The Early Institutional Life of Japan : a Study in the Reform of 645 A.D
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«>k»*»^»--^^.^ :.'^^.,. CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY- ' THE WASON CHINESE COLLECTION Cornell University Library DS 851.A79 The early institutional life of Japan :a 3 1924 023 233 947 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023233947 Institutional Life of Japan. 7^ JiK BY * K. ASAKAWA, Ph. D. WASEDA UNIVERSITY. TOKYO, JAPAN. (2|arneU Hmuerattg SItbtarg Jlt^ara, SJm fork CHARLES WILLIAM WASON COLLECTION CHINA AND THE CHINESE THE GIFT OF CHARLES WILLIAM WASON CLASS OF 1B76 1918 THE EARLY INSTITUTIONAL LIFE OF JAPAN: A Study in the Reform of 645 a.d. By K. ASAKAWA, PH. D. The Hadley Scholar of Yale University (1902-1903), and Lecturer on the Far East at Dartmouth College, U.S.A. -'&^— Printed at Tokyo Shoeisha. 1903 'J he Corporation of Yal^ University provides ihj.t " ihe income cf this §5,000 scholarship fund should le awarded annually to one or more meritorious students in the University, to te designated as Hadley Scholars, for the purpose of rendering accessible to 'the public the results of their researches." TO MY FATHER. PREFACE. The present work is intended primarily for criticism and discussion, and only secondarily for direct information. It appears to me that, inasmuch as the subject of this work is not known to have been elaborated by another person^ it belongs to me, as a writer in this new field in ancient history, to state my conclusions only after showing the necessary process of reasoning, and to base the latter npon original passages explicitly cited or referred to, as well as critically tested. This double duty of textual criticism and docun^ental analysis has, wherever possible, been attempted. A third task, that of constructive interpretation, tar as it was beyond my capacity, has also been forced upon me, particularly as I was dealing with those thoughts and institutions in China and Japan whose domain in history is not limited to the period under dis- cussion and some of which are still alive to the present day. The result of this many-sided uudertaking is the present hetero-^ geneous and unfinished mass, which, in its analytical portion, is painfully tedious, and, in its interpretative passages, seems to lack unity of time and purpose, and which is in every direction consciously defective. I hope the time may come when a simple, compact treatment of the subject maybe possible, but until it does come, the crudities of the work-shop must be pre-, ferred to the gloss and the niceties of the finished product of suspicious character. If, therefore, the present work should appear repellent to the general public, it may still seek to address itself either to those who are well versed in oriental history or to those whose interest and training in the science of society in its broader sense enable them -to readily -seize upon any new work in history and quickly detect its faults. Indeed no greater service can be rendered by this essay than in arousing intelligent discussion among critical scholars, and it ( 2 ) is with this object in view that this particular form of the work has been sedulously maintained. A few words must be said in regard to the limitations of this work. It, like many other works in history, can hardly be said to be. comfilete without its counterparts: a scientific treatise of the earlier period and another of the later. Within the range of its own period, also, the work is confessedly institutional. I have intentionally neglected other important find perhaps more interesting phases of the national life of the ancient Japanese. Even regarding the Reform itself, one important set of institutions — those concerning the Buddhist Church —has been purposely left untouched, it being thought that ^hey might be better treated in the history of a subsequent period.. - The substance of this work was originally presented, in 1902, under another title, to the Graduate School of Yale University, as a partial fulfilment of the requirement for a degree. It has since been somewhat revised. Its publication is entirely due to the encouragement of the the University and some of its professors, especially Professor F. Wells Williams, to whom I am gratefully indebted. • I wish to express my regrets that' I may be unwittingly doing an injustice when T omit some of the noted scholars of Japan who may have written on some of the points covered by this essay, but whose works I have not been fortunate enough in all cases to consult. K. A. Hanover, New HampsWrc, U. S. A. May, Jgoj. ; CONTENTS; Page INTRODUCXrON i_6. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CHAPTER 7-22. Relative value of the Kojild and the Xihongi, 7-14 ; historical writings before the eighth century, lo-ii; deficiency of the ^zA)«f;' for the Reform period, ir-12 ; the Code of 701 and the tommentaries (the Rid-no-Gige), 12-17; ^^^ Code of 927 (the Yengi-S/iiki), 17-19 ; the Dai-Nihon Kobunsho, 19 ; the decrees and edicts (the Ruizhu Sandai-Kakti), 20-22 ; the works l^y the late Professor Kurita (the h'itsuri Zatcho), 22. CHAPTER I. INSTITUTIONS BEFORE THE REFORM 23-136. Ancient chronology of Japan, 23-25 ; I. The Emperor, 25-44. His theoretical powers, 25-26 ; an analysis of the theory of the Imperial authority : (i) the one-tribe theory, 26-28 the theory of the Imperial succession, ; (2) 28-30 and (3) the conquest, 30-31.—The Emperor and Shinto, 31-38: the composite nature of Shinto, 31-32 ; its explanation suggested, tlie 32-35 ; effects of the coming of Buddhism on Shinto, 35-36 ; norito, 36-38.—The Emperor and the assembly, 39.—A tradi- tional doctrine, 40-44. II. The extent of the Empire, 45. III. Local division, 45-51. Tlie so-called reform of the Em- peror Seimu, 45-48.—The terms defined, 48-51. IV. The family, 51-59. Fatria potestas, 51 ; brothers and sisters, 51-53 ; marriage, 52-56 ; succession, 56-58. The custom of separate residence, 58 ; its significance suggested, 58-59. • V. Patriarchal organization of the state : the uji (clan) and the tomo (group), 59-66. Solidarity of family responsibility, 60- 80. —Terms explained, and the semblance of the tribal relation- ship, 61-63 ; "^^ tomo or be, 63-66. VI. The - /'a/'a/;i' ; miyatsiiho of the kuiii and of the tonto. —— —;; ' (4) \'1I. Property in land, 73-76. VIII. The miyake and the Emperor, 76-82. IX. The free and the unfree, 82-86. X. Taxation, 86-96. The mitsugi (tribute), 86-94 ; rice and the 'agata and miyake^ .89-gi ; the etachi (forced labour), 94. Control of the great men over the taxes, 94. —Imperial taxat'on, 94-95- XI. Military organization, 95-125. [A.] The conquest of [B.] Pacification Sujin, Yamato by Jimmu, 97-99 ; by 99-100 [C] Civil strifes, (i) for the Throne, 100-104, (2) against the Kumaso and the Emishi, 164-105, (3) against tlie rebellious sub- jects, and amongst the aspirants to povirer, 105-108, (4) 109-117 ; , [D.] Korean expeditions, 1 17-123.—Summary, 124-125. Conclusion, 125-136. The political claims of the Emperor, 125-127 ; his want of moral control over the people, 127-133 ; political weakness of the Emperor, and the logical causes of the Reform, 133-136. CHAPTER II. EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE REFORM 136-150. The need of a reform, 136-138 ; the ministers of the Emperor, 138-140 ; descendants of Takeshiuchi, 140-141 ; introduction of Buddhism and the Soga, 141-145 ; the Reformers' party, the fall of the Soga, 145-148 ; the Chinese learning in Japan, 148-150. CHAPTER ni. POLITICAL DOCTRINE OF CHINA 150-251. I. To THE Fall of Chow ; The princes and the people, 153-155; virtue, 155-157; here- ditary succession, 157-159 ; the Minister and the officers, 159- 161 philosophy of rebellion, and dynastic revolution, ; 161-163 ; the later Chow, 163 ; the Pa and the Wang, 165 ; .schools of politiciil philosophy, 166-167 ; from Lao-tsz' to Han-Fe-tsz', 167- 172 ; from Confucius to Mencius, 173-177 ; their relative position in history, 177-182 ; summary, 182-184. II. From Ts'in to T'ang ; (i) Ts'in. The account of the Shiki, 184-187; the imperial title, 187 ; local division, 188-195 ; uniformity of law, 195-196 agricultural policy, 196-197 ; land tenure, 197-200 ; taxation, 2CO-20I. (2) H'an to T'ang. Land and taxation: the three taxes, 202-204 1 equal allotment of land, 204-206 ; military duties, 206 ; the system of T'ang, 206-210 ; commercial policy, 210-21 1.— I^ocal government, 21 1-216 ; its underlying principles ; the ruler and the ruled; 216-218; the system of iiregular im- positions, 219-220 ; riot, 220-221.—Central government: central — ;;, ( 5) offices, officers of the Court, and the soldiers of the guards, 221- 225 ; emoluments and ranks and titles, 225-226. Four classes of the people, 226 ; system of education and examination, 226-245. Conclusion ; China and Japan, their contrast : the Emperor, 246-247 ; the organization of the State, 247-250 ; the attitude toward the future, 250-251. CHAPTER IV. THE REFORIVI 252-333. I. The " Constitution " of 604 a.d., 252-257. II. The Rkform of 645-646 a.d. ; The need of a reform, conditions in the country, (1) — 257-260 ; (2) who were the Reformers ? Kamako, Prince Naka-no-Oye, the learned men, and the ministers of the Emperor, 260-264 1 (3) the extent of the Reform, the Kinai, the eastern and western Kuni, 264-267 ; a chronological table of the Reform, 267-268 (4) the central government : the Learned Men, the Sa-Daizhin " U-Daiz!iin, and NaizJiin, 268-269 ; the daibu,'' 269 ; the Eight Departments, 269-270; "a hundred offices," 271 ; the cap-rank, ; emoluments, local government : the Ki, 271 271-272 ; (5)