[東国興詩集(稿)] / Poetry Anthology by Tō Kokukō (Manuscript)

An anthology of Chinese poetry handwritten by Tō Kokukō (Seisei Tsuhako); volume one. In 1840, Tō Kokukō was dispatched as a kanshō (a student from Ryukyu sent to China) by order of the Ryukyu King to study at Beijing’s Guózǐjiàn (Imperial Academy). Tō Kokukō had a rich international outlook from his experiences at the academy and would later become King Shō Tai’s regent. He took a neutral position during the period of the Ryukyu Disposition (the political process of abolishing the Ryukyu Kingdom and incorporating it into Japan as “Okinawa Prefecture”) that created an upheaval and divided people into two political parties—the Gankotō (pro-China faction) and Kaikatō (pro-Japanese faction). This manuscript is believed to have been handwritten by Tō Kokukō during his time as a kanshō, as it includes the evaluation of his instructor Sūn Yīyán, whose evaluations are also found in the Ryukyushika (Ryukyu poetry lesson) practice pieces of four other students sent to China at the same time as Tō Kokukō.