2. Origins of Kuninda

Introduction

The port of Naha in the Kingdom of Ryukyu flourished as a hub of trade with East Asia during the 15th and 16th centuries.

The reason for this is explained in the previous article, “Why Naha Port Became a Hub for East Asian Trade,” but it was “Kuninda” – present day Kume in Naha City – that engaged in this trading business.

Why, then, did the people of Kuninda come to manage trade and contribute so much to the prosperity of the Ryukyu Kingdom?

This article describes in detail about the Ryukyu Kingdom and the birth of Kuninda at that time.

Ryukyu in those times

Trade between Ryukyu and Ming China is said to have begun in 1372 during the Sanzan period, when Satto, the King of Chuzan, paid tribute to the Ming.

However, because Ryukyu at that time had no trading ships and did not know navigational techniques, it was not able to respond quickly even when trade was authorized by the king.

Therefore, although China gave Ryukyu about 30 large ships over the initial 60 years, they could not be used to go anywhere if nobody knew how to navigate the sea routes.

Furthermore, trade at that time was conducted in Quanzhou (a city in Fujian Province, China), and people who could speak in Chinese were needed for trade negotiations.

In order to conduct tribute trade, Ryukyu needed to have people who could operate ships and were skilled traders who could speak Chinese.

Roots of Kuninda

Against this background, in addition to the gift of trading ships, the Chinese emperor also dispatched skilled navigators to the Ryukyus. They came to be known as the “36 clans of the Ming People”, and their arrival is regarded as the beginnings of Kuninda.

At that time, China enforced a “sea ban” that prohibited private trade. Anybody who was found engaging in private trade was subject to severe penalties.

However, in the Ryukyus, where preferential treatment by the Chinese emperor was granted, the shortages of people who could operate ships and people who could speak Chinese presented great business opportunities.

Therefore, Kuninda became a magnet for overseas Chinese who wanted to exploit great business opportunities, even if it meant taking risks in the eyes of the Chinese authorities.

Trade in Southeast Asia attracted people of all colors, from Southeast Asians to Muslims, but Chinese merchants (especially those from Fujian and Canton) were always at the center of the trade. Needless to say, the common language with Chinese merchants was Chinese.

Kuninda attracted not only the professional families dispatched by the emperor but also overseas Chinese groups with trading networks, and the Ryukyu Kingdom enjoyed great trading success by taking advantage of the network of Chinese merchants who controlled Southeast Asian trade at the time.

Kuninda in Ryukyu

Around the time Kuninda was established, Ryukyu was divided into the three countries of Chuzan, Hokuzan, and Nanzan, during the Sanzan Period.

In these circumstances, Kuninda remained autonomous without taking a position such as Kuninda of Chuzan or Kuninda of Hokuzan.

Traders would operate as the representatives of Chuzan if they were consigned by Chuzan, the representatives of Hokuzan if they were consigned by Hokuzan, or the representatives of Nanzan if they were consigned by Nanzan.

Based in Kuninda, they built their own overseas Chinese community, which continued to exist as a trading center from the Sanzan period until after the unification of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Role of Kuninda

For Ryukyu, the overseas Chinese merchants were indispensable in strengthening the trade system because of their ability to communicate in Chinese, prepare diplomatic documents, employ navigational techniques and leverage trading networks.

The Ming also expected Ryukyu to serve as a watchdog for collecting and reporting on information concerning Japan and Japanese pirates, and as an intermediary in diplomatic negotiations between the Ming and the Muromachi Shogunate.

Therefore, the existence of Kuninda’s professional group of families was indispensable for the Ryukyu Kingdom to fulfill these roles, and the royal government incorporated overseas Chinese into its own power structure.

When the Ryukyus were unified by Shō Hashi in 1429, ties between the overseas Chinese and the royal government became even closer, and the overseas Chinese came to play a major role not only in trade but also in domestic and diplomatic affairs. Some natives of Kuninda rose to the position of national minister. Among them, Kaiki wielded the greatest influence in the royal government.

Decline of Kuninda

However, after the Ryukyu Kingdom, which prospered during the “Great Trading Age,” dispatched trading ships to Thailand in 1570, all mention of Southeast Asian trade disappeared from the Ryukyu Kingdom’s Rekidai Hoan diplomatic records, and the Ryukyu Kingdom ceased to be a player on the stage of Southeast Asian trade.

This was brought about by the emergence of a new trading system triggered by the Age of Discovery, in which Portugal and Spain expanded into Asia.

In 1510, Portugal occupied Goa in India, followed the next year by Malacca, another core trading port in Southeast Asia.

Portugal then moved northward to take advantage of trade opportunities in Japan and China. Spain established trading posts in the Philippines. Under these circumstances, the Ryukyu Kingdom’s importance as a hub port in East Asia declined.

Relaxation of the sea ban

Moreover, in China, the suppression of trade brought about by the “sea ban” had become a source of resentment among the Chinese populace, and the significance of the ban was waning.

Under these circumstances, when the ” sea ban ” was lifted, Chinese merchants began to trade directly with the countries of Southeast Asia.

The balance of trade in the Ryukyu Islands, which had enjoyed a monopoly, was disrupted by the emergence of Portuguese, Spanish, and Chinese merchants, causing the Ryukyu Islands to withdraw and the Port of Naha to lose its role as a trading hub, leading to its decline.

Summary

The people of Kuninda were a professional group of families possessing the skills necessary for conducting tribute trade with China and trade with Southeast Asia, and they were indispensable to the Ryukyu Kingdom as it entered the “Great Trading Age”.

In addition, as Ryukyu was required by the Ming Dynasty to act not only as a recipient of trade, but also as a monitor and mediator regarding Japanese pirates and the Japanese government, the people of Kuninda, who excelled in diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty, came to play a major role in the kingdom’s domestic and diplomatic affairs.

After Ryukyu was unified as a single country and its relationship with Ming Dynasty became closer, this position was solidified even more and Kuninda became a key area in Ryukyu.

Meanwhile, during the Age of Discovery, with the advance of Portugal and Spain into East Asia and the lifting of China’s sea ban, Ryukyu lost its status as a trading nation, and Kuninda also began to decline.

Later, however, as Kuninda accepted Chinese-speaking samurai from nearby Shuri and Naha, and also from Satsuma, it was transformed from an autonomous society dominated by overseas Chinese merchants. The new Kuninda subsequently enjoyed a renaissance during the 18th century, which came to be called the “Age of Kuninda“.

The historical background of such international developments is described in detail in the next article, “Kuninda’s Renaissance”.