Tamaudun

Map

Tamaudun (玉陵) 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 in 1501^[1] by King Shō Shin, the third king of the Second Shō Dynasty a short distance from Shuri Castle.

Overview

The site, covering an area of 2,442 m²,^[2] consists of two stone-walled enclosures, the three compartments of the mausoleum itself facing north and backed by a natural cliff to the south.^[3] A stone stele in the outer enclosure memorializes the construction of the mausoleum, which was finished in 1501, and lists the name of Shō Shin along with those of eight others involved in the construction.^[2] The three compartments of the mausoleum are laid out from east to west, with kings and queens in the eastern compartment and the princes and rest of the royal family in the western compartment, the central compartment used for the Ryukyuan tradition of senkotsu [ja];^[2]^[3] remains would only be kept here for a limited time, after which the bones were washed and entombed.^[4] The shisa (stone lions) guarding the tomb are examples of traditional Ryūkyūan stone sculpture. The architectural style of the mausoleum represents that of the royal palace at the time, which was a stone structure with a wooden roof.^[2]^[4]

The structure suffered extensive damage in the 1945 battle of Okinawa, and was subsequently looted,^[1] but the tombs and royal remains themselves remained intact, and much of the structure has since been restored. In 1992 Hiroshi Shō, the great-grandson of Shō Tai, the last king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, donated Tamaudun and the royal gardens of Shikina-en to the City of Naha. It was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on December 2, 2000, as a part of the site group Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu and a National Treasure in 2018.^[2]

Burials

Seventeen of the 19 kings of the Second Shō Dynasty who ruled between 1470 and 1879 are entombed at Tamaudun, along with various queens and royal children. The first person to be buried there was Shō En, for whom the mausoleum was constructed upon the orders of his son and successor, Shō Shin. However, for approximately 25 years, Shō En was not initially interred here, given that he died in 1476 and the mausoleum was not completed until 1501. Other monarchs not interred here include Shō Sen'i (1430-1477), who was not later re-interred here as his brother was, and Shō Nei (1564–1620) who chose to be interred separately in Urasoe yōdore in the aftermath of the Invasion of Ryukyu. The last interree was former Prince of Nakagusuku, Shō Ten, the son of the Ryūkyū Kingdom's last king, Shō Tai, who was entombed there in 1920 in accordance with traditional Ryūkyūan royal funerary rites.

Eastern Chamber (37 sarcophagi, 40 corpses)^[4]^[5]
No. 1: Shō En (1415–1476)
No. 2: Shō Shin (1465–1526) & Shō Sei (1497–1555)
No. 3: Shō Gen (1528–1572)
No. 4: Shō Baigaku (尚梅岳, d. 1605), Queen consort of Shō Gen
No. 5: Shō Ei (1559–1588) & Aoriya anji Kanashi (阿応理屋按司加那志, unknown) ^[6]
No. 6: Shō Konkō (尚坤功, 1562–1637), Queen consort of Shō Ei
No. 7: Shō Hō (1590–1640)
No. 8: Shō Baigan (尚梅岩, unknown), Queen consort of Shō Hō; & Shō Kyō (1612–1631), Crown Prince, eldest son of Shō Hō
No. 9: (unknown)
No. 10: Shō Rankei (尚蘭閨, 1588–1661), Queen consort of Shō Hō
No. 11: Shō Ken (1625–1647)
No. 12: Shō Kaho (尚花囿, 1630–1666), Queen consort of Shō Ken
No. 13: Shō Shitsu (1629–1668)
No. 14: Shō Hakusō (尚栢窓, 1629–1699), Queen consort of Shō Shitsu
No. 15: Shō Tei (1645–1709)
No. 16: Shō Gesshin (尚月心, 1645–1703), Queen consort of Shō Tei
No. 17: Shō Jun (1660–1706), Crown Prince, eldest son of Shō Tei
No. 18: Shō Giun (尚義雲, 1664–1723), Crown Princess of Shō Jun
No. 19: Shō Eki (1678–1712)
No. 20: Shō Konkō (尚坤宏, 1680–1745), Queen consort of Shō Eki
No. 21: Shō Kei (1700–1751)
No. 22: Shō Ninshitsu (尚仁室, 1705–1779), Queen consort of Shō Kei
No. 23: Shō Boku (1739–1794)
No. 24: Shō Shukutoku (尚淑徳, 1740–1779), Queen consort of Shō Boku
No. 25: Shō Tetsu (1759–1788), Crown Prince, eldest son of Shō Boku
No. 26: Shō Tokutaku (尚徳沢, 1762–1795), Queen consort of Shō Tetsu
No. 27: Shō On (1784–1802)
No. 28: Shō Sentoku (尚仙徳, 1785–1869), Queen consort of Shō On
No. 29: Shō Sei (1800–1803)
No. 30: Shō Kō (1787–1834)
No. 31: Shō Juntoku (尚順徳, 1791–1854), Queen consort of Shō Kō
No. 32: Shō Iku (1813–1847)
No. 33: Shō Gentei (尚元貞, 1814–1864), Queen consort of Shō Iku
No. 34: Shō Tai (1843–1901)
No. 35: Shō Kenshitsu (尚賢室, 1843–1868), Queen consort of Shō Tai
No. 36: Shō Ten (1864-1920), Crown Prince, eldest son of Shō Tai
No. 37: Shō Shōko (尚祥子, dates unknown), Crown Princess, wife of Shō Ten

Central Chamber (1 sarcophagus, 1 corpse)
No. 1 (unknown)
Western Chamber (32 sarcophagi, 32 corpses)
No. 1: (unknown)
No 2: Shō Gesshin (尚月清, unknown), eldest daughter of Shō En, 1st Kikoe-ōgimi
No. 3: Shō Ikō [ja] (尚維衡, 1494–1540), eldest son of Shō Shin; & Shō Bainan (尚梅南, d. 1577), eldest daughter of Shō Ikō, 2nd Kikoe-ōgimi
No. 4: Shō Shōi [ja] (尚韶威, unknown), third son of Shō Shin
No. 5: Shō Isshi (尚一枝, d. 1570), eldest daughter of Shō Gen
No. 6: Shō Setsurei (尚雪嶺, unknown), wife of Shō Gen
No. 7: Shō Bairei (尚梅嶺, unknown), wife of Shō Gen
No. 8–9: (unknown)
No. 10: Shō Getsurei (尚月嶺, 1584–1653), second daughter of Shō Ei, 4th Kikoe-ōgimi
No. 11–13: (unknown)
No. 14: Shō Ryōgetsu (尚涼月, 1597–1634), wife of Shō Hō
No. 15: Shō Setsurei (尚雪嶺, d. 1697), Crown Princess, wife of Shō Kyō
No. 16: Shō Ryōchoku (尚亮直, unknown), Crown Princess, wife of Shō Bun (尚文)
No. 17–20: (unknown)
No. 21: Shō Kyū (1560–1620), third son of Shō Gen
No. 22: Shō Yō (尚膺, 1813–1815), second son of Shō Kō
No. 23: Shō Ken (尚健, b. 1818), fourth son of Shō Kō
No. 24: Shō Ten (尚腆, 1829–1833), seventh son of Shō Kō
No. 25: Shō Shun (尚濬, 1832–1844), eldest son of Shō Iku
No. 26–31: (unknown)
No. 32: Shō Otoko (尚オト子, unknown), fifth daughter of Shō Tai; & Shō Michiko (尚ミチ子, unknown), sixth daughter of Shō Tai

Gallery

Ticket booth
First gate
Second gate (from interior)
"Jade Monument"
East Chamber
Central (left) and West (right) Chambers
East Ubanju
sealed East Chamber

References

^ ^a ^b Kerr, George H. Okinawa: The History of an Island People (revised ed.). Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2000. p109.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Official pamphlet obtained on-site
^ ^a ^b Kadekawa, Manabu. Okinawa Champloo Encyclopedia (沖縄チャンプルー事典). Tokyo: Yama-Kei Publishers, 2001. p56.
^ ^a ^b ^c Official plaques and gallery labels on-site.
^ Nakamura, Toru. 沖縄の世界遺産玉陵被葬者一覧 (Tamaudun, World Heritage Site of Okinawa - List of Persons Entombed). October 2005. Accessed 24 August 2008.
^ This is a title, not a name. This person was the wife (indicated by kanashi 加那志) of the anji (按司, an aristocratic rank and administrative post/title which might be translated as "local lord") of Aoriya (a placename). See also Okinawan family name for the ways in which these terms were typically used by the Ryukyuan aristocracy at the time in place of personal names.