英語訳
There was [an order] that permitted this prohibition. To Qing China as well, one or two ships engage in trade under the pretext of tribute missions every other year. This profit is also great, and it is said that the real reason tribute has not ceased since the Ming and Qing dynasties is precisely this. Trade with Qing China only limits the number of ships but not the silver amount; full tribute is over 100,000 taels of silver, and partial tribute is 50,000-60,000 taels of silver. Small ships cannot carry much cargo, and if large ships are used, Fuzhou port is shallow and ships cannot enter. The Chinese goods purchased include silk thread, silk fabric, twilled silk, satin, paper, medicine, gold, silver, etc. In the past, they traded with Siam, Malacca, Java, and other countries. The country's exports are sugar, awamori (distilled liquor), banana fiber cloth, cotton cloth, fine cloth, pongee, paper, sulfur, grass mats, salted pork, lacquerware, etc.
[Marginal note] Ultimately, they make their livelihood by buying and selling goods between the mainland and Qing China.
[Marginal note] Ryukyu's national finances depend on four products: awamori, Satsuma fine cloth, Satsuma kasuri (ikat), and banana fiber cloth. Salted pork comes next. Sugar is particularly a product of Oshima.
Agriculture and Crafts
Taking all of Okinawa island as 160 square ri, one-eighth of this, 20 square ri, or over 250,000 tan, constitutes farmland. Of this, 140,000 tan are for sweet potatoes and 8,000 tan for sugarcane. Rice produces about 36,000 koku, and wheat 9,000 koku. [These are calculations in actual koku] In addition, there are several million tan of other miscellaneous grains, potatoes, vegetables, etc. Generally, grains produce about one koku per tan. The natives are most diligent in cultivation. They clear land on mountains up to halfway up cliff faces. Agricultural implements like plows and hoes all come from the mainland; their domestic products are particularly inferior. Other methods of cultivation, rice farming, irrigation, or using cattle and horses are generally the same as on the mainland. Small rivers and bay inlets contain salt and cannot be used for irrigation. Therefore, highland fields collect rainwater, while lowland fields are made progressively lower to irrigate with spring water. In Chuzan's northern mountains, there are many rice paddies, and the soil quality suits rice. In the south, there are many dry fields, and the land suits beans and wheat. Sometimes after harvesting rice, they plant wheat, potatoes, and sweet potatoes again, harvesting twice a year. Generally, they plow in autumn, plant in winter, weed in spring, and harvest in summer. Since it is warm year-round, it makes sense that double cropping is possible.