chinese words in the Classical lexicon, many cognates can still be found. There is no universal agreement on the definition of "Classical Chinese". At its core, the term refers to the language used by the classics of Chinese literature roughly from the 5th century BCE to the end of the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE). The form of Chinese used in works written before

2900-583: The Paris Foreign Missions Society and Ernest Jasmin, based on Middle Chinese, followed by linguist Wang Li 's Wényán luómǎzì based on Old Chinese in 1940, and then by Chao's General Chinese romanization in 1975. However, none of these systems have seen extensive use. Ryukyu Islands The Ryukyu Islands ( 琉球列島 , Ryūkyū-rettō ) , also known as the Nansei Islands ( 南西諸島 , Nansei-shotō , lit. "Southwest Islands") or

3000-619: The Ryukyu Arc ( 琉球弧 , Ryūkyū-ko ) , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan : the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands ( Ōsumi , Tokara and Amami ) and Okinawa Prefecture ( Daitō , Miyako , Yaeyama , Senkaku , Okinawa , Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands ), and Yonaguni as the westernmost). The larger ones are mostly volcanic islands and

3100-531: The imperial examination system required the candidate to compose poetry in the shi genre, pronunciation in non-Mandarin speaking parts of China such as Zhejiang , Guangdong and Fujian is either based on everyday speech, such as in Standard Cantonese , or is based on a special set of pronunciations borrowed from Classical Chinese, such as in Southern Min . In practice, all varieties of Chinese combine

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3200-463: The written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now called Literary Chinese , which was used for almost all formal writing in China until the early 20th century. Each written character corresponds to a single spoken syllable, and almost always to a single independent word. As a result, the characteristic style of the language is comparatively terse. Starting in

3300-538: The "Country of Liuqiu" ( 流求國 ). They noted that the people were small but pugnacious. The Chinese could not understand the local language and returned to China. In 607, they sent another expedition to trade and brought back one of the islanders. A Japanese embassy was in Luoyang when the expedition returned, and one of the Japanese exclaimed that the islander wore the dress and spoke the language of Yaku Island . The island chain appeared in Japanese written history as Southern Islands ( 南島 , Nantō ) . The first record of

3400-542: The "eighteen islands" of Kawanabe District. In the same year, the clan's head Shimazu Sadahisa gave his son Morohisa properties in Satsuma Province including the Twelve Islands and the "extra five" islands. The latter must be the Amami Islands. The Tanegashima clan came to rule Tanegashima on behalf of the Nagoe family but soon became autonomous. It usually allied with, sometimes submitted itself to, and sometimes antagonized

3500-624: The 12th century, Shimazu Estate expanded to a large portion of the Satsuma and Ōsumi Provinces including Tanegashima. Koremune no Tadahisa , a retainer of the Fujiwara family, was appointed as a steward of Shimazu Estate in 1185. He was then named shugo of Satsuma and Ōsumi (and later Hyūga) Provinces by first shōgun Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1197. He became the founder of the Shimazu clan . Tadahisa lost power when his powerful relative Hiki Yoshikazu

3600-596: The 2nd century CE, use of Literary Chinese spread to the countries surrounding China, including Vietnam , Korea , Japan , and the Ryukyu Islands , where it represented the only known form of writing. Literary Chinese was adopted as the language of civil administration in these countries, creating what is known as the Sinosphere . Each additionally developed systems of readings and annotations that enabled non-Chinese speakers to interpret Literary Chinese texts in terms of

3700-526: The 4th century BCE, like the Five Classics , is distinct from that found in later works. The term "pre-Classical Chinese" is used to distinguish this earlier form from Classical Chinese proper, as it did not inspire later imitation to a comparable degree despite the works' equal importance in the canon. After the Han dynasty, the divergence of spoken language from the literary form became increasingly apparent. The term "Literary Chinese" has been coined to refer to

3800-511: The Amami Islands were incorporated into a trade network that connected it to Kyūshū, Song China and Goryeo. In fact, the Shōyūki recorded that in the 1020s, local governors of southern Kyūshū presented to the author, a court aristocrat, local specialties of the southern islands including the Chinese fan palm , redwoods, and shells of Green Turban Shell . The Shinsarugakuki , a fictional work written in

3900-467: The Amami Islands; prior to that, Amami-shotō ( 奄美諸島 ) had also been used. The climate of the Ryukyu islands is sub-tropical . It is significantly warmer than the main islands Kyushu , Shikoku and Honshu . There are occasional typhoons during the summer. Winter temperature is mild with optimal clearness of the ocean water. The English and Japanese uses of the term "Ryukyu" differ. In English,

4000-497: The Amami and Okinawa Islands together because in some respects (e.g. from a linguistic point of view) Amami is closer to Okinawa than to Miyako and Yaeyama, but there is no established single-word term for the group since the native population had not felt the need for such a concept. Japanese scholars use "Amami–Okinawa" while American and European scholars use "Northern Ryukyuan". The folklorist Kunio Yanagita and his followers used Nantō ( 南島 , "Southern Islands") . This term

4100-408: The Amami, Okinawa, Miyako, and Yaeyama Islands share much cultural heritage, though they are characterized by a great degree of internal diversity as well. There is, however, no good name for the group. The native population do not have their own name, since they do not recognize themselves as a group this size. Ryukyu is the principal candidate because it roughly corresponds to the maximum extent of

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4200-521: The Chinese pronunciation of the characters " 琉球 ", which in Mandarin is Liúqiú . Uchinaa ( 沖縄 ) , Okinawa in Okinawan, is originally a native name for the largest island in the island chain. The island was referred to as Okinawa ( 阿児奈波 ) in the 8th century biography of Jianzhen (唐大和上東征傳). It is also specified as Okinawa ( おきなわ ) in hiragana in the collection of Umuru U Sōshi ( おもろさうし ) , known as Ryukyu's official poetry book. It

4300-531: The Eastern Islands, so he sent expeditions there to find the source of immortality , to no avail. Based on Ryukyuan folklore on Kudaka Island , some scholars believe that these expeditions succeeded in reaching Japan and launched a social and agricultural revolution there. The Eastern Islands are again mentioned as the land of immortals in the Annals of the Han dynasty . In 601, the Chinese sent an expedition to

4400-575: The Heike (13th century) depicted Kikai Island ( 鬼界島 , Kikaishima ) , where Shunkan , Taira no Yasuyori, and Fujiwara no Naritsune were exiled following the Shishigatani Incident of 1177. The island depicted, characterized by sulfur, is identified as Iōjima of the Ōsumi Islands , which is part of Kikai Caldera . Since China's invention of gunpowder made sulfur Japan's major export, Sulfur Island or Iōgashima became another representative of

4500-634: The Higo clan settled in Tanegashima and became the Tanegashima clan . The islands other than Tanegashima were grouped as the Twelve Islands and treated as part of Kawanabe District, Satsuma Province. The Twelve Islands were subdivided into the Near Five ( 口五島 / 端五島 , Kuchigoshima/Hajigoshima ) and the Remote Seven ( 奥七島 , Okunanashima ) . The Near Five consisted of the Ōsumi Islands except Tanegashima while

4600-629: The Japanese chronicles, like the Kojiki or the Nihon Shoki , chronicles of Japan that were respectively released in 712 and 720. It is possible Kim Busik was ignorant of them, or scorned to quote a Japanese source. In contrast, he lifts generously from the Chinese dynastic chronicles and even unofficial Chinese records, most prominently the Book of Wei , Sanguo Zhi , Jin Shu , Jiu Tangshu , Xin Tangshu , and

4700-405: The Japanese emperor's virtue. At the site of Dazaifu , the administrative center of Kyushu, two wooden tags dated in the early 8th century were unearthed in 1984, which read "Amami Island" ( 㭺美嶋 , Amamijima ) and "Iran Island" ( 伊藍嶋 , Iran no Shima ) respectively. The latter seems to correspond to Okinoerabu Island . These tags might have been attached to "red woods", which, according to

4800-594: The Japanese government established the Ryukyu han under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Ministry. In 1875, jurisdiction over the Ryukyus changed from the Foreign Ministry to the Home Ministry. In 1879, the Meiji government announced the annexation of the Ryukyus , establishing it as Okinawa Prefecture and forcing the Ryukyu king to move to Tokyo. When China signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki after its 1895 defeat in

4900-450: The Japanese readings of Literary Chinese, is part of the high school curriculum in Japan. Japan is the only country that maintains the tradition of creating Literary Chinese poetry based on Tang-era tone patterns . Chinese characters are not phonetic and rarely reflect later sound changes in words. Efforts to reconstruct Old Chinese pronunciation began relatively recently. Literary Chinese

5000-434: The Northern Nansei Islands) in Japanese. The name of Ryūkyū ( 琉球 ) is strongly associated with the Ryukyu Kingdom , a kingdom that originated from the Okinawa Islands and subjugated the Sakishima and Amami Islands. The name is generally considered outdated in Japanese although some entities of Okinawa still bear the name, such as the local national university . FC Ryukyu is the maximum football representative of

5100-495: The Remote Seven corresponded to the Tokara Islands. After the Jōkyū War in 1221, the jitō of Kawanabe District was assumed by the Hōjō Tokusō family. The Tokusō family let its retainer Chikama clan rule Kawanabe District. In 1306, Chikama Tokiie created a set of inheritance documents that made reference to various southern islands. The islands mentioned were not limited to the Twelve but included Amami Ōshima , Kikai Island and Tokunoshima (and possibly Okinoerabu Island ) of

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5200-446: The Ryūkyū Kingdom. However, it is not necessarily considered neutral by the people of Amami, Miyako, and Yaeyama, who were marginalized under the Okinawa-centered kingdom. The Ōsumi Islands are not included because they are culturally part of Kyushu . There is a high degree of confusion in use of Ryukyu in English literature. For example, Encyclopædia Britannica equates the Ryukyu Islands with Japanese Ryūkyū-shotō or Nansei-shotō in

5300-414: The Shimazu clan on mainland Kyūshū. The Tanegashima clan was given Yakushima and Kuchinoerabu Island by Shimazu Motohisa in 1415. In 1436, it was given the Seven Islands of Kawanabe District, Satsuma Province (the Tokara Islands) and other two islands by Shimazu Mochihisa, the head of a branch family. Tanegashima is known in Japanese history for the introduction of European firearms to Japan. Around 1543,

5400-425: The Southern Islanders to the south, as "barbarians". The imperial court brought some of them to the capital to serve the emperor. The New Book of Tang (1060) states at the end of the chapter of Japan that there were three little princes of Yaku ( 邪古 ) , Haya ( 波邪 ) , and Tane ( 多尼 ) . This statement should have been based on a report by Japanese envoys in the early 8th century who would have claimed

5500-534: The Southern Islands is an article of 618 in the Nihonshoki (720) which states that people of Yaku ( 掖玖 , 夜勾 ) followed the Chinese emperor's virtue. In 629, the imperial court dispatched an expedition to Yaku . Yaku in historical sources was not limited to modern-day Yakushima but seems to have covered a broader area of the island chain. In 657, several persons from Tokara ( 都貨邏 , possibly Dvaravati ) arrived at Kyushu, reporting that they had first drifted to Amami Island ( 海見島 , Amamijima ) , which

5600-459: The Tokara Strait (between the Tokara and Amami Islands) and the Kerama Gap (between the Okinawa and Miyako Islands ). The islands beyond the Tokara Strait are characterized by their coral reefs . The Ōsumi and Tokara Islands, the northernmost of the islands, fall under the cultural sphere of the Kyushu region of Japan; local inhabitants speak a variation of the Kagoshima dialect of Japanese. The Amami, Okinawa, Miyako, and Yaeyama Islands have

5700-406: The article of 682. According to the Shoku Nihongi (797), the imperial court dispatched armed officers in 698 to explore the southern islands. As a result, people of Tane, Yaku, Amami and Dokan visited the capital (then Fujiwara-kyō ) to pay tribute in the next year. Historians identify Dokan as Tokunoshima of the Amami Islands. An article of 714 reports that an investigative team returned to

5800-409: The capital, together with people of Amami, Shigaki ( 信覺 ) , and Kumi ( 球美 ) among others. Shigaki should be Ishigaki Island of the Yaeyama Islands. Some identify Kumi as Iriomote Island of the Yaeyama Islands because Komi is an older name for Iriomote. Others consider that Kumi corresponded to Kume Island of the Okinawa Islands. Around this time "Southern Islands" replaced Yaku as

5900-416: The central government lost its interest in the southern islands. The southern islands reappeared in written history at the end of the 10th century. According to the Nihongi ryaku (c. 11th–12th centuries), Dazaifu , the administrative center of Kyushu, reported that the Nanban (southern barbarians) pirates, who were identified as Amami islanders by the Shōyūki (982–1032 for the extant portion), pillaged

6000-438: The definition but limits its scope to the Amami, Okinawa and Sakishima (Miyako and Yaeyama) in the content. " Ryūkyū " is an exonym and is not a self-designation. The word first appeared in the Book of Sui (636). Its obscure description of Liuqiu ( 流求 ) is the source of a never-ending scholarly debate about whether the name referred to Taiwan, Okinawa or both. Nevertheless, the Book of Sui shaped perceptions of Ryūkyū for

6100-413: The direction of the island chain relative to mainland Japan. Some humanities scholars prefer the uncommon term Ryūkyū-ko ( 琉球弧 , "Ryukyu Arc") for the entire island chain. In geology, however, the Ryukyu Arc includes subsurface structures such as the Okinawa Trough and extends to Kyushu. During the American occupation of Amami, the Japanese government objected to the islands being included under

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6200-586: The extremely laconic style. Presently, pure Literary Chinese is occasionally used in formal or ceremonial contexts. For example, the National Anthem of the Republic of China is in Literary Chinese. Buddhist texts in Literary Chinese are still preserved from the time they were composed or translated from Sanskrit. In practice there is a socially accepted continuum between vernacular and Literary Chinese. For example, most official notices and formal letters use stock literary expressions within vernacular prose. Personal use of Classical phrases depends on factors such as

6300-433: The former Goguryeo language . There were various motivating factors behind the compilation of the Samguk sagi in the 12th century. These may roughly be categorized as ideological and political. The ideological factors are made manifest in the work's preface, written by Kim Busik, where the civil historian states, "Of today's scholars and high-ranking officials, there are those who are well-versed and can discuss in detail

6400-490: The grouping and names used by the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department of the Japan Coast Guard . The islands are listed from north to south where possible. The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, another government organization that is responsible for standardization of place names, disagrees with the Japan Coast Guard over some names and their extent, but the two are working on standardization. They agreed on February 15, 2010, to use Amami-guntō ( 奄美群島 ) for

6500-475: The historical literary use of Latin in Europe, that of Arabic in Persia , or that of Sanskrit in South and Southeast Asia. However, unlike these examples, written Chinese uses a logography of Chinese characters that are not directly tied to their pronunciation. This lack of a fixed correspondence between writing and reading created a situation where later readings of Classical Chinese texts were able to diverge much further from their originals than occurred in

6600-477: The historical records of all non- Qin states to be burned, along with any literature associated with the Hundred Schools of Thought . The imperial library was destroyed upon the dynasty's collapse in 206 BCE, resulting in a potentially greater loss. Even works from the Classical period that have survived are not known to exist in their original forms, and are attested only in manuscripts copied centuries after their original composition. The " Yiwenzhi " section of

6700-536: The islands are divided between two prefectures : the northern islands, collectively called the Satsunan Islands , are part of Kagoshima Prefecture (specifically Kagoshima District , Kumage Subprefecture / District , and Ōshima Subprefecture / District ), while the southern part of the chain makes up Okinawa Prefecture . The divide is between the Amami and Okinawa Islands , with the Daitō Islands part of Okinawa Prefecture. The Ryukyu islands are commonly divided into two or three primary groups: The following are

6800-567: The islands", noting that "almost all the voices in China pressing the Okinawa issue are affiliated in some way with the government". Taiwan also claims the Senkaku islands but made it clear on multiple occasions that they will not work with China over the Senkaku Islands dispute. Many popular singers and musical groups come from Okinawa Prefecture. These include the groups Speed and Orange Range , as well as solo singers Namie Amuro and Gackt , among many others. The islands were described by Hayashi Shihei in Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu , which

6900-476: The kanji represents a native word such as the reading of 行 in 行く ( iku ) or the reading of both characters in " Osaka " ( 大阪 ), as well as a system that aids Japanese speakers with a Classical word order. As pronunciation in modern varieties is different from Old Chinese as well as other historical forms such as Middle Chinese , characters that once rhymed may not any longer, or vice versa. Poetry and other rhyme-based writing thus becomes less coherent than

7000-412: The later forms of written Chinese in conscious imitation of the classics, with sinologists generally emphasizing distinctions such as the gradual addition of new vocabulary and the erosion of certain points of Classical grammar as their functions were forgotten. Literary Chinese was used in almost all formal and personal writing in China from the end of the Han dynasty until the early 20th century, when it

7100-565: The laws of Taiwan are still written in a subset of Literary Chinese. As a result, it is necessary for modern Taiwanese lawyers to learn at least a subset of the literary language. Many works of literature in Classical and Literary Chinese have been highly influential in Chinese culture, such as the canon of Tang poetry . However, even with knowledge of its grammar and vocabulary, works in Literary Chinese can be difficult for native vernacular speakers to understand, due to its frequent allusions and references to other historical literature, as well as

7200-568: The literary revolution in China that began with the 1919 May Fourth Movement , prominent examples of vernacular Chinese literature include the 18th-century novel Dream of the Red Chamber . Most government documents in the Republic of China were written in Literary Chinese until reforms spearheaded by President Yen Chia-kan in the 1970s to shift to written vernacular Chinese. However, most of

7300-676: The local vernacular. While not static throughout its history, its evolution has traditionally been guided by a conservative impulse: many later changes in the varieties of Chinese are not reflected in the literary form. Due to millennia of this evolution, Literary Chinese is only partially intelligible when read or spoken aloud for someone only familiar with modern vernacular forms. Literary Chinese has largely been replaced by written vernacular Chinese among Chinese speakers; speakers of non-Chinese languages have similarly abandoned Literary Chinese in favour of their own local vernaculars. Although varieties of Chinese have diverged in various directions from

7400-461: The loss of precious lives. After that, the kings of the Ryukyus paid tribute to the Japanese shōgun as well as to the Chinese emperor . During this period, Ryukyu kings were selected by a Japanese clan, unbeknownst to the Chinese, who believed the Ryukyus to be a loyal tributary. In 1655, the tributary relations between Ryukyu and Qing were formally approved by the shogunate. In 1874, the Ryukyus terminated tribute relations with China. In 1872,

7500-515: The mainland. Additionally, there is some discussion of secession from Japan. As the territorial dispute between China and Japan over the Senkaku Islands intensified in the early 21st century, Chinese Communist Party -backed scholars published essays calling for a reexamination of Japan's sovereignty over the Ryukyus. In 2013 The New York Times described the comments by said scholars as well as military figures as appearing to constitute "a semiofficial campaign in China to question Japanese rule of

7600-583: The mid-11th century, introduced a merchant named Hachirō-mauto, who traveled all the way to the land of the Fushū in the east and to Kika Island ( 貴賀之島 , Kikanoshima ) in the west. The goods he obtained from the southern islands included shells of Green Turban Shell and sulfur . The Shinsarugakuki was not mere fiction; the Golden Hall of Chūson-ji (c. 1124) in northeastern Japan was decorated with tens of thousands of green turban shells. Some articles of 1187 of

7700-600: The name "Ryukyu" in English because they worried that this might mean that the return of the Amami Islands to Japanese control would be delayed until the return of Okinawa. However, the American occupational government on Amami continued to be called the "Provisional Government for the Northern Ryukyu Islands" in English, though it was translated as Rinji Hokubu Nansei-shotō Seichō ( 臨時北部南西諸島政庁 , Provisional Government for

7800-546: The original reading must have been. However, some modern Chinese varieties have certain phonological characteristics that are closer to the older pronunciations than others, as shown by the preservation of certain rhyme structures. Another particular characteristic of Literary Chinese is its present homophony . Reading Classical texts with character pronunciations from modern languages results in many homophonous characters that originally had distinct Old Chinese pronunciations, but have since merged to varying degrees. This phenomenon

7900-529: The other literary traditions, adding a unique dimension to the study of Literary Chinese. Literary Chinese was adopted in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. The Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature states that this adoption came mainly from diplomatic and cultural ties with China, while conquest, colonization, and migration played smaller roles. Unlike Latin and Sanskrit, historical Chinese language theory consisted almost exclusively of lexicography , as opposed to

8000-407: The plateau of Kikai Island is one of the largest sites of the era. It lasted from 9th to 13th centuries and at its height from the second half of the 11th to the first half of the 12th century. It was characterized by a near-total absence of the native Kaneku Type pottery, which prevailed in coastal communities. What were found instead were goods imported from mainland Japan, China and Korea. Also found

8100-646: The prefecture in the Japanese football league system and has played as high as the second-tier J2 League . In Japanese, the "Ryukyu Islands" ( 琉球諸島 , Ryūkyū-shotō ) cover only the Okinawa, Miyako, and Yaeyama Islands, while in English it includes the Amami and Daitō Islands. The northern half of the island chain is referred to as the Satsunan ("South of Satsuma ") Islands in Japanese, as opposed to Northern Ryukyu Islands in English. Humanities scholars generally agree that

8200-454: The same route. In 754 the Chinese monk Jianzhen managed to reach Japan. His biography Tō Daiwajō Tōseiden (779) makes reference to Akonaha ( 阿兒奈波 ) on the route, which may refer to modern-day Okinawa Island. An article of 754 states that the government repaired mileposts that had originally been set in the southern islands in 735. However, the missions from 777 onward chose another route that directly connected Kyūshū to China. Thereafter

8300-412: The school curriculum is taught primarily by presenting a literary work and including a vernacular gloss that explains the meaning of phrases. The examinations usually require the student to read a paragraph in Literary Chinese and then explain its meaning in the vernacular. Contemporary use of Literary Chinese in Japan is mainly in the field of education and the study of literature. Learning kanbun ,

8400-438: The smaller mostly coral . The largest is Okinawa Island . The climate of the islands ranges from humid subtropical climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfa ) in the north to tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification Af ) in the south. Precipitation is very high and is affected by the rainy season and typhoons . Except the outlying Daitō Islands , the island chain has two major geologic boundaries,

8500-491: The southern islands. It is noted by scholars that the character representing the first syllable of Kikai changed from ki ( 貴 , noble) to ki ( 鬼 , ogre) from the end of the 12th century to the early 13th century. The literature-based theory that Kikai Island was Japan's trade center of the southern islands is supported by the discovery of the Gusuku Site Complex in 2006. The group of archaeological sites on

8600-510: The study of grammar and syntax. Such approaches largely arrived with Europeans beginning in the 17th century. Christian missionaries later coined the term 文理 ( wénlǐ ; 'principles of literature', 'bookish language') to describe Classical Chinese; this term never became widely used among domestic speakers. According to the traditional " burning of books and burying of scholars " account, in 213 BCE Qin Shi Huang ordered

8700-445: The subject matter and the level of education of the writer. Excepting professional scholars and enthusiasts, most modern writers cannot easily write in Literary Chinese. Even so, most Chinese people with at least a middle school education are able to read basic Literary Chinese, because this ability is part of the Chinese middle school and high school curricula, and is a component of the college entrance examination. Literary Chinese in

8800-509: The term Ryukyu may apply to the entire chain of islands, while in Japanese Ryukyu usually refers only to the islands that were previously part of the Ryūkyū Kingdom after 1624. Nansei-shotō ( 南西諸島 ) is the official name for the whole island chain in Japanese. Japan has used the name on nautical charts since 1907. Based on the Japanese charts, the international chart series uses Nansei Shoto . Nansei literally means "southwest",

8900-676: The two extremes of pronunciation: that according to a prescribed system, versus that based on everyday speech. Mandarin and Cantonese, for example, also have words that are pronounced one way in colloquial usage and another way when used in Literary Chinese or in specialized terms coming from Literary Chinese, though the system is not as extensive as that of Min or Wu . Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese readers of Literary Chinese each use distinct systems of pronunciation specific to their own languages. Japanese speakers have readings of Chinese origin called on'yomi for many words, such as for "ginko" ( 銀行 ) or "Tokyo" ( 東京 ), but use kun'yomi when

9000-497: The word "Okinawa" is used to refer to Okinawa Prefecture and does not include Kagoshima Prefecture. (People from the Amami Islands, Kagoshima Prefecture object to being included in "Okinawa".) Inside Okinawa Prefecture, "Okinawa" is used to refer to Okinawa Island, and does not include the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands. People in the Yaeyama Islands use the expression "go to Okinawa" when they visit Okinawa Island. Some scholars group

9100-436: The work have appeared in various English language books and articles, notably: Translation of the whole Silla bongi Translation of the whole Goguryeo bongi Translation of the whole Baekje bongji Isolated translations Classical Chinese Classical Chinese is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from c.  the 5th century BCE . For millennia thereafter,

9200-757: Was formed, which evolved into the Ryukyu Provisional Central Government ( 琉球臨時中央政府 , Ryūkyū Rinji Chūō Seifu ) in 1951. In 1952, the U.S. was formally granted control over Ryukyu Islands south of 29°N latitude, and other Pacific islands, under the San Francisco Peace Treaty between the Allied Powers and Japan. The Ryukyu Provisional Central Government then became the Government of the Ryukyu Islands which existed from 1952 to 1972. Administrative rights reverted to Japan in 1972, under

9300-598: Was largely replaced by written vernacular Chinese . A distinct, narrower definition of the Classical period begins with the life of Confucius (551–479 BCE) and ends with the founding of the Qin dynasty in 221 BCE. The adoption of Chinese literary culture in the Sinosphere amid the existence of various regional vernaculars is an example of diglossia . The coexistence of Literary Chinese and native languages throughout China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam can be compared to

9400-506: Was maintained until 824 when it was merged into Ōsumi Province . Ancient Japan's commitment to the southern islands is attributed to ideological and strategic factors. Japan applied to herself the Chinese ideology of emperorship that required "barbarian people" who longed for the great virtue of the emperor. Thus Japan treated people on its periphery, i.e., the Emishi to the east and the Hayato and

9500-564: Was not until the 18th century that Okinawa was specified in its own script as 沖縄. The Japanese map series known as the Ryukyu Kuniezu lists the island as Wokinaha Shima ( 悪鬼納嶋 ) in 1644 and Okinawa Shima ( 沖縄嶋 ) after 1702. The name Okinawa Shima was chosen by the Meiji government for the new prefecture when they annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879. Outside of Okinawa Prefecture,

9600-506: Was originally used by the imperial court of Ancient Japan. Yanagita hypothesized that the southern islands were the origin of the Japanese people and preserved many elements that were subsequently lost in Japan. The term is outdated today. The first mention of the islands in Chinese literature occur in the Records of the Grand Historian . Qin Shi Huang heard of "happy immortals" living on

9700-530: Was overthrown in 1203. He lost the positions of shugo and jitō and only regained the posts of shugo of Satsuma Province and jitō of the Satsuma portion of Shimazu Estate. The shugo of Ōsumi Province and jitō of the Ōsumi portion of Shimazu Estate, both of which controlled Tanegashima, were succeeded by the Hōjō clan (especially its Nagoe branch). The Nagoe family sent the Higo clan to rule Ōsumi. A branch family of

9800-477: Was published in 1785. An article in the 1878 edition of the Globe Encyclopaedia of Universal Information describes the islands: Loo-Choo, Lu-Tchu , or Lieu-Kieu , a group of thirty-six islands stretching from Japan to Formosa, in 26°–27°40′ N. lat., 126°10′–129°5′ E. long., and tributary to Japan. The largest, Tsju San ('middle island'), is about 60 miles long and 12 [miles] broad; others are Sannan in

9900-453: Was relocated to Chiran of mainland Kyūshū in 1595. Although it moved back to Tanegashima in 1599, Yakushima and Kuchinoerabu Island fall under the direct control of the Shimazu clan. These islands all constituted Satsuma Domain during the Edo period . The Amami Islands were a focal point for dispute between the southward-expanding Satsuma Domain and the northward-expanding Ryukyu Kingdom. In 1453,

10000-635: Was the Kamuiyaki pottery, which was produced in Tokunoshima from the 11th to 14th centuries. The skewed distribution of Kamuiyaki peaked at Kikai and Tokunoshima suggests that the purpose of Kamuiyaki production was to serve it to Kikai. Around the Hōen era (1135–1141), Tanegashima became part of Shimazu Estate on southern Kyūshū. The Shimazu Estate was said to have established at Shimazu, Hyūga Province in 1020s and dedicated to Kanpaku Fujiwara no Yorimichi . In

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