Takahara Peichin

[Kusoke]

Hallo,

right now I'm searching informations about Takahara Peichin (1683-1760), who was one teacher of Sakugawa.
I read twice in the Internet, that a man called Chatan Yara (1668-1746 or 56) was a teacher of Takahara, the other was Matsu Higa. Of course this Chatan Yara was not the student of Kushanku.
Does anybody know where this information is from ? I just found it in the Internet.

I hope someone can help me...

Thomas

[Shikiyanaka]

Hallo,
right now I'm searching informations about Takahara Peichin (1683-1760), who was one teacher of Sakugawa.
I read twice in the Internet, that a man called Chatan Yara (1668-1746 or 56) was a teacher of Takahara, the other was Matsu Higa. Of course this Chatan Yara was not the student of Kushanku.
Does anybody know where this information is from ? I just found it in the Internet.


For a simple reason Matsu Higa has been confused ever since with Hama Higa Pechin: There was a Hama Higa Pechin whose real name is unknown, and dates are given as (1663 – 1738). This was a famour Ryûkyû Go player and also accompanied Nago Ôji Chôgen on his Keigashi to Shôgun (Tokugawa) Tsunayoshi in 1681/82.
And there was a Hama Higa Pechin whose real name was Matsu Higa (also Matsu Hija no Bôjutsu).The latter was a Ryûkyû official who reported the Shōgun in Edo about the “Indian Oak“-Incident of 1839 (Kerr 1958: 271, 273)

Takahara Pechin lived in Shuri’s Akatachō and became known as a talented Mathematician and Kartographer. Maps of the Ryūkyū islands made by him were send in 1797 via Satsuma to the imperial court of Japan (Kerr 1958: 240). Takahara went to Fujian as well as Satsuma. His life dates are not known, only approximated to 1683-1760.

Legend has it, that Takahara Pechin had been a student of "Matsu Higa" (which of course in this case could only be a confusion of the latter Hama Higa Pechin with the earlier one).

However, if the life dates are correct he was most likely not a teacher of Sakugawa (whose life dates are also given differently: 1762-1843 by Nakamoto Masahiro, 1782-1862 by Nagamine Shôshin. The only possibility Sakugawa would have met Kûshankû would have been that he went to China and met him there. Ginowan Dunchi is said to have had Chatan Yara no Sai as Tokui... but he was a student of Sakugawa... And also it is said, that Sakugawa worked more weapons than the Bô. although only Bô kata had been handed down from him... This in turn would point to Sakaugawa having been a student of Chatan Yara :) )

Chatan Yara, on the other hand, with the dates 1740-1812 would fit the Kûshankû theories as well as some other. So it would be (theoretically)

Hama Higa 1663 – 1738
Takahara 1683-1760
Chatan Yara 1740-1812
...

As you might agree, they students would have been young if they had studied with the respective master, but this was the way to do in Ryûkyû times for the young "aristocrats" ;)

Hama Higa and Chatan Yara without doubt were two of the most important figures in early Karate and Kobudô history.

Regards