400 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1947 



What remained of the indigenous Ryukyu culture was only the 

 peasant part of it. The esoteric character of the upper-class native 

 life was lost, to be replaced by Japanese customs. The peasant cul- 

 ture has been outwardly changed by new food plants, limited partici- 

 pation in world trade, Chinese manners, and Japanese regulations. 

 Yet inwardly it reflects an old pattern, the core of which probably 

 goes back to an early agricultural level. 



This core is the food economy. It has never been easy for peasants 

 to make a living in Ryukyus, and to do so most effectively has re- 

 quired hard physical work, cooperative effort, and frugality. This 

 hard work was performed cooperatively by family members, who 

 farmed small plots of land in tenancy or actual ownership. This 

 placed tremendous strength in the in-group solidarity of the family, 

 which was reinforced by a religion emphasizing the sacredness of the 

 household hearth and the veneration of ancestors. Within the family 

 relationships were regulated by differential behavior patterns for 

 each member. Only enough freedom of action was permitted to ab- 

 sorb domestic tensions and alleviate otherwise intolerable personality 

 clashes. Where husband and wife were so unsuited as to threaten 

 family solidarity, divorces occurred. These were accomplished with 

 a minimum of controversy, the wife returned to her people, and the 

 rest of the family carried on until a more suitable wife and mother 

 was brought in. Children were usually extremely well mothered, 

 and were serenely brought up to take their ascribed adult status in 

 the family and the immediate society. Family "face" was as impor- 

 tant as individual "face." Both were preserved at almost any cost. 



Village ties were much less important than the solidarity of the 

 family, but in modern times transcended the bonds of the patrilineal 

 clan. Ties to the village were motivated largely by economic matters. 

 Cooperative building, construction of roads, and improvement and 

 repair of irrigation systems were some of the village enterprises. 

 Group participation in religious ceremonials and social events, mar- 

 riage bonds between village families, and the village market helped 

 cement village solidarity. In times of great stress, although a 

 Ryukyuan would do a great deal for his family, he would probably 

 make no great sacrifices for a fellow villager. In all probability, he 

 would reject the thought of aiding an outsider. The loyalties were 

 first to the family and then to the village. In his world view, the 

 Ryukyuan probably did not see far beyond either one. 



To make a living in the Ryukyus, everything had to be used. How 

 else could four or five people derive their support from an acre and a 

 half of hand-tilled soil ? Projecting this frugality into the psychologi- 

 cal realm, Moloney (1945, pp. 394-395) suggests that it makes for the 

 realistic attitude that worthless things, people included, are to be 

 rejected. As he says, "Apparently * * * social consciousness 



