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Chapter 2

TO-TE SAKUGAWA KANGA:

THE GENERAL OF GREAT LEARNING,

WISDOM, AND COURAGE

TRAVEL TO CHINA, DETENTION IN BEIJING

To-te Sakugawa’s birth name was Teruya Chikudon Peichin Kanga. He was born in Shuri in 1782. After examining the old island records of Yaeyama’s judicial office, Nagamine Shoshu, a Ryukyu historian living in Shuri’s Kanagusuku district, imparted the following information to me. When Kanga was fifty-four years old, he became an official in Yaeyama by the order of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and was given the name of Sakugawa because of his great achievements. According to the family lineage survey carried out by Sakugawa Kantei, a descendant of the great master, To-te Sakugawa was a ninth-generation descendent of Urazoe Uekata Kuan’an, and came from the Eki Clan.

To-te Sakugawa.

Alternative suppositions suggest that Sakugawa was first sent to Yaeyama while still in his thirties to became the chief registrar of the island. This theory maintains that because of his accomplishments in Yaeyama, he received the name “Sakugawa of Nakagusuku District.” If this were true, then it would seem that Teruya changed his family name to Sakugawa in his thirties rather than in his fifties. However, I feel more secure supporting the evidence from the official records of Yaeyama, than trusting folklore.

Sakugawa Kantei’s information also revealed that Kanga was born across the lane from Kougibo Sokuhoku’s home, the residence which once faced Osumiza Street, in Shuri, between Torihori and Akata. However, all that remains of that district these days is an empty space used as a parking lot.

The birthplace of To-te Sakugawa.

Shortly before the Americans returned control of Okinawa to Japan, I heard about an old man from Shuri’s Ishimine district by the name of Sakugawa who knew many stories about To-te Sakugawa. One day, together with my student, Shinjo Kiyoshi, I visited Sakugawa’s house.

Old man Sakugawa described To-te Sakugawa as an exceptionally strong and remarkably talented bujin who had trained since childhood. He also said that Sakugawa was intelligent and, much like Makabe Choken, had been expected since youth to advance as an important statesman for the Ryukyu Kingdom. However, it wasn’t until he was in his thirties that the Ryukyu Kingdom sent Sakugawa to China as a ryugakusei to enhance his physical and intellectual properties.

Having a basic understanding of Okinawa’s changing social matrix can improve a reader’s ability to evaluate the pressure of the Satsuma during the lifetime of To-te Sakugawa. In 1844, the French Warship, Alcmene, arrived in Okinawa, bringing a Catholic missionary named Forcade. Its appearance indicated that the Kingdom was beginning to yield to the demands of the outside world in spite of strict Satsuma control. To protect their interests and further restrict direct commerce with the foreign presence, the Satsuma overlords confiscated local currency and issued a new Okinawan legal tender. Called Ryukyu Tsuho, all islanders were, by law, obliged to use the new currency.

The following is based on what Sakugawa from Ishimine District told me. As the book Okinawa, 1000 Year History describes, all tribute ships that sailed the treacherous waters between China and the Ryukyu Archipelago during feudal times were equipped with a turret, artillery, and weapons such as arrows, spears, guns, and explosives. Fast and well protected ships were necessary if the habitual attacks by coastal pirates were to be avoided or quelled. The average length of these ships was fifteen tan (159 meters) and they sailed in three vessel convoys. The vessels were constructed of pine and cryptomeria, or evergreen oak. Sails were woven from the leaves of “sweet flags,” which are particularly resistant to wind and rain. There was a record which indicated that in 1626, King Shotei ordered ship carpenters to reinforce the hulls of all ships with this material to protect them against termites and rough seas.

It was the responsibility of the captain and crew to be able to defend their cargo and vessel against attacks during a voyage. Hence, proper training in combative disciplines was essential. Designated the official vessels of the Ryukyu Kingdom, tribute ships carried both valuable cargo and important passengers to China. Tribute was the single most important aspect of the Ryukyus’ social economy, and, therefore, no expense was ever spared when it came to ensuring the safety of cargo, passengers, and crew.

In the event of an assault, which was quite frequent during feudal times, passengers who were skilled in combative disciplines were, by order of the King, commanded to aid the crew. An example is found in the time when Sakugawa Kanga was on board such a ship bound for China. Of course, a man of Sakugawa’s skills was not only expected to help, but also, in spite of being unfamiliar with ship duty, serve as an assistant to the director of security.

The shinkoosen (tribute ship).

One evening, the day before the tribute ship was scheduled to arrive in Fuzhou, both passengers and crew were enjoying a routine voyage when, all of a sudden, the ship was attacked. Savage cries shot out from the darkness and arrows found their marks. Besieged by Chinese pirates, the crew fought gallantly against the ruthless sea dogs. A master fighter, Kanga wasted no time stripping down to his undergarment in an effort to enhance his combative mobility. Grabbing a roku-shaku bo (six foot staff) he bolted out on the deck of the ship under siege.

Without hesitation, Kanga moved like a whirlwind as he engaged the warrior pirates. Howling some rather browbeating lyrics in the faces of his enemy, Kanga dispatched one after another under the force of his roku-shaku bo. His intensity was magnified each time his weapon found its mark. Near the end of the confrontation there was one pirate who, in spite of being outnumbered, continued to avoid defeat. Just as Sakugawa was about to engage him, four or five more pirates pounced on him from behind. Unable to effectively protect himself, and in danger of being killed, Sakugawa managed to throw the attackers overboard into the dark of night, hence bringing the incident to an end. In the process, however, Sakugawa also fell into the sea. With this, Sakugawa penned the following song:

Lyrics:

Uchinawakamun no sukujikara shirani Bo no sachini nuchai umini nagira.

Interpretation:

Don’t you know the reputation of Okinawa’s young martial artists? We’ll hurl you into the sea after first thrusting you with the end our cudgel.

Missing, and presumed dead, the chain of events following Kanga’s disappearance from the tribute ship remain somewhat vague. Apparently, a Fukian naval patrol vessel on maneuvers picked up the men adrift in coastal waters the following day. Not having any reason to believe that they weren’t all pirates, the Chinese ship arrested and detained them. Transported to Fuzhou, Kanga, for reasons which are not perfectly clear, was charged with piracy, not permitted to explain himself, and taken to Beijing for sentencing along with the others. By order of the Qing Magistrate, a guilty verdict brought the death penalty for the prisoners. Piracy in those times had escalated into a national problem and those found guilty as charged were executed in an effort to further deter the assaults on Ryukyu tribute ships.

In those days, condemned criminals on death row were entitled to a final meal before execution was carried out. While the pirates slopped up their food like pigs, Kanga, who had not eaten in days, protested his incarceration, and refused to touch his last meal. Chinese officials wondered about him and reported his unusual behavior to their immediate superiors. Finally, Kanga was given the opportunity to explain himself, and at long last proved his innocence. Moreover, Beijing dignitaries exalted his bravery against the pirates and rewarded him with special privileges. Such consideration permitted Kanga to remain in Beijing, where he learned Chinese boxing while pursuing his studies as a ryugakusei, before returning to Okinawa.

THE PROGENITOR OF SHURI-TE

Most Okinawans who wanted to learn Chinese boxing travelled to Fuzhou to study. The Chinese boxing which was brought back from Fuzhou became especially well-known in and around Naha. Yet, when compared to the hand techniques, breathing methods, footwork, and names of the kata (formal exercises) of that style which was cultivated in and around the old castle district of Shuri, we observe noticeable differences. It was sometime before World War II that I first became convinced that Shuri-te also evolved from the Chinese boxing native to Fukian province. Evaluating the plausibility of this hypothesis, consider the principles of Chinese boxing being haphazardly introduced to one limited area, subjected to socio-cultural circumstances unlike that of a another time and place, and cultivated by men of different insights, physical characteristics, and attitudes. Under such varying conditions, it is entirely possible that the two traditions, in spite of having the same root origin, would develop in different ways. Hence, I believe this hypothesis provides a plausible explanation to those differences which separate karate-do in Shuri from that of Naha.

I think it would be safe to say that whatever To-te Sakugawa learned in Beijing, it unquestionably enhanced that which he had originally studied in Okinawa. Every generation produces bujin who, in an effort to keep discipline a living experience for the society it serves, reinterpret the common principles on which it rests. Sakugawa was one such man, a bujin who, by revising old village meikata¹ established a foundation on which a new tradition was established by the succeeding generation of students. Since Sakugawa’s time, subsequent bujin, and varying cultural forces have influenced the growth and direction of those martial arts cultivated in and around the district of Shuri.

Continuing to study the history of Sakugawa, I came across more testimony which provided a deeper understanding of this historical figure. Oral tradition maintains that To-te Sakugawa was born in 1782, which would place his birth more than 200 years ago. Sakugawa Kangi, the father of Kantei, and a former Shuri city council member who once governed his own constituency, was able to provide me with some valuable historical material about the life of To-te Sakugawa.

Kangi confirmed that To-te Sakugawa was indeed a scholar who studied diligently in China. He also believed that he was a teacher of kokugaku (ancient Japanese language, thought, and culture). It is said that Sakugawa lived beyond eighty years, which would, based on Kangi’s information, place his death somewhere around 1862, during the reign of Shotai-O.

Comparing oral tradition with the testimony of Kangi, and the old man from Shuri’s Ishimine District, it would appear that they are similar. Killed in the Philippines during the Second World War, Sakugawa Kangi was the fifth-generation descendent of To-te Sakugawa. He was survived by his younger sister, Sakugawa Sada (born 1914), who (at the time of this writing) resided in Shuri.

Like many Okinawans, Sada is a spiritual person who keeps the family tablets from the Buddhist mausoleum in her home. I visited her at her home on September 1, 1985 to study the commentary of the back of the tablet of To-te Sakugawa, and was permitted to take a photograph. At that time I learned that the original tablets were, like so many other valuable objects, destroyed during the war, and that those were replicas. The only information which appeared on the new tablets was secular names.

The family altar of Sakugawa.

Unfortunately, there is not much historical documentation about the bujin of Sakugawa’s era, or Okinawa’s Kingdom period in general. However, two centuries later, To-te Sakugawa is still regarded as the principal figure in the history of that fighting tradition which surfaced in Shuri. Knowing this, I knelt humbly before his memorial tablet in the house of the Sakugawa family, joined my palms together, and, in the privacy of my own thoughts, honored the memory of this great warrior.