was a legendary local ruler
of
Okinawa Island
is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has a ...
. Shunbajunki was the second ruler of the
Shunten dynasty. He succeeded his father
Shunten in 1237.
[Kerr, ]
Shunbajunki's reign is noted for the construction of
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 destroye ...
and the introduction of the Japanese ''
kana
The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most pr ...
'' writing system. The
Chinese language
Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the ...
and
writing system
A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable for ...
was not to be introduced until roughly a century later; even after that time, government documents continued to be written in ''kana'', as did much poetry.
Shunbajunki died in 1248, and was succeeded by his son
Gihon.
Notes
References
*
Kerr, George H. (1965). ''Okinawa, the History of an Island People.'' Rutland, Vermont: C.E. Tuttle Co
OCLC 39242121*Shinzato, Keiji, et al. ''Okinawa-ken no rekishi'' (History of Okinawa Prefecture). Tokyo: Yamakawa Publishing, 1996. p. 38.
1185 births
1248 deaths
Kings of Ryūkyū
13th-century Ryukyuan people
{{RyukyuKingdom-stub