Japan's annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879 provoked the rebellion of the Ryukyu gentry,which forced Japan to have to implement a'preservative policy on the old custom'.The implementation of such policy caused the increasingly internal division of the Ryukyu gentry,which made them unable to unite for resistance to Japan.The White Party gentry and the neutral faction headed by the Shuri gentry supported Japan,while the Black Party gentry who favoured the Qing Dynasty became increasingly weak.The latter was forced to go abroad or committed themselves to the'Ryukyu independence movement'in China.Although the White Party gentry assisted Japan in managing the Ryukyu Islands,they took advantage of Japan's opening up to organise political parties to promote the'Kongdohui Movement'and demanded the Japanese agreement for the Ryukyu royal family having administrative authority over the Ryukyu Islands,which implied the contradiction between their political actions and their identity.Under Japan's continuous assimilation education,the new generation of the Ryukyu intellectuals were gradually'Japanised'.However,the poll tax issue of Miyakojima and the mountain management issues exposed various problems relating to'preservative policy on the old custom'.Those intellectuals also personally experienced the fact that Japan exploited Ryukyu.Accordingly,they began to promote'Movement of Okinawa People's Freedom and Rights'and advocated the abolition of'preservative policy on the old custom',which showed the complexity of their identity.Despite the failure of the movement,the Ryukyu people realised the falsehood of the theory of Japan and Ryukyu sharing the same ancestors,and their identity as the Ryukyu people was awakened.Consequently,the idea of'Ryukyu nationalism'gradually emerged.
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