Ryūkyū Shintō-ki

From the 1608 copy in two volumes at Taichū-an, Kyoto (ICP)^[1][2]

Ryūkyū Shintō-ki (琉球神道記) or An account of the ways of the gods in Ryūkyū is a five-volume treatise of c. 1605/6 by the Jōdo-sect Japanese priest Taichū Ryōtei (袋中良定) (1552–1639), who lived in Naha from 1603 to 1606. Unlike most Okinawan literature, it predates the Satsuma invasion of 1609. A woodblock print edition was published in Kyoto in 1648.^[3][4][5]

The five volumes traverse Indian and Chinese Buddhism before turning to the religions of the Ryūkyū Kingdom.^[3] The work includes the earliest extant version of the Ryūkyūan creation myth as well as the first account of Minamoto no Tametomo coming to Okinawa and there siring the future King Shunten.^[4][6]

See also

• List of Cultural Properties of Japan - writings (Okinawa)
• Ryukyuan religion
• Chūzan Seikan
• Honji suijaku

References

1. 琉球と袋中上人展 [Ryūkyū and Taichū Exhibition] (in Japanese). Kyushu National Museum. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
2. 琉球神道記〈上下／〉 [Ryukyu Shintoki] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
3. 琉球神道記 [Ryukyu Shinto-ki]. Kokushi Daijiten (in Japanese). Yoshikawa Kobunkan. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
4. Bollinger, Edward E (1969). "The Unity of Government and Religion in the Ryukyu Islands to 1500 AD". Contemporary Religions in Japan. Nanzan University. 10 (6): 4, 14.
5. Masato Matsui; Tomoyoshi Kurokawa; Minako I Song (1981). "Ryukyu: An Annotated Bibliography" (PDF). University of Hawaii. p. 21.
6. Tze May Loo (2014). Heritage Politics: Shuri Castle and Okinawa's Incorporation into Modern Japan, 1879–2000. Lexington Books. pp. 94–97. ISBN 978-0-7391-8248-2.