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The tomb
King Shō Shin built the royal mausoleum in 1501
Tamaudun was built in 1501 by King Shō Shin to bury his father, King Shō En, a short distance from Shuri Castle. It is one of three royal mausoleums of the Second Shō Dynasty of the Ryukyu Kingdom.
Three rooms
Three compartments hold the kings, the princes and the bones
Kings and queens are entombed in the eastern compartment and princes and other royals in the western one. The central chamber served the tradition of senkotsu: remains were kept there for a time, then the bones were washed and placed in urns.
The kings
Seventeen of the 19 kings of the Second Shō Dynasty are entombed here
Seventeen of the 19 kings of the Second Shō Dynasty, who ruled between 1470 and 1879, are entombed at Tamaudun, with queens and royal children. Shō En was not interred here for about 25 years, because the mausoleum was not completed until 1501.
Seventeenof the 19 kings of the Second Shō Dynasty entombed here
1945
The mausoleum was damaged in 1945 and much of it has been restored
In 1945 the mausoleum stood near the Japanese Supreme Commander's office and was caught in artillery bombardment, which destroyed the east and west chambers. The royal remains stayed intact, and much of the structure has been restored. It became a National Treasure in 2018.
Day 2, afternoon
It comes after Shuri Castle.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Tamaudun, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.