The Special Relationship between Ryukyu Kingdom and Ryukyu

1392 (the 25th year of Hongwu), Ming Taizu gave 36 surnames to the boatmen in central Fujian for the convenience of envoys. After these immigrants arrived in Ryukyu, they established Naha Tang Ying (later called Kumi Village) on the floating island near Naha Port and settled here.

After these Ming immigrants arrived in Ryukyu, they established Kumi Village on the floating island near Naha Port and settled here. The 36 surnames of Fujian people are mostly navigators, scholars or other people with special skills. Their descendants have been responsible for navigation, shipbuilding, writing and translating diplomatic documents, trade with China and other affairs for generations, so they have a higher status in Ryukyu society. During the 500 years from the relocation of Min's surname 36 to the annexation of Ryukyu by Japan, most of the descendants of Min's surname 36 served as diplomats in Ryukyu court, and most of the doctors in Ryukyu tribute missions were descendants of Min's surname 36.

Because all the descendants of Min people's thirty-six surnames live in Kumi village, they are called "Kumi people". They are dressed in Hanfu, and their political inclination is obvious. After the Qing soldiers entered the customs, they refused to shave their heads and change clothes. However, in the reform of Xiang Xian, in order to maintain the need of paying tribute to the Qing Dynasty, Wang Fu of Ryukyu ordered the descendants of Fujian people with 36 surnames to collectively change into Ryukyu costumes in 1650.

For beating people, funerals have been held in accordance with the Confucian funeral festival. In the reform of the target county, the traditional earth burial and Confucian burial were abolished and replaced by Ryukyu-style wind burial and Buddhist burial. Since then, the policy of Ryukyu Wang Fu has been wavering between burial and wind burial, and it was not until 1726 that it was finally decided to follow the burial and Confucian funeral regulations for beating people.

Kumei and Shouli, Naha and Bo Shi are the four clans of Ryukyu. However, the power core of Ryukyu Wang Fu was monopolized by the polite gentry, and only Jiong Zheng and Cai Wen were the three secretaries of Jiumi gentry. However, the opponents monopolized the places of four official students for a long time until 1802.

Because the descendants of 36 Fujian people are proficient in Chinese, they brought many advanced technologies from China to Ryukyu. In the book "Five Heroes of Ryukyu" published by Okinawa scholar Yi Popo and Zhen Jing Ming An Xing Yu 19 16, five historical figures who have made great contributions to the history of Ryukyu are listed, including Ma Pingheng, Xiang Xiangxian, Cheng Shunze and Xiang Youheng, among whom He Shunze is a descendant of Fujian people's 36 surnames.

The 36 surnames of Fujian people are mostly navigators, scholars or other people with special skills. They are responsible for navigation, shipbuilding, writing and translating diplomatic documents, trade with China and other affairs in Ryukyu, and have a high social status in Ryukyu. Thirty-six surnames of Fujian people are valued and favored by Ryukyu Kingdom. After they came to the Ryukyu Kingdom, they were greatly respected by people from Wang Fu to the bottom, and became a special ethnic group in the Ryukyu Kingdom. Most of them have been entrusted with important tasks, participated in important political, economic and cultural activities of the country, and enjoyed high-ranking officials for generations, even paid official visits to the country. They became the place where the influential Fujian nobles lived in Ryukyu Kingdom, which was called "Tang Ying" and later called "Jiumi". There are two big temples in Jiumi Village, one is Confucius Temple, and the other is Tianhou and Guandi Temple. The Confucius Temple is very big, called Ying, with Confucius in the middle and his two subordinates on both sides, holding Yi, Shu, Shi and Chunqiu respectively. Tianhou and Guandi Temple are also in a three-tree pattern, with Tianhou in the middle, Guan Yu in the west and Tian Fei in Tianhou. According to the Ryukyu official system, the seven surnames of Shang and Xiang, who live in the capital of Wang, are the marriage of generations of imperial relatives, and officials with titles such as Law Department and Zijin Doctor are not given seven surnames. During the 500 years since Min 36 moved to Ryukyu and Ryukyu was annexed by Japan, most of Min 36' s descendants held important positions in Wang Fu, Ryukyu, and a large number of three officials emerged.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the Ryukyu Islands established Zhongshan State, which was subordinate to the Ming Dynasty and became a vassal state. In order to facilitate the tribute and trade of Ryukyu, Ming Taizu gave this small country many ships and sent boatmen and sailors. "Fujian people are thirty-eight people who are good at rowing, so they can pay tribute." These surnames are Liu, Zhang, Zhu, Liang, Zheng, Jin, Cai, Mao, Chen, Lin, Zeng, Gao, Wu, Li, Ruan, Shen, Wei, Tian, Wang, Ma, Qian, Weng, Mu, Han, Zong, Kun, Zhao, Yin, Cha, Wu and Zhao.