The Ryukyu Kingdom (Japanese: 琉球王国 Ryūkyū Ōkoku; Ryukyuan: 琉球國 Ruuchuu-kuku; traditional Chinese: 琉球國; simplified Chinese: 琉球国; pinyin: Liúqiú Guó; historical English name: Lewchew, Luchu) was an independent kingdom which ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th century to the 19th century. The Kings of Ryukyu unified Okinawa Island and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Sakishima Islands near Taiwan. Despite its small size, the kingdom played a central role in the maritime trade networks of medieval East and Southeast Asia.
Read more about Ryukyu Kingdom: Major Events, List of Ryukyuan Kings
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“Many a reformer perishes in his removal of rubbish,—and that makes the offensiveness of the class. They are partial; they are not equal to the work they pretend. They lose their way; in the assault on the kingdom of darkness, they expend all their energy on some accidental evil, and lose their sanity and power of benefit.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)