Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, previously controlled by a number of local chieftains or lords, loosely bound by a paramount chieftain or king of the entire island, had split into three more solidly defined kingdoms within a few years after 1314; the Sanzan (Three Kingdoms) period had thus begun, and would end roughly one hundred years later.
The three kingdoms are Nanzan (Southern Mountain), Chūzan (Central Mountain) and Hokuzan (Northern Mountain).
In 1372, the kingdoms had become tributaries of China’s Ming Dynasty and had henceforth sent frequent tribute missions, relying upon the Chinese court to officially recognize each successive Ryukyuan king with a formal statement of investiture.
China is to have an incredibly strong influence on the Ryukyus for the next five hundred years, politically, economically, and culturally, as it would with its numerous other tributary states.
This period also sees the beginnings of a bureaucracy in the royal government which would later grow to rule in the king's place and in his name, replacing direct monarchical rule.
Kumemura, a community for Chinese immigrants, had been established in 1393; the Chinese living here, and their Ryukyuan descendants, are to serve Chūzan (and later the unified kingdom) as diplomats, interpreters, and government officials.
Kumemura has quickly grown into Chuzan’s cultural capital, something of a complement to the political capital at Shuri and the commercial center at the port of Naha.
