was a Buddhist temple and royal mausoleum of the

Ryūkyū Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' was a kingdom in t ...

, located in

Naha is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area ...

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. It was erected during the reign of King

Shō Shin was a king of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the third ruler 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 d ...

(r. 1477–1526), and destroyed in the 1945 battle of Okinawa. In 1496, memorial tablets representing the kings of the Ryūkyū Kingdom were installed in the temple, establishing it as a royal mausoleum. Anyone entering the temple grounds, including the king himself, had to dismount and enter the temple on foot out of respect for the prior sovereigns. The temple grounds were expanded at this time as well, with the construction of the massive stone gates and walls which remain today. Though these royal memorial tablets continued to be enshrined in the Sōgen-ji for many centuries, beginning in 1521, the actual royal remains were entombed in the

Tamaudun is one of the three royal mausoleums of the Ryukyu Kingdom, along with Urasoe yōdore at Urasoe Castle and Izena Tamaudun near Izena Castle in Izena, Okinawa. The mausoleum is located in Shuri, Okinawa, and was built for Ryūkyūan royalty i ...

mausoleum completed that year a short distance from

Shuri Castle was a Ryukyuan ''gusuku'' castle in Shuri, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Between 1429 and 1879, it was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom, before becoming largely neglected. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was almost completely destroyed ...

. In the early years, spirit tablet of three royalties were placed here: Shō Shoku (), father of King

Shō En was a king of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the founder of the Second Shō dynasty. Prior to becoming king, he was known as . Early life and rise to power Kanamaru was born into a family of peasant farmers on Izena Island,"Shō En." ''Okinawa rekishi jin ...

; Shō Kyū (), father of King

Shō Hō was a king of the Ryukyu Kingdom. He succeeded Shō Nei, whose reign saw the invasion of Ryukyu by Japanese forces in 1609 and the subjugation of the kingdom to Satsuma Domain, and ruled from 1621 until 1640. Shō Hō was the fourth son of S ...

; and Shō I (), father of King

Shō Nei was king of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1587 to 1620. He reigned during the 1609 invasion of Ryukyu and was the first king of Ryukyu to be a vassal to the Shimazu clan of Satsuma, a Japanese feudal domain. Shō Nei was the great-grandson of Shō S ...

. In 1699, Shō Shoku and Shō Kyū's spirit tablet were moved to Tennō-ji, Shō I's was moved to Tenkai-ji.''

Kyūyō is an official history of the Ryūkyū Kingdom compiled between 1743 and 1745 by a group of scholar-officials led by . Written in kanbun, and numbering twenty-two scrolls, a supplementary volume in three scrolls documents relations with Satsuma, ...

'', vol.10 All the temple buildings were destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945; only the stone walls and gates, foundations and steps, and some tablets and steles survived. Of two stone tablets erected outside the gates warning visitors to dismount, one remains today. The site is today a public park.

References

Religious buildings and structures completed in 1496 Buddhist temples in Okinawa Prefecture Buddhist archaeological sites in Japan Buildings and structures in Japan destroyed during World War II 1945 disestablishments Buddhism in the Ryukyu Islands Rinzai temples {{Buddhist-temple-stub

See also

References