Editing Ryukyuans (section)

===Sanzan period===
{{Main|Sanzan period|Ryukyuan missions to Imperial China}}
[[File:Ryukyu Kingdoms of Sanzan era.jpg|thumb|right|Map of [[Okinawa Island]], showing the [[Sanzan period]] polities]]
During the rule of Eiso's great-grandson, [[Tamagusuku]] (1314–1336), Okinawa became divided into three [[polities]] and began the so-called [[Sanzan period]] (1314–1429). The north and largest [[Hokuzan]] polity was the poorest due to forest and mountainous terrain (in which isolation was an advantage), with primitive farming and fishing. The central [[Chūzan]] polity was the most advantaged due to its developed castle [[town]]s and harbor facilities. The south [[Nanzan]] polity was the smallest, but endured because of good castle positions and sea merchants.{{sfn|Kerr|2000}}

In this period, another rapid economical, social and cultural development of Ryukyu began as the polities had developed formal trade relations with Japan, Korea and China. During the [[Satto]]'s reign, Chūzan made [[Imperial Chinese tributary system|tributary relations]] with China's [[Ming dynasty]] in 1374 as the [[Hongwu Emperor]] sent envoys in 1372 to Okinawa. In the next two decades Chūzan made nine [[Ryukyuan missions to Imperial China|official missions]] to the Chinese capital, and the formal relations between them endured until 1872 (see [[Imperial Chinese missions to the Ryukyu Kingdom]]).{{sfn|Kerr|2000}}{{sfn|Hendrickx|2007|p=39}} Despite significant Chinese economical, cultural and political influence, the polities continued to maintain strong [[autonomy]].{{sfn|Gluck|2008|p=939}}{{sfn|Loo|2014|p=1}} In 1392, all three polities began to send extensive [[Ryukyuan missions to Joseon|missions]] to the Korean [[Joseon]] kingdom. In 1403, Chūzan made formal relations with the Japanese [[Ashikaga shogunate]], and an [[embassy]] was sent to [[Thailand]] in 1409.{{sfn|Kerr|2000}} The contacts with Siam continued even in 1425, and were newly made with places like [[Palembang]] in 1428, [[Java]] in 1430, [[Malacca]] and [[Sumatra]] in 1463.{{sfn|Hendrickx|2007|p=39}}

As in 1371, China initiated its maritime prohibition policy ([[Haijin]]) to Japan, Ryukyu gained a lot from its position as [[intermediary]] in the trade between Japan and China. They shipped horses, [[sulphur]] and seashells to China, from China brought ceramics, copper, and iron, from southeast Asian countries bought tin, ivory, spices (pepper), wood ([[sappanwood]]), which they sold to Japan, Korea or China, as well as transporting Chinese goods to [[Hakata Bay]] from where swords, silver and gold were brought.{{sfn|Hendrickx|2007|p=42}}{{sfn|Pellard|2015|p=28}}

In 1392, 36 Chinese families from [[Fujian]] were invited by the chieftain of Okinawa Island's central polity (Chūzan) to settle near the port of [[Naha]] and to serve as diplomats, interpreters, and government officials.{{sfn|Hendrickx|2007|p=39}} Some consider that many Ryukyuan officials were descended from these Chinese immigrants, being born in China or having Chinese grandfathers.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ka6jNJcX_ygC&q=ryukyu+asked+for+thirty+six+families+fujian&pg=PA145|title=The eunuchs in the Ming dynasty |author=Shih-shan Henry Tsai|year=1996|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-2687-6|page=145|access-date=2011-02-04}}</ref> They assisted the Ryukyuans in advancing their technology and diplomatic relations.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ga-5mPOr2-wC&q=ryukyu+asked+for+thirty+six+families+fujian&pg=PR13 |title=The East Asian maritime world 1400–1800: its fabrics of power and dynamics of exchanges|author=Angela Schottenhammer|year=2007|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-05474-4|page=xiii|access-date=2011-02-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ddcV_cGegX4C&q=ryukyu+asked+for+thirty+six+families+fujian&pg=PA125 |title=Maritime sector, institutions, and sea power of premodern China|author=Gang Deng|year=1999|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-30712-6 |page=125|access-date=2011-02-04}}</ref> From the same year onward Ryukyu was allowed to send official students to China i.e. [[Guozijian]].{{sfn|Hendrickx|2007|p=41}} The tributary relationship with China later became a basis of the 19th century Sino-Japanese disputes about the claims of Okinawa.{{sfn|Kerr|2000}}