XOTES OX LIU-KIU. 271 



■\vitli him by his brother. The Emperor of China haviug lent him his aid, 

 the quarrel was soon terminated, and commerce with that country was a^ain 

 resumed with great vigour. So great a c^uantity of silver and cash had found 

 its way into Liu-kiu that the Fokien province was put to considerable in- 

 convenience, and henceforward regulations were adopted by the Chinese in 

 order to check to some extent the export of money. That a tolerably high 

 state of civilisation existed at this time in the islands is evident from the fact 

 that they cast bells for the temples, and possessed cups of gold and silver. 

 As neither of these metals exists on the islands, it is probable that they were 

 obtained from Japan. At the end of the fifteenth century the vessels from the 

 port of Napha traded to Satsuma and other provinces in Japan, to Formosa, 

 to many parts of the coast of China, and to Corea ; and it is said that a Liu- 

 kiu ship about this time even succeeded in reaching Malacca. The islands 

 became the entrepot of the commerce then existing between China and Japan, 

 and in any cases of misunderstanding between these two nations the Liu-kiu 

 king acted as mediator. His services were first called into requisition on the 

 occasion of a remonstrance addressed to the reigning Tycoon by Kiat-sing, 

 the Chinese emperor, concerning numerous acts of piracy on his coasts. It 

 seems that the Japanese of the Goto and Hirado Islands — groups lying to the 

 westward of Kiusiu— armed great numbers of vessels, and acting in concert 

 vvith Chinese pirates, landed on all parts of the coast, plundering and 

 slaughtering, and spreading the greatest consternation as far south even as 

 Canton. Their principal stronghold was Keelung in Formosa, on which 

 island they were held in such dread that the people deserted the seaboard 

 and took refuge in the mountains. Tlie Tycoon professed himself unable to 

 exterminate these marauders, but, through the Liu-kiu king, he returned a 

 great number of Chinese captives and vessels retaken from the j)irates. 



Hideyoshi — one of the greatest men that Japan has ever produced — was at 

 that time at the zenith of his fame. Throughout the length and breadth of 

 the land he had fought and conquered, and no new worlds except those 

 beyond the seas remained for him against which to keep his generals and 

 troops employed. TMaile meditating before the shrine of a temple in Kioto, 

 the project of subduing both Corea and China occurred to him, and he 

 resolved at once upon its execution. Anxious, however, that his design should 

 not become known through the Liu-kiuans, he sent a message to the kino- of 

 that people, recommending him to acknowledge the supremacy of the Emperor 

 of Japan, and to pay tribute to him alone. Chang-ning, who was then on 

 the throne, saw through his plot, and at once gave warning of it to the 

 Chinese Emperor and the King of Corea. The latter refused to take any 

 steps for the defence of his kingdom, believing that the war preparations of 

 Japan were directed against China rather than himself. He was soon un- 



