Why Ryukyu is the territory of China?

There was once a Ryukyu Kingdom on the Ryukyu Islands. Just a hundred years ago, this kingdom had its own language. In the Ming Dynasty, China named the ruler of Ryukyu Island the Ryukyu King. Because of the convenience of waterways, it is the trade hub of neighboring countries. 1609 was invaded by Japan. 1693, Samoans forced the Amami Islands in the north to be ceded to Japan. Since then, Japan has launched a plan to gradually annex the Ryukyu Kingdom. 1March 30, 879 (the eighth day of March in Guangxu five years) was destroyed by Japan. 1879, Ryukyu Kingdom was incorporated into Japanese territory, and Okinawa Prefecture was established in the same year. 1945 Japan was defeated. Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation: "The conditions of the Cairo Declaration will be implemented, and Japan's sovereignty will be limited to Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and other small islands decided by us." Ryukyu sovereignty returns to China. But at that time, due to the civil war, Ryukyu was temporarily hosted by the United States. 1970, the United States and Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty behind China's back and handed over the management of Ryukyu and Diaoyu Islands to Japan, which was illegal.

The capital of Ryukyu Kingdom is Li Tou, which is in the eastern suburb of Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture today. In 2000, Ryukyu cultural relics such as Ryukyu Village, where the king and the royal family lived and handled government affairs, were designated as world cultural heritage by UNESCO.

The Ryukyu Kingdom in history is an archipelago east of Chinese mainland (northeast of Taiwan Province Island, China) and southwest of Kyushu Island. Like ancient Japan, the earliest written records about its country can be found in the ancient history of China. There is a biography of Ryukyu in Sui Shu. According to 1650, Zhongshan Shi Jian, the first national history written in Chinese, records: "When we established our dynasty, God scoured for a long time." "At the beginning, there was no name Ryukyu. Tens of thousands of years later, the emperor ordered Yu to ride Wei Zhukuan to visit different customs and set out from this country. Looking at Wan Tao from a distance, it twists and turns. If it floats in the water, it is also called Ryukyu. " That is to say, during the Sui Dynasty in China (58 1 ~ 6 17), this country was called Ryukyu and Qiu. "Sui Shu" was changed to "Ryukyu". Since then, in the history of Yuan Dynasty, some books have written "Qiuqiu", and some books are also called "Qiuqiu". In short, it is homophonic. The original pronunciation of the word Ryukyu comes from the official language of Sui and Tang Dynasties or earlier, that is, Hakka dialect today, which refers to something unevenly distributed on a plane, such as a silkworm egg in Ryukyu, to describe the islands distributed in the sea at that time.

In the fifth year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (1372), Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of Ming Dynasty, sent an envoy Yang Zai to Ryukyu with letters, which he called Ryukyu. Since then, it has become an official name. It can be seen that even the name of Ryukyu Kingdom was taken by China. According to "Special Records", the imperial edict said: "I was promoted to be a minister, and when I became emperor, I must have the title of Daming and Jianyuan Hongwu. Is to send envoys abroad, tell me what I want, envoys will come, barbarian leaders will pay tribute. However, Ryukyu is located in the southeast of China, far from overseas, and has not been reported. I'm sending you a message, you know. " This imperial edict is a kind of peaceful diplomacy, without any threat or intimidation, but it pretends to be the center of China and uses the word "barbarian" used by Chinese emperors. Therefore, King Chadu of Zhongshan in Ryukyu Kingdom first received the imperial edict and immediately sent Wang Ditai to China with Yang Zai as a bannerman. "Therefore, Ryukyu began to open the foundation of humanistic reform through China." (See1The Second Official History of Zhongshan written by Ryukyu Kingdom in Chinese in 725. ) After the Empress Zhongshan, King Cheng Chadu of Ryukyu Mountain South and King Banizi of Ryukyu Mountain North, they also paid tribute to Emperor China the following year. At that time, Ryukyu was "separated by three mountains" and the soldiers met each other. When Ming Taizu learned of this, he went to see Zhao Yun: "The emissary came back from the sea and said that the three kings of Ryukyu were fighting with each other, abandoning agriculture and hurting the people. I can't bear to smell it. " Therefore, they are required to "express their feelings, stop their soldiers, support their people and prosper their country." Finally, the three kings really stopped fighting, stopped fighting. It serves to show that Emperor China enjoyed a high degree of political authority in Ryukyu at this time, when Ryukyu was actually a vassal state of China.

According to the History of Ryukyu Kingdom and various historical records, since the 16th year of Hongwu (1383), all the kings of Ryukyu Kingdom have conferred titles on Emperor China, officially confirming the relationship between monarch and minister. This relationship lasted for five centuries. Even in the 14th anniversary of Japan (1609), Japan's Satsuma (now Kagoshima Prefecture) invaded Ryukyu, and the Ryukyu Kingdom remained unchanged under the restriction of Satsuma. In the 25th year of Hongwu (1392), Zhu Yuanzhang "gave Fujian people thirty-six surnames" and entered Ryukyu. These immigrants from China mainly taught Ryukyu China's advanced production technology and culture. The Ryukyu Kingdom also offered gifts. For example, in 1606, when King Shang Ning was posthumously sealed, he asked the Ming people to be naturalized. For example, Chua Meier from China is a descendant of Cai Xiang, while Lin is a descendant of the family. At the same time, the king of Ryukyu often sends his children to study in China.

Since the fifth year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (1372), Ryukyu Kingdom has been using the year number of China, and has been adhering to Zhengshuo in China. (Until the fifth year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1879), Japan forcibly "abolished Ryukyu and set up a county") The official documents, diplomatic treaties and official history of Ryukyu Kingdom were written in Chinese. Even the palace in Ryukyu Village, the capital, faces west instead of south, which fully expresses the admiration for China. Ryukyu people also do business with the Japanese, but whenever China sends a special envoy to Ryukyu, pseudonyms, Wakayama and Kuan Yong Bao Tong (Japanese currency) will be banned, and they will wear Tang suit instead. Ryukyu also cooperated with China to fight against Japanese invaders, which was recorded in Ming history, such as the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing (1557). "First, the Japanese invaders were defeated from Zhejiang and arrived in Ryukyu. Prince Shang Yuan sent troops to attack and wiped him out. Six people who were plundered in China were returned. "