alb5538511

Japan: A scholar official (Pechin) of the Ryukyu Kingdom (Okinawa, Nansei Shoto) at a wedding. Higa Kazan (1868-1939).

Pechin (??? Peechin, also Peichin) is an Okinawan term for the scholar-officials class of the former Ryukyu Kingdom (modern day Okinawa, Japan), the class equivalent of the Japanese Samurai. Though initially culturally different, by the nineteenth century these feudal scholar-officials of the Ryukyu Kingdom would eventually call themselves samurai. In the last two hundred years of the existence of the Ryukyu Kingdom there was a strong push to make Ryukyu more Japanese, and gradually displace the native language, customs and culture. The once culturally distinct Ryukyu warrior gradually become more Japanese, to the extent that they adopted Bushido. In Japanese documents from the nineteenth century it is common to find that Pechin are simply addressed as Samurai, making no distinction to any cultural differences.
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Title:
Japan: A scholar official (Pechin) of the Ryukyu Kingdom (Okinawa, Nansei Shoto) at a wedding. Higa Kazan (1868-1939).
Caption:
Pechin (??? Peechin, also Peichin) is an Okinawan term for the scholar-officials class of the former Ryukyu Kingdom (modern day Okinawa, Japan), the class equivalent of the Japanese Samurai. Though initially culturally different, by the nineteenth century these feudal scholar-officials of the Ryukyu Kingdom would eventually call themselves samurai. In the last two hundred years of the existence of the Ryukyu Kingdom there was a strong push to make Ryukyu more Japanese, and gradually displace the native language, customs and culture. The once culturally distinct Ryukyu warrior gradually become more Japanese, to the extent that they adopted Bushido. In Japanese documents from the nineteenth century it is common to find that Pechin are simply addressed as Samurai, making no distinction to any cultural differences.
Credit:
Album / Pictures from History/Universal Images Group
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Image size:
3600 x 4894 px | 50.4 MB
Print size:
30.5 x 41.4 cm | 12.0 x 16.3 in (300 dpi)