Shunbajunki

Shunbajunki (舜馬順熙, r. 1237–1248) was a legendary local ruler[1] of Okinawa Island. Shunbajunki was the second of Shunten's lineage. He succeeded his father Shunten in 1237.[2][3]

Shunbajunki 舜馬順熙
Chief of Chūzan
Reign	1237–1248 (traditional dates)
Predecessor	Shunten (traditional account)
Successor	Gihon (traditional account)
Born	1185 (traditional date)
Died	1248 (traditional date)

Shunbajunki's reign is noted for the construction of Shuri Castle, and the introduction of the Japanese kana writing system. The Chinese language and writing system 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

1. Kerr, George. (2000). Okinawa: The History of an Island People, p. 52 , p. 52, at Google Books; although the paramount leaders of Okinawa beginning with Shunten (c. 1166 – c. 1237) are commonly identified as "kings," Kerr observes that "it is misleading to attribute full-fledged 'kingship' to an Okinawan chief in these early centuries... distinctly individual leadership exercised through force of personality or preeminent skill in arms or political shrewdness was only slowly replaced by formal institutions of government — laws and ceremonies — supported and strengthened by a developing respect for the royal office."
2. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002). Japan Encyclopedia, p. 172, p. 172, at Google Books; excerpt, Eisō [with a macron] was "king of the Ryūkyū Islands in the thirteenth century."
3. Kerr, pp. 50-51., p. 50, at Google Books

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.