Gihon (Ryukyu)

Gihon (義本) (c. 1204 - c. 1260), also known as Yoshimoto or as Yiben in Chinese,[1] was a chief[2] of the Ryūkyū Islands.[3]

Gihon was the third and last of the Shunten Lineage. He succeeded his father Shunbajunki at the age of 44, in 1248.

Gihon's reign was marked by terrible disasters, including famine, epidemics, and devastating typhoons. Around 1254, he appointed a young lord by the name of Eiso to be Regent (Sessei), and to aid in managing these disasters. When Gihon abdicated in 1259 or 1260, he "withdrew into the forest alone."[4] Eiso succeeded him as "king" and began a new royal lineage. The precise location, date, and circumstances of Gihon's death are unknown, though it is safe to assume he died shortly after his abdication. Local legends allege that he was last seen at the cliffs of Hedo Point, the northernmost point on Okinawa Island.

See also
  • Ryūkyū Kingdom
  • List of monarchs of Ryukyu Islands

Notes
  1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002). Japan Encyclopedia, p. 1062, p. 1062, at Google Books
  2. 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."
  3. Nussbaum, p. 172, p. 172, at Google Books; excerpt, Eisō [with a macron] was "king of the Ryūkyū Islands in the thirteenth century."
  4. Kerr, p51.

References
  • Kerr, George H. (1965). Okinawa, the History of an Island People. Rutland, Vermont: C.E. Tuttle Co. OCLC 39242121
  • Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301
  • Shinzato, Keiji, et al. Okinawa-ken no rekishi (History of Okinawa Prefecture). Tokyo: Yamakawa Publishing, 1996. p38.
Preceded by
Shunbajunki		 Chief of Ryūkyū Islands
1248–1259		 Succeeded by
Eiso



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