Shō Shin

Shō Shin (尚眞, 1465–1526; r. 1477–1526) was a king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, the third of the line of the Second Shō Dynasty. Shō Shin's long reign has been described as "the Great Days of Chūzan", a period of great peace and relative prosperity. He was the son of Shō En, the founder of the dynasty, by Yosoidon, Shō En's second wife, often referred to as the queen mother. He succeeded his uncle, Shō Sen'i, who was forced to abdicate in his favor.

Much of the foundational organization of the kingdom's administration and economy is traced back to developments which occurred during Shō Shin's reign. As government became more institutionalized and organized, the aji (按司, local lords) gradually lost power and independence, becoming more closely tied to the central government at Shuri. In order to strengthen central control over the kingdom, and to prevent insurrection on the part of the aji, Shō Shin gathered weapons from all the aji to be put to use for the defense of the kingdom, and ordered aji to make their residences in Shuri; lords separated from their lands and from their people were far less able to act independently or to organize rebellion, and, over time, their emotional connections to Shuri grew, those with their territory weakening. The residences at Shuri of the aji were divided into three districts – one each for those coming from the northern, central, and southern areas of Okinawa Island which had formerly been the independent kingdoms of Hokuzan, Chūzan, and Nanzan respectively. These regions were now renamed Kunigami, Nakagami, and Shimajiri, respectively, place names which remain in use today. Through intermarriage, residence in Shuri, and other factors, the aji came to be more integrated as a class, more closely associated with life and customs and politics at Shuri, and less attached to their ancestral territorial identities.