Foreign Threat and Domestic Reform. The Emergence of the Ritsuryō State

22 Pages·1.852 MB·English

by  Batten Bruce L.

Foreign Threat and Domestic Reform: The Emergence of the Ritsuryō State
Author(s): Bruce L. Batten
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 41, No. 2 (Summer, 1986), pp. 199-219
Published by: Sophia University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2384665 .
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ForeignT hreata nd
DomesticR eform
The Emergenceo f theR itsuryoS tate
by BRUCE L. BATTEN
J
APANEShE istorym ayb e characterizebdy i nstitutioncaoln tinuitybu, ti ti s
notw ithouitt st urninpgo intsF. eww ouldd isputet hato neo ft heg reatest
of theseo ccurredin the seventhc enturyw hent he familiallyor ganized
Yamato? ig hegemonwy as transformeindt oa 'newc entralizeodr derb uilti n
thei mageo f theg reate mpireos f thec ontinent.T'1h iso rderi s referretdo by
historianass the ritsuryko okka t or ritsurysot ate,b ecauseo f the
Chinese-styplee nal( ritsua) nd administrati(vrey o)c odest hatd efineidt ss truc-
turea nd operationI.t s creationh as beenl inkedin them indso f generationosf
studenttso the Taika Reform(T aika no Kaishin MUMFit) hatf ollowedt he
assassinationo f Soga no Iruka BRfuAYb y PrinceN aka no Oe 43t5i (later
EmperorT enji~ it) in 645. As has beeno bservedh, owevert,h eT aika period,
645-650,'n eithemr arkedt heo rigino fs uchr eformns,o rw itnessetdh eirf ulfill-
ment.'2N onethelesst,h erei s littled oubtt hatm osto f thec hangesp ostdated
rathert han predatedT aika. As for theirc ompletiono, ne convenienatn d
familiarb enchmariks thep romulgatioonf theT aiho Code (Taiho Ritsuryo
7t!~~M-)i n 702.
Whilei tw ouldb e correctto sayt hatt her itsurysOta tew as a creationo f the
half-centurbyet weenT aika and Taiho, sucha formulatiodni sguisetsh ef act
thatt hep aceo fc hangew as farf romu niformJ. ohnH all placest heg reatesetm -
phasiso n twop eriodst: heT aika yearsa nd ther eigno f TemmuB it, 672-686.
Accordingto Hall, thec oupi n6 45 'broughatb outa cruciasl hifitn t heb alance
of politicalp owera t the Yamato courta nd, as a consequencea, ssureda
decisivec ommitmentto certainr eformp olicies.'3I t proved impossible,
howevert, o implementth esef ullyb eforeT enji's deathi n late 671. Shortly
afterwarda, seriousd ispute,t he Jinshinn o Ran ??ioL, or JinshinW ar,
THE AUTHOR is a doctoral candidate in the U.P., 1966, p. 45.
Departmento f History,S tanfordU niversity. 2 Hall, p. 45.
1 John Whitney Hall, Government and 3 Hall, p. 45.
Local Power in Japan, 500 to 1700, Princeton
200 MonumentaN ipponica, 41:2
brokeo ut betweent wo claimanttso thet hroneT: enji's son Otomo) Ot, the
designatedsu ccessora, nd Tenji's youngerb rotherO ama Deer, theu surper.
Battlesw eref oughtt hroughc entralJ apanu ntilt he forceso f Oama proved
superiorin theS eventhM onth6 72. In early6 73,O ama assumedt het hroneas
EmperorT emmu.I t was he who 'completedt he programb egunb y Prince
Naka and whos ucceededin pushingth roughm easuretsh ath ad beenl ongo p-
posedb yv estedi nterestisn Yamato'-that is, byt heg reatc lan( uji IA) chiefs.
In otherw ords,' For thef irstti mes incet hec oup d'etato f 645 thei mperial
familyit selfh ad sufficienpto wera t handt o exertr eall eadership.'4
Hall's analysisi s compellinbge causei t specificalllyin kst hep rocesso f in-
stitutionarle formw itht het wog reate ventso f thep eriod.B ut in thet wenty
yearss inceh is book was publishedJ, apaneses cholarsh ave uncoveredn ew
evidence-partltyh roughre readingosf textss ucha s NihonS hoki H* -ikea nd
partlyth roughth ed iscoveroyf news ourcess ucha s inscribewd oodens lips,o r
mokkan* t-that considerablcyo mplicatetsh ep ictureI.t now seemsl ikely
thatr eformt ook place in not two but threes purtst; hati n additiont o the
Taika and post-Jinsheinra sw e musta lso recognizae periodo f rapidi nstitu-
tionalc hangei n the last decadeo f Tenji's life,s pecificalldyu ringt hey ears
664-671.
The presenatr ticlein troducesso meo ft hee videncoe n whicht hisc onclusion
is baseda ndt heng oeso n to askw hya renewedb ursto fr eformac tivitsyh ould
haveo ccurredin t he6 60s.I n particularI ,h opet o showt hatt her eformosf t his
period,l iket hoseo f theT aika and Temmue ras,c an be linkedt o a specific
'greate vent',i n thisc ase, to theB attleo f PaekchonR iver( Hakusukinone o
Tatakaib t E.)'), in whicha Japanesem ilitaryex peditionto theK orean
peninsulaw as ingloriousldye featedb y Tang China.5F inallyt hea rticlew ill
discusss ome of the moreg enerali mplicationtsh att hisf indinhg as foro ur
understandinogf thee mergencoef ther itsurysOt ate.
The Process of Reform
The factt hath istorianuss e thet erm'r itsurysot ate't o describteh ep olityt hat
emergedin thel ates eventhce nturyst emsf roma convictiotnh att heu se of ri-
tsuryola w was an importante,v end efiningc,h aracteristoifc thats tate.I t is
significantth, ereforteh, att hef irsJt apaneser itsurycoo de appearedn eitheart
Taika noru nderT emmub, utd uringT enji'sf inayl earsT. hisw ast hes o-called
Omi Code (OmiryoiL5 4) of 668.6O f course,t hep roclamatioonf lawsd oes
4 Hall, p. 59. )E3 in Ritsuryo 4-
5 A similarp erspectiveis outlinedb rieflyin (Nihon Shiso Taikei 3), Iwanami, 1976, pp.
Inoue Mitsusada, 'The Ritsuryo System in 745-77. In English, see Richard J. Miller,
Japan', inActaAsiatica, 31 (1977), pp. 94-95. Japan's FirstB ureaucracyA: Studyo f Eighth-
6 On the adoption of the ritsuryol egal CenturyG overnmentC, ornellU .P., 1979,p p.
system,s ee Inoue Mitsusada LLAIA, 'Nihon 22-26.
Ritsuryon o Seiritsut o sono Chiishakusho' H
BATTEN: ForeignT hreat and Domestic Reform 201
not alwaysc oincidew itht heira ctuali mplementatioann,d nota ll changesin
legaln omenclaturceo rrespontdo substantivme odificationins p racticeB. uti n
thec aseo ft he6 60st hereis independenetv idencoe fr apidi nstitutioncahl ange.
Below,t hrees pecifiacr easo f politicalr eformar e examinedr: anka nd office,
local administratioann, d controol f peoplea nd land.
Rank and Office
Statusi n earlyJ apanw as in generadl efinedin twow ays:b yk abaneK titles,
whicha ccruedt o uji on a hereditarbya sis,a nd by 'officiarla nks'( kan'i pcts),
whichw erea wardedt o individualsf ort heirl ifetimoe nly.7K abane titles,
whichr eflectth e 'familial'o rderc haracteristoicf the pre-ritsurypoe riod,
originatedi n the fiftha nd sixth centuries.K an'i, representinmg ore
'bureaucraticp' rinciplesw, eref irste mployedin 603, whena twelve-grade
systemin volvintgh eu se of cap identifiewrsa s introducebdy PrinceS hotoku
, 8
Reformosf t hek an'i systemw erec arriedo utt wicei nt heT aikap eriod( thir-
teeng radesi n 647,n ineteeng radesi n 649), oncea gainb yP rinceN aka in 664
(twenty-sgixr ades),a nd once by Temmui n 685 (twelvep rincelyan d forty-
eightr egularg rades).A finaml odificatio(eni ghteepnr incelayn dt hirtrye gular
grades)w as made in 701 in conjunctionw itht he Taiho Code.9 The only
systematrice visiono f thek abaneo rder,b y contrastw, as undertakeinn 684,
whenT emmur edefineidtt or eflechti so wnp oliticaild ealsa ndt hec urrenstt and-
ing of the various uji.10 But a similara ttemptt o classifyu ji according
to statusw as madeb y Naka in 664, whenh e dividedc lansi ntot hreeg roups
('great',' small',a nd 'be .$-leader[' tomo-no-miyatsuPkiAo ] uji), designated
'clan heads' (uji-no-kamiit th),a nd suppliedt hemw ithw eaponsr epresen-
tativeo f theirn ews tatus(l ongs wordst o theh eadso f 'greatu ji', shorts words
to the heads of 'small uji', and shields,b ows, and arrowst o the heads of
the' be-leaderu ji').11F romt hesec onsiderationits s eemsf airt o concludet hat
importanstt atus-relaterde formtso ok place not onlyi n theT aika and post-
Jinshinpe riodsb ut also in the6 60s.
What,t hen,o f thes tructuroef thec entragl overnmenAt?t thea pex of the
maturer itsurygoo vernmenats, is wellk nown,w erea Councilo f Religious
Affairs(j ingikanA 'd), of largelyc eremoniali mportancea, nd a GreatC oun-
cil of State( daijokan; UAV),w hichh andleda ll seculara spectso f administra-
I For a detailed discussion of status and 9 NSK 647 ('this year'), 649.2, 664.2.9,
rank in early Japan, see Inoue Mitsusada, 685.1.21; Shoku Nihongi [SNG] 701.3.21. The
'Joron ni Kaete: Kabane, Ikai, Kanshoku' FS standard text of SNG is the Kokushi Taikei
7 rtA 1 I, M 0, in Higashi Fukyflban1 edition,Y oshikawa
Ajia Sekai ni okeruN ihon Kodaishi Koza V-7 Kobunkan, two volumes, 1983-1984.
7 tt ;--4 t I H A W Gakuseisha, 10 The definitivwe orki s RichardM iller,A n-
1982, 6, pp. 7-71. cientJ apaneseN obility:T he Kabane Ranking
8 Nihon Shoki [NSK] 603.12.5. NSK was System,U niversityo f CaliforniaP ress, 1974.
publisheda s NKBT 62-63, Iwanami, pp. 1965- 11 NSK 664.2.9.
1967.
202 MonumentaN ipponica, 41:2
tion. The State Council, as it will be hencefortcha lled, was staffedb y a
Chancellor(d aijo daijin %cX*g),m inisterosf t heL efta ndR ight(s adaijinL Ek
[i, udaijin; Nr), and a varietyof counselor(sn agonM g-)a nd lowero fficials.
It also containeda Controller'Os ffice(b enkankyokAuf F), throughw hich
the Council supervisedei ghts ubordinatme inistriesC:e ntralA ffair(sn aka-
tsukasashof '9), Ceremonia(ls hikibushMo AY), CivilA ffair(sji bushoM n1
t), PopularA ffair(sm imbusho Y War (hyobushoA Punishments
(gyobusho Wig), the Treasury( Okurasho k)t), and the Imperial
Household( kunaishoW p9t) . Each of thesew as headedb y its own minister
(kyo Jf5a)n d containeda nywhereb etweent wo and eighteens pecialized
office1s2. Appointmenttso centralo fficesw ere made, at least in theory,
bureaucraticalflyr oma mongt hep ool of qualifiedr ank-holders.
In thep re-ritsurypeor iod,b y contrastt,h ec entragl overnmenwta s headed
bya pairo f officialtsh, e0 -omik Ei andt he0 -muraj?i A, representinrge,s pec-
tivelyt,h et wom ajors tatusg roupsc omprisintgh ec entrael lite:o mik abane-
holderss,e mi-autonomouujsi whoses tatusw asc loset o thato ft her oyalh ouse
itselfa, nd murajik abane-holderas ,t ypeo f 'servicen obility'B. eneatht he0 -
omia nd 0-murajwi as a pool of aristocratcsa lledm aetsukimAi t, who seem
to have functioneads counselors.13D ay-to-dayaf fairos f governmenwte re
supervisebdy r epresentativoefs g roupsk nowna s tomo iFe or,m oref amiliar-
ly,b e .. These,l iket he0 -omi,0 -murajia, nd maetsukimci,a rriedo ut their
functionhse reditarilTyh. eyw erel ooselyo rganizedu nder'b e-leaders'm, ostly
of them urajic lass.
Accordingto recentr esearchs,t atusd istinctionbse tweent he0 -omia nd 6-
murajib egant o breakd owni n thel ates ixthc enturyr,e sultinign frictioann d,
finallyt,h ee liminatioonf thel atter(o f theM ononobet 4 uji) byt hef ormer
(oft heS oga ftR 14 Whent hem ains temo f theS oga was liquidatedat Taika,
the0 -omip ostw as replacedb ym inisterosf t heL eft,R ighta, ndC enter(n aijin
pNi).T hen extm ajorr efinemecnatm e,s ignificantalyt t, hee ndo fT enji'sr eign
in 671, witht hea ppointmennto to nlyo f ministerosf theL efta nd Rightb ut
also of a Chancellora nd severaCl ounselors(h erec alledg yoshti aifuN #?Ak).
The StateC ouncilp er se and theC ouncilo f ReligiousA ffairms aket heirf irst
appearancein theT emmur eignw, henw e also finda Controller'Os fficaen d
prototypeosf six of the eightm inistrieTs.h e remaininmg inistrie(Cs entral
Affairasn d the ImperialH ousehold)w erea dded underT emmu'ss uccessor
12 The ritsuryog overnmenti s admirably Akira Keth , 'Kodai Kokka no Keisei' tikH
described in Miller, Japan's First Bu- * DJ1MSin, IwanamiK oza Nihon Rekishi Ad
reaucracy, but for translations of office HH;ffi, , Iwanami, 1975, 2, p. 75. In
titles I have used the system outlined in English,s ee CorneliusK iley,' State and Dynas-
WilliamH . & Helen Craig McCullough, tr.,A tyi n ArchaicY amato', in JAS 33.1 (1973), pp.
Tale of FloweringF ortunes, StanfordU .P., 25-49. The term' servicen obility'i s Kiley's.
1980, 2, pp. 789-831. 14 Yoshida, pp. 62-63.
13 On theY amato governments,e e Yoshida
BATTEN: Foreign Threat and Domestic Reform 203
Jito A, r. 686-697.15 Here again, then, reformo ccurredi n three broad
stages: the Taika period, Naka/Tenji's finaly ears,a nd the post-Jinshiner a.
Local Administration
The most importantu nit of local administrationu nder the Yamato state
was the kuni M. These in many cases correspondedt o semi-autonomous
'kingdoms' conquered or assimilated by Yamato during its drive toward
hegemonyi n the fiftha nd sixthc enturies.T heir formerr ulers,o r descendants
thereof,c ontinuedt o governt hem as kuni-no-miyatsukMo althought his
post was theoreticallya court appointment.16 Local unitsc alled agata * also
appear in the chronicles.A gata had closer ties to the courtt han did the kuni
and seemt o predatet hem.W hat,i f any,a dministrativree lationshipe xistedb e-
tweent he two typeso f unit remainsu nclear.17
The systemw as replaced in the ritsuryos tate by a pristineh ierarchyo f
townships( sato -T),d istrict(sk ori M), and provinces( kuni) in ordero f increas-
ing size. A furtheru nit, the circuit( do A), also existedb ut was of littlea d-
ministrativsei gnificanceT. he major point of continuityw ithe arlierp ractice
came at thed istrictle vel. Accordingt o Hall, 'not onlyw ered istrictc hiefsn am-
ed froma mong formerk uni-no-miyatsukob,u t the districttsh emselvetse nded
to correspondt o thet erritorieosv erw hicht heo ld familiesh ad ruled."18T his is
somewhato f an oversimplificationT.h ere were no more than 144 kuni-no-
miyatsuko,f ori nstance,b ut some 555 districtasr e knownf romt hee ighthc en-
tury.'9M any of thesem ay be tied to agata or miyakev iL; ('crown lands'), but
even so most exhibitn o clear connectionst o earlieru nits.20It has been argued
thatt he remainingd istrictws eref ormeda round 'risingn ew powers' produced
by class differentiatioTnh. eir presencei s attesteda ftert he sixthc enturyb y an
explosivei ncreasei n smallt umuli.T he courtw as able to establishd istrictsi,t is
suggested,b y playingo ffl ocal powers against the old kuni-no-miyatsukion
theirm utual strugglef or local dominance.2'
Accordingt o Nihon Shoki, the districts ystemw as createdf ull-blownb y the
Taika ReformE dict (kaishin no sho r of New Year's Day 646.22 Most
15 This description follows Hayakawa as well as Yagi AtsuruA Vt, 'Kokuzo Sei no
Shohachi Al ltiIA, 'RitsuryoS ei no Keisei' X Koz&' HiAIiotl-, in Iwanami Koza Nihon
IJo0fb, in IwanarniK Iza Nihon Rekishi, Rekishi', 1975, 2, pp. 1-37.
1975, 2, pp. 214-22. A less widely accepted 17 Niino, pp. 23-46.
view,e nvisioningt hed evelopmento f theS tate 18 Hall, p. 79.
Council and the six ministriesa t the end of 19 Hara Hidesaburo G 'Gunji to
Tenji's reign,i s presentedi n Inoue Mitsusada, Chiho Gozoku' MI1Ja fthas, in Iwanami
'Taika no Kaishin to Higashi Ajia' LduM a Koza Nihon Rekishi, 1976, 2, p. 209.
Y'$>7, in the same volume, pp. 167-68. A 20 Yoneda Yisuke f Gunji no
referencet o 'eight ministriesi' n NSK 648.2 is KenkyuM PIe WhEH, osei Daigaku, 1976, pp.
undoubtedlys purious. 82-127.
16 On kuni-no-;niyatsuko, see Niino 21 Ishimoda Sho, Nihon no Kodai Kokka
Naoyoshi ViffA d6I,K enkyhshiK uni-no-Miya- EX$; &N1j1, Iwanami, 1971, pp. 143-47.
tsuko7 WITM Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1974, 22 NSK646.1.1.
204 MonumentaN ipponica. 41:2
scholarsa cceptedt hisa ccounta t facev alueu ntil1 951,w henI noueM itsutada
AKLYCdme monstrateodn, theb asiso f survivinign scriptionans d genealogies,
thatt hef amiliarid eographf or' district('r eadg uni n Sino-Japanesed)i d not
come into use untilt he promulgatioonf the Taih6 Code, and thatN ihon
Shoki'sc onsistenuts e of it,i n theR eformE dicta nd elsewherew, as therefore
anachronousT. he charactearc tuallyu sedf or' districtin' thes eventhce ntury,
accordingto Inoue,w as A, readh yoi n Sino-JapanesTe.h e discoveryb,e gin-
ningi n the late 1960s,o f numerousm okkana t the FujiwaraP alace site,
occupied6 94-710,v indicatedIn oue in everyr espect.23
If hyo-districetxsi stedu p to thea ppearanceo f theT aih6 Code, whend id
theyf irstc ome intou se? Usingm okkani n conjunctionw itht het raditional
sourcese xploitedb yI noue,s cholarsh avep roduceda reasonablyco herenpti c-
tureo f thee volutiono ft hed istricitn thes eventhce ntury.A24r easw iths pecial
tiest o thec ourt( sucha s agata and miyakeo) r of acknowledgesdt rategiicm -
portancew ere,i n fact,c onvertetdo districtisn theT aika period.L arge-scale
conversionof kuni-no-miyatsudkoom ains,h oweverb, egano nlyi n thel ate
660s underN aka/Tenji.T he processc ontinuedu nderT emmua nd Jito,a nd
was largelyc ompletedb y the 690s. Again,T enji's latery earss eemt o have
beena majorw atersheidn ther eformm ovement.
Undert hem aturer itsurysOta te,g roupso fd istrictus,s uallyb etweenf ivea nd
seven,w erea rrangedu ndern ewlye stablishepdr ovincesA. lthoughk nowna s
kuni,t heseb orei nm ostc asesn o relationshitpo theo ld kuni-no-miyatsudko-o
mains.A ccordingt o Nihon Shoki,t he boundarieso f thesep rovincews ere
determineddu ringt her eigno f Temmu,b etween6 83 and 685,25 buti t would
be rash to concludet hat the provincials ystems prungf ull-blownou t of
nothingnesast thatd ate.
Referenceisn Nihon Shoki to kokushiM P , usuallyt ranslated'p rovincial
officialsg',o back as earlya s ther eigno f NintokuC V,,p robablyth el atef ifth
centuryIf. theseh avea nyb asisi n fact,a nd manys cholarsm aintainth att hey
do, theyp robablyd escribes omet ypeo f liaisono fficebre tweenth ec ourta nd
thek uni-no-miyatsukoIn.6 t heT aika era, kokushio f a somewhadt ifferent
typea ppear.B estk nownis a groups entt o the' Easternc ountry(t' ogokuJ i,
thati s,t heK ant6r egioni)n 645t o conductc ensuseasn dp addys urveysa,n dt o
construcstt orehousefso rw eapons.2T7h eyr eturnetdo thec apitali nt hef ollow-
ingy ear,b utH itachiF udokit 9A:R, one of a groupo f provinciagla zetteers
preparedin thee arlye ighthc enturyr,e cordst hea ctivitieosf whatm ayb e a
23 Details are recountedi n Nomura Tadao ILQSt a id thJ] X in
ff 1,@,4 KenkyrishTi aika no Kaishin I,. Nihonshi KenkyriH c2tib3E 133 (1973), pp.
tILUM, Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1973, pp. 32-39.
23-34, 84-102, & 195-211. 25 NSK 683.12.23, 684.10.3, & 685.10.17.
24 Yoneda, pp. 82-127; Sekiguchi Hiroko 26 Niino, pp. 153-67.
M QBy, ' " Taika no Kaishin" Hihan ni yoru 27 NSK 645.8.5 & 646.3.2 ff. See also
RitsuryoS ei SeiritsuK atei no Saikosei (2)' Ft Nomura, pp. 37-42, 132-43 & 222-26.
BATTEN: ForeignT hreat and Domestic Reform 205
secondw ave of 'Easternc ountryk' okushih, erec alled 'commanders(s' oryo
28 Between6 49 and 653 thesea re said to havee stablisheda,m ongo ther
_R).
thingst,h ef ourH itachid istrictosf Shita,N amekataK, ashima,a nd Taka 'at
the request'o f local kuni-no-miyatsukToh.e Taika-erak okushi/soryion,
otherw ords,w eres ento ut specificalltyo implementth e court'sn ew local
policies;t heyh ad almostc ertainlnyo ty ete volvedi ntop ermanentslyta tioned
administratisvuep ervisorlisk et heirr itsurynoa mesakesT. hisi s also suggested
byt heirv irtuadl isappearancfer omt hep ageso fN ihonS hokid uringt he6 50s
and 660s.
Kokushir eappearin t hee arly6 70s.I n theF ifthM onth6 72,f ore xamplet,h e
kokushoi fO waria nd Minoa res eenc onscriptinlagb orerfs ort hec onstruction
ofT enji'st omb,2w9 hilei nt hef ollowinmg onthd, uringth eJ inshiWn ar,T em-
mu (or ratherO ama, as he was stillk nowna) ppearst o haveo rdereda general
troopl evyt hrougha networko f kokushi,w hichw as obeyedb y at leastt he
'governors('k okushuM U) of Ise, Owari,a nd Kawachi.30(G overnoru, nder
ther itsurycoo des,w as theh ighesrt ankingof thes everaol fficialsst ationedin
each province.T) emmu'so pponentO, tomo,a lso attempte(du nsuccessfully)
to levyt roopsi n thisf ashions,p ecificallbyy r equesttso the' Governoorf K ibi'
and the' Governor-Generoafl K yushu(' Tsukushdi azai All of this
;x49;)*31
goes to showt hata functionaplr ovinciasly stemo n ther itsurymo odelh ad
probablyb eeni mplementedat, leasti n skeletafl ormb, eforet heo utbreako f
theJ inshinW ar,t hati s, by thee nd of theT enji reignT. his closelym atches
thef indingosf Yoneda and Sekiguchfi orh yo-districts.
Controlo f People and Land
The primarym eanso f populationc ontroli n the pre-Taikap eriodw as the
familiabru tp oorlyu nderstoo'db e system'.3 2 Underi t,a s noteda bove,c entral-
ly locatedc ommunitiecsa lled tomo or be servedt he courti n a varietyo f
hereditarcyap acitieso, ftenu ndert hes upervisioonf c hiefsk nowna s tomo-no-
miyatsukoA. s non-centraclo mmunitiews eres ubjugatedb y thec ourt,t hey
werei ncorporateudn dert hec ontrool f tomo-no-miyatsuoktoh, era ristocrats
(fore xampleo, ft heo mic lass),o r ther oyalf amilyit selfT. hef inarl esultw asa
nationwidem, ultilevesly stemof p rivatce ontroul ndert heg eneraalu thoritoyf
theY amatok ing.
Presumablyth et wot ypeso f privatela ndholdinkg nownf romt hisp eriod,
miyakea nd tadokoroW Efe,x istedin somek indo f associationw ithb e groups.
Miyakew erec rownl ands,w hilet adokorow eree statesb elongintgo non-royal
28 Fudoki J?gA (NKBT 2), Iwanami, 1958, giveni n TakemitsuM akoto AtA-, Kenkyashi
pp. 34-35, 50-51, 64-65, 89-90 & 452. Bemin Sei I Yoshikawa KObun-
29 NSK 672.5. kan, 1981. For an introductions, ee Kamada
30 NSK 672.6.22, 6.24, 6.27 & 7.23. Motokazu VFE1I-, 'Oken to Bemin Sei' iT
31 NSK 672.6.26. L WIJ, in KOza Nihon RekishiA W H art,
32 A summary of be-related research is TOkyOD aigaku, 1984, 1, pp. 233-68.
206 MonumentaN ipponica, 41:2
aristocratsM. iyakem ay be subdividedin to thosem anagedd irectlyb y the
courta nd thosem anagedi ndirectltyh roughk uni-no-miyatsukoT.h3i3s was
probablyt hec ase forb e as well,b ut no clearp ictureh as yete merged.
In assessingt hes hiftf romY amatot o ritsurypor acticeo, urf irscto ncernis
witht hed isappearancoef be, miyakea, nd tadokoro.T he firsct lauseo f the
Taika ReformE dict34o rderst he abolitiono f (1) koshiroH fta.n d miyake
'establishedb y past emperors't, ogetherw ith( 2) kakiben FWa nd tadokoro
'possessedb y theo mi,m uraji,t omo-no-miyatsukkou,n i-no-miyatsuaknod,
mura-no-obitto4 ', thati s, by the centraal nd local elite.K oshirow ereb e
establishefdo rt hes upporto f ther oyalf amily(a lthoughn ota lwaysc ontrolled
by it), whilek akibes eemst o refert o privatelyhe ldb e. In theirp lace,h igh-
rankingo fficialws ere granted' sustenancef iefs'( jikifu 14,),w hileo ther
officialasn d commonerrse ceivedg iftso f hempa nd silk.' Whath ad onceb een
incomef romla ndsa nd workerhs eldi nt hen ameo f theu ji nowc amef romt he
emperorin thef ormo f a benefice.'35
But weret hesem easuresa ctuallyc arriedo ut in theT aika years?T herei s
some reasonf ora nsweringw itha qualified'y es'. Koshiror eappeari n the
ThirdM onth6 46, 'possessedb y the omi, muraji,t omo-no-miyatsukanod,
kuni-no-miyatsukanod, obviouslyu nconfiscated.B3u6t thes ames ourceh as
PrinceN aka surrenderinsogm eo f them inai ribeA 2tiA (believedt o referto
directlcyo ntrollekd oshiroa) nd miyakein hisp ersonapl ossessionM. oreover,
thea bolitiono f shinabe" n (meaninga,p parently's,u ndryb e') 'possessedb y
thee mperoorn downt o theo mia nd muraji'i s decreedin t heE ighthM ontho f
thes amey ear.3A7 ll oft heser ecordcs omef romN ihonS hoki,b uti ts eemsf air
to concludet hatt hec onfiscatioonf someb e groupsa nd privatela ndholdings
was actuallyp lanneda nd executedin 645-646.
It goes withouts ayingt hat such measuresw ere far fromc omplete.
Referencetso tadokoroa nd miyakef, ore xamplem, ayb e founda s latea s 692
and 701, respectively.38B e, too, survivedf orm anyy earsa fterT aika. In 664,
fore xamplek, akibeP g andy akabe rga res aidt o haveb een' establishedf'o r
thec lan headsn ewlyd esignatedb y PrinceN aka.39T he firsot f theset wob e-
groups,a t least,m ays afelyb e equatedw itht hek akibeo f theT aika Reform
Edict,d espited ifferenciens orthographyFo. r manyy earsN aka's 'establish-
ment'o f kakibea ndy akabew as understootdo meant her einstatemeonft b e-
groupsc onfiscatedat Taika. But it has been arguedt hat Tenji's action
33 On miyakea nd tadokoro, see Takeuchi pp. 1-30.
Rizo ts F 9- 3, 'Genshi Shakai no Tochi Seido' 34 NSK 646 1. 1.
?guntle jIiJg, in Takeuchi Rizo, ed., 35 Hall, pp. 62-63.
Tochi Seidoshi ?t1ijt (Taikei Nihonshi 36 NSK 646.3.20.
Sesho 6), Yamakawa, 1973, 1, p. 29-42; also, 37 NSK 646.8.14.
Tateno Kazumi af fE, 'Miyake Sei no Seiri- 38 NSK 692.8.17 & SNG 701.4.15.
tsu:S ono Honshitsut o Jiki'j ft$IJi't -e X' 39 NSK 664.2.9.
*WLR4,, in Nihonshi Kenkya, 190 (1978),
BATTEN: ForeignT hreat and Domestic Reform 207
representedto, the contraryt,h e firste xpressionof statec ontrolo vert hese
communitiesw, hichh ad formerlbye en completelysu bjugatedt o the Uji.40
Kakibe( renderetdh ist imei n theo rthographoyf theR eformE dict)m akeo ne
finala ppearancein 675,w henT emmud ecreedt hat' all thek akibeg ivent o the
variousu ji in they earo fk inoeneF T [664]'b e abolished.41T heb e-grouptse n-
tativelygr aspedb yt hes tatei n the6 60s,i n otherw ords,c ameu nderi tsc om-
pletec ontrold uringt her eigno f Temmu.4T2 hat a serieso f 'sustenancfe ief'
reformiss describedb y NihonS hokif ort hep eriod6 75-682i s probablyn ot
coincidentaOl. ne scholarh as arguedt hatt heb e confiscationins 675 laid the
basisf ort hei mplementatioonf t her itsurysoy stemof officiaple rquisitesa,n d
suggesttsh att hes ectiono f theR eformE dictd ealingw ithb e-confiscatiaonnd
'sustenancfei efa' llocationw as writtebny t heN ihonS hokie ditoras gainstt he
backgroundof thesel atere vents.43
If thef ull-scalde ismantlinogf existingsy stemosf populationc ontroal nd
land tenureb eganu nderN aka/Tenjii n the6 60s and was moreo r less com-
pletedu nderT emmu,i t should come as no surpriset hat the systematic
implementatioonf ritsuryop opulationa nd land policiesb egani n the same
generatl ime-framTeh. e principafl eaturoef t hesep oliciesw ast hea ssertionof
directs tatec ontrool vert hea griculturcalla ss( komin'? 'R) and thep addyland
theyf armed(k ochiI The peoplew ereg roupedi ntoh ouseholds(k o )i),
fiftyof whichc omprisedea ch administratitvoew nshipC. ensusesa nd paddy
surveyws erec onductede verys ix years,s ervingas a basis fort hes ystematic
allocationo f paddyland(h andens h -ju iu1k.). Thesep rincipleasr e clearly
outlinedi n the ReformE dict,b ut thiss ectiono f the text,l ike others,h as
beens hownt o be corruptt,h ati s, basedo n theT aiho Code." Censusesw ere
apparentlyco nductedin some sixth-centumryi yake,4a5n d it is possible,a s
suggestebdy t hea ctivitieosf t he' Easternc ountryk' okushi,4t6h att heiru sew as
expandedi n thei mmediatpeo st-Reformpe riod.T he firscte nsusesc onducted
on a nationwidsec ale, howeverw, eret he so-calledK ogo Nenjakub
670,a nd theK oin Nenjakuh 690.4 Thisi s clearlyt o be understooidn
conjunctionw itht hea bolitiono f be in thes ameg enerapl eriod.P addys ur-
veysa nd allocationa re also reportedf romt he Taika era,48b ut can have
beenl imitedaf fairast best.T heirn ationailm plementatiaonnd specifilci nkage
withp eriodicc ensusesb eganw itht heK OinN enjakui n 690.49A s fort heo rga-
40 Kitamura Bunji jLfjitiQ, 'Kaishingo no 45 NSK 569.1.1 ff& 574.10.9.
Bemin Taisaku ni kansuruS hiron' jfifkor 46 NSK 645.8.5, 646.9.19. Another Taika-
RNRE.M~bttZ, ~ in Hokkaido Daigaku period referenceis NSK 653.4.
Bungakubu Kiyo tA# . X UEW , 6 47 NSK 670.2 & 690.9.1. For a discussiono f
(1957), pp. 111-38. theser eferencess,e e Hayakawa, pp. 236-41.
41 NSK 675.2.15. 48 Paddy surveys:N SK 645.8.5 & 646.8.14.
42 Nomura, pp. 63-67, 157-58, 179-88, Paddy allocation: NSK 646.8.14 & 652.1.1.
219-22 & 270-78. 49 Hayakawa, p. 241. See also Murayama
43 Ishimoda, pp. 118-20. Koichi tfjU-t, KenkyashiH anden Shiiju F
44 Inoue, 'Taika no Kaishin', p. 145. IE MIR& Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1978.