Career
He was called "General, the mute." the king required considerable support from the Sanshikan (Council of Three), the chief council of royal advisors. His reign marked the beginning of the Council"s demonstration of significantly greater effectiveness and efficiency than previously. Shō General received his official investiture from the Ming Court in 1562, and received emissaries from the Shimazu clan of the Japanese province of Satsuma in 1570 and 1572.
The Shimazu wished to establish some control over the Ryūkyūs, making them either a tributary or a vassal state.
The kingdom resisted the Shimazu overtures, and a small punitive mission launched by the Shimazu created a small skirmish on the island of Amami Ōshima in 1571, although the Ryūkyūans defeated them.
