Tamaudun

Tamaudun (玉陵) is one of the three royal mausoleums of the Second Shō Dynasty of kings 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 in 1501 by King Shō Shin, the third king (reigned 1477–1527), to bury his father, King Shō En a short distance from Shuri Castle. The Tamaudun complex was designated a National Historic Site in 1972. 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. Overview The Tamaudun site, covering an area of 2,442 m2, consists of two stone-walled enclosures and the north-facing mausoleum itself, made of three compartments and backed by a natural cliff to the south. 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. The three compartments of the mausoleum are laid out from east to west, with kings and queens of the Ryukyu Kingdom entombed in the eastern compartment and the princes and other members of the royal family in the western compartment. The third, central chamber was used for the Ryukyuan tradition of senkotsu; remains would only be kept here for a limited time to allow for decomposition, after which the bones were washed and placed in urns in the western or eastern chamber depending on the royal status of the deceased. The exterior of the structure is separated into an outer garden and a courtyard paved with coral fragments, surrounded by a stone wall. 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. Being located near the Japanese Supreme Commander's office during the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, the mausoleum was caught in the crossfire of concentrated artillery bombardment along with Shuri Castle, suffering extensive damage, including the destruction of the east and west chambers. The ruins were subsequently looted, 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. 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, followed by his wife Shōko, Nodake Aji-ganashi, in 1931. Some of the identities of some corpses were still unknown, including a single corpse in Central Chamber that was speculated to be Mukuta Ufutuchi. Gallery See also List of Historic Sites of Japan (Okinawa) List of Important Cultural Properties of Japan (Okinawa: structures) References External links UNESCO World Heritage Site Listing – Official Site (Japanese) 沖縄の世界遺産玉陵 (Tamaudun, World Heritage Site of Okinawa) Geographic data related to Tamaudun at OpenStreetMap