Melaka-Ryukyu exchanges 1469

When Shō Toku 尚德 (r. 1461 to 1469), the last Ryukyuan king who Unification of Ryukyu was achieved by Shō Hashi 尚巴志 in 1429, effectively ended the Sanzan Period 三山時代. Shō Toku was the grandson of Shō Hashi 尚巴志 and the son of Shō Teechū 尚泰久. In 1453, with the support from Kanamaru 金丸, Sho Toku's father killed his nephew, the then crown prince 尚志魯 and took the Ryukyuan crown for himself. Kanamaru would later denied the son of Shō Toku the rights to the throne.descended directly from Shō Hashi (尚巴志, r. 1421 to 1439), died unexpectedly in June 1469. A coup d'état was staged and Shō Toku's heir was denied access to the throne.

The name of the usurper was Kanamaru 金丸, who was the trade minister 御物城御鎖側官 in the administrations of Shō Toku and that of his father's. With the help from Asatu Ufuya 安里大親 (Sinic name: 毛興文), Kanamaru was crowned at the age of 54, with the regnal name Shō En 尚円 (r. 1469 to 1476). The following is the cover letter by Shō En when he sent his first shipment to Melaka in 1469.

琉球國王移咨滿剌加國王殿下：

The King of Ryukyu (尚円) to Your Majesty the King of Melaka (Mansur Shah):

恭審賢王福祿增崇，自天祐之，曷勝所羨。

We know that both the fortune 福 and wealth 祿 of Your Majesty are multiplying, having being blessed by the Heaven 天祐之. How can we suppress our envy 羨 for you.

It is clear that in Mansur Shah's 1470 reply, the Ryukyuan king was treated as his counterpart of equal status. In 1480, however, the tone of the son of Mansur Shah was considerably different, and the letter was worded as if Melaka was hierarchically inferior to Ryukyu. The opening lines read: . . . 恭聞中華唐朝聖恩宥，臣年方六歲，感謝神恩，保佑小邦安泰，伏望琉球父王多蒙欽賜敕書封賞，. . . We learnt of the infinite grace of the Middle Kingdom, Patik is just six-year-old, we thank you for gracing and protecting this little country. We hope that Ayahanda will grant us many literary and material despatches. . . In a Ming Shilu 明實錄 entry dated 23 August 1481 (approximately 500 days from the date of this Rekidai Hōan 歷代寶案 letter), the Chinese record explicitly mentioned that Mahmud Shah was the son of Mansur Shah and a Ming mission was despatched to install him 封滿剌加國故王蘇丹■速沙子馬哈沙為國王. If the new king in Ming Shilu was the same person mentioned in the 1480 despatch to Ryukyu, then the identity of the six-year-old king is likely to be Mahmud Shah. The name of Mahmud Shah was again mentioned in Ming Shilu approximately 1000 days later in an entry dated 12 June 1484, in which a second Ming mission was sent to Melaka to install the new king as the first one did reach Melaka successfully.

且敝邦與貴國聘問往來，歲時貿易，未嘗或間。非善交鄰，其能然乎？今復遣正使阿普斯、通事林昌，齎咨文并禮物，致聘交通。非惟自得其宜，抑且兩便其利。贅語以聞，幸惟鑒納。

Our humble state 敝邦 and your country 貴國 are conducting bidirectional 往來 communications 聘問 and trade exchanges annually 歲時貿易 and uninterruptedly 未嘗或間. This can only be possible when we are good neighbors 非善交鄰，其能然乎. We are again sending chief envoy Ufusiku 阿普斯 and translator Rin Sho 林昌 to carry this letter 咨文 and some gifts 禮物 to you, as a token to maintain our relations. The benefit is not unidirectional 自得其宜 as should benefit both of us 兩便其利. We hope that you can accept the tokens 幸惟鑒納, after listening to these lengthy lines 贅語以聞.

The concluding lines in Ryukyu-Melaka letters are uniformly worded since 1463, they nearly always cover three points: (a) that the vessel is loaded with cargoes (b) that you will clear the cargoes with fair protocol and without much delay (c) that our representives can complete their business speedily so that the next monsoon wind can transport them home.

其來船亦有微貨，乞令概管，
早與貿易，趁風回還利便。須至咨者。

There are also some cargoes 微貨 aboard the ship. We hope that they can be accorded fair treatment 概管 and that you will expedite the business transactions associated with these goods 早與貿易 and let them come back speedily with the wind 趁風回還利便. Let this letter be given to the addressee 須至咨者.

今開禮物：色段五匹、青段二十匹、腰刀伍把、扇三十把、大青盤二十個、小青盤肆百個、青碗二千個。

The gifts are itemized 今開禮物 as follows:

• 5 bolts of dyed satin 色段
• 20 bolts of blue satin 青段
• 5 pieces of short swords 腰刀
• 30 pieces of fans 扇
• 20 pieces of big blue plates 大青盤
• 400 pieces of small blue plates 小青盤
• 2000 pieces of blue bowls 青碗

右咨滿剌加國 成化伍年八月十五日
一差正使阿普斯、通事林昌、陳泰

Dispatched to Melaka on the 15th day of the 8th month of the 5th year of Chenghua 成化伍年八月十五日 (September 20, 1469, about 4 months post Shō Toku-Shō En transition). Chief envoy: Ufusiku 阿普斯, translators: Rin Sho 林昌 and Chin Tai 陳泰.

The following was the reply from Mansur Shah. In the first part of the letter, the kind words from Shō En was infinitesimized and reciprocated. It is the last known Melakan despatch to Ryukyu by Mansur Shah, for the next Rekidai Hōan entry was dated 1480 and it was signed by a juvenile Malay king, approximately three years after the death of Mansur Shah.

滿刺加國王回咨琉球國王殿下：

The King of Melaka to Your Majesty the King of Ryukyu:

恭審賢王福祿無疆，浩天之庇，曷勝永昌。

We have learned of the infinite 無疆 fortune and wealth of Your Majesty, having being blessed by the unbounded Heaven 浩天, this is forever enviable 曷勝永昌.

In the second part of the letter, Mansur Shah explained, for the first time, why Melaka was not able to send mission although the first Ryukyuan visit was received in as early as 1463. This probably the For example, earlier in 7 February 1469, Mansur Shah loaded some return gifts on the Ryukyuan vessel led by Envoy Amuru, who departed Ryukyu on 1 September 1468.third time return gift was sent from Melaka to Ryukyu.

每受貴國所聘，愧未微物酬稱，歲歲來往於貿易，未曾毫釐之所輕。四海之內，皆兄弟也。本欲遣使前來，致聘交通，奈水途不熟，未便卑咨以聞，望為喜納。

We have always received gifts from your country 每受貴國所聘, it is embrassing 愧 that we are not able to thank you 酬稱 with some humble tokens 微物 personally. Every year trade is happening without fail 歲歲來往於貿易 and we have never 未曾 considered taking them lightly and minusculely 毫釐之所輕. We are all brothers within the bounds of four seas 四海之內，皆兄弟也. Although we have long wanted to dispatch envoys to you 欲遣使前來, it was a difficult task since we are not familiar 不熟 with the sea voyage 水途 to Ryukyu. We hope you can accept the present despatch with joy 望為喜納.

今有微物，就寄貴舶致聘回禮，具開于後。須至咨者。

Some small gifts 微物 are aboard your ship 就寄貴舶 as return gifts 致聘回禮. A list of them is given in the later part of this letter 具開于後. Let this letter be given to the addressee 須至咨者.

今開回聘禮物：喏哪哩壹匹、細紹達布四匹、苾布伍匹、紹達布四十匹。右咨琉球國。

The return gifts are itemized 今開回聘禮物 as follows. Despatch to Ryukyu.

• 1 bolt of gold spangled cloth 喏哪哩 (of Asia Minor origin?)
• 4 bolts of finely woven Bengali fabrics 細紹達布 (chautares cloth)
• 5 bolts of white fabrics 苾布
• 40 bolts of Bengali fabrics 紹達布 (chautares cloth)

The original exchanges betweeen Shō En and Mansur Shah did not survive. Shown here is a section of a letter by Shō En to Shimazu Tadamasa 嶋津忠昌 of Satsuma Han 薩摩藩, Southern Japan. The outer part of the despatch reads: 嶋津御屋形・御奉行所 ※ 琉球國・金丸世主. Note that Shō En signed the letter on 7 July 1471 (20th day of the 6th month) as Kanamaru Seshu 金丸世主 instead of King of Ryukyu 琉球國王 (when he addressed Mansur Shah). This letter is now archived at the Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo. Full text of the letter can be obtained from National Museum of Japanese History.

Mansur Shah, however, added the following postscript in which he complained about the bad behavior exhibited by the recent Ryukyuan crew in Melaka. This complaint was reciprocated with a formal acknowledgement from Shō En a few months later.

復奉賢王殿下：每歲差來使臣、通事俱好，只是以下頭目，甚至為非，不聽勸諭，欲行爭闘，實是攪擾。卅府後年，乞差的當人員前來交通，庶得兩便。卑咨復聞。

Again we address 復奉 Your Majesty: Each year 每歲, the envoys and translators dispatched to us are well-behaved 差來使臣通事俱好. This year, however, the leader committed extreme mischief, he refused to listen to our advice 不聽勸諭 and attempted to start strife 欲行爭闘. This is rather problematic 實是攪擾. In future 後年, We hope 乞 you can deploy 差 proper persons 的當人員 for the mission as it will benefit both of us 庶得兩便. We have added this much to our humble despatch 卑咨復聞.

成化六年三月■日 咨

The 3rd month of the 6th Year of Chenghua 成化六年三月■日 (approximately between April 2 to May 1, 1470 since the day of month ■ is not explicitly given. The date of this outgoing letter was gapped by about 200 days from the incoming letter by Shō En of 20 September 1469).

The Chinese text of these exchanges can be retrieved from Context Discovery System for Lidaibaoan 歷代寶案脈絡分析系統. The English annotations are adapted from the text by Matsuda Mitsugu (Kobata Atsushi 小葉田淳 and Matsuda Mitsugu 松田貢 (1969) Ryukyuan Relations with Korea and South Sea Countries: An Annotated Translation of Documents in the Rekidai Hōan, Atsushi Kobata, Kyoto)