Xuande Emperor
In later works, the name refers to the Ryukyu Islands in general or Okinawa, the largest of them. After Shō Hashi unified the three kingdoms on Okinawa, the Xuande Emperor gave him the title "King of Liuqiu" in 1428. Indeed, the name of the Ryūkyūs is the simply the Japanese form of "Liúqiú". Early modern Chinese sources also specifically called Okinawa (the largest of the Ryukyus) as "Greater Liuqiu" and Taiwan Island as the "Lesser Liuqiu".