Shishō

Shishō (思紹, r. 1407–1421), or Shō Shishō (尚思紹) in later sources, was Anji of Sashiki and later King of Chūzan, one of three polities on the island of Okinawa, before they were united. He was the progenitor of what became the First Shō dynasty.

The son of Shishō was Shō Hashi, who is known as the first king of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Shō Hashi overthrew chief Bunei of Chūzan in 1406 and installed his father as king. His kingship was acknowledged by the Yongle Emperor of China, who caused a diplomatic mission to be sent to the Ryukyuan capital in 1415.^[3] He was retroactively given the surname Shō (尚) (Shang in Chinese) when the Emperor bestowed the name to Shō Hashi.

On 30 January 1406, the Yongle Emperor expressed horror when the Ryukyuans castrated some of their own children to become eunuchs to serve in the Ming imperial palace. The emperor said that the boys who were castrated were innocent and did not deserve castration, and he returned the boys to Ryukyu and instructed them not to send eunuchs again.^[4] This faux pas committed by Bunei contributed to, if not resulted in, Shō Hashi's coup.

Shishō was king when the forces of Chūzan invaded and conquered the neighboring Kingdom of Hokuzan in 1416.