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Of the Former the Families

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Of the Former the Families The HistoricalSocietyHistorical Society of Japan The post of imperial chamberlain of the Former Han Dynasty: An examination of relations between the imperial house and the families of the aristocracty by T,4TllMI Satoshi The Former Han Dynasty adopted a system of territorial admin- istration that blended an earlier system of commanderies and coun- ties with feudalistic institutions, as the administration of regions lying east of HanguwtISPass was completely entrusted to mar- quises and princes affiliated with the imperial family. However, it is generally understood that following the revolt of the seven king- doms, including WuS. and Chunc, during the first year of the reign of sixth emperor Jingdikifi5, those marquises and princes were deprived of their power and became no more than nominal rulers. But was this really the case? In this article, the author ex- amines from various perspectives the post of chamberlain for the imperial clan (zongzhengfi[iE), who oversaw the imperial house- hold, and thereby probe the reasoning behind the continuing en- feoffment of marquises and princes even after the reign of Wudi iFl M. The investigation yields the following conclusions. First, the main duty of the zouggheng was to be abreast of all in- formation related to the imperial family by preparing and main- taining a genealogy. Secondly, a member of the Liuesgimperial family was invaria- bly appointed gongzheng, because his duty was to act as intermedi- ary between the imperial household and the families of its mar- mp!-",III]l.FL.1 quises and princes, who could at anytime turn against the emper- or. Consequently, great importance was attached to the back- grounds of potential gongzheng during selection, while various pol- iticians sought to exercise their influence in appointing to the post a blood relation of those marquises and princes who were ca- pable of interceding between them and the imperial household. NII-Electronic Library Service The HistoricalSocietyHistorical Society ofJapanof Japan Finally the reason why zongzheng were selected mainly from a family only distantly related by blood to the emperor was that throughout the Former Han period, tension often arose between the emperor and the families of his brothers; therefore, use had to be made of the authority exercised by more distantly related marquises and princes. This shows that even after Wudi's reign, when the marquises and princes lost real power, they re- tained a certain degree of influence on imperial politics, forcing the emperor to be ever aware of their movements. If these findings are indeed accurate, there is room to reexam- ine the opinion that the marquises and princes had become no more than nominal rulers from the time of Wudi's reign. They also provide a key to further considering the question of why the Former Han Dynasty was compelled to assume the outward veneer of a federation of aristocratic fiefdoms, while aiming at a system of unified, central rule under the emperor. The origins of ]'iden : The case of Gufukujj Temple of Yamato Province by Kl7vaMURA YZzsuhiro This article attempts to clarify conditions surrounding large- scale land holding in ancient Japan up through the early 8th cen- tury through an investigation of the origins and characteristic fea- tures of the land designation known as 1'idenil}N (lit. temple paddy field) using the case of Gufukuji IILasilF Temple in the prov- vaEAEgVVsttwince of Yamato. Gufukuji's land holdings during the early years of the 8th cen- tury comprised an organically integrated system of multi-function- al land types, such as cultivated land (both paddy and dry `7iden," fields), land left fallow, wilderness and building sites. which made up merely a portion of temple land holdings, did not define all the paddy cultivated within the temple's territory and NII-Electronic Library Service The HistoricalSocietyHistorical Society of Japan also existed as a land designation beyond temple boundaries, mean- ing that ]'iden was a concept of cultivated land created by the Ritsuryo state. That is to say, the term 1-iden was reserved for culti- vated paddy within the temple's territory that was defined as space in terms of the Ritsuryo system. Historically speaking, prior to the Taika Reforms, Gufukuji's hold- ings were limited to land attached to the manors of paramount chieftains (oleimi])kEE) and their families, which was most likely firmly established by the latter half of the 7th century. There- fore, the institution of j'iden was a later development in the man- agement of temple land holdings, dating back no earlier than the beginning of the 8th century. While temple land holdings took on the same managerial pat- tern as the holdings of local powerful clans, during the reign of Emperor Kotoku (645-654), temple land was surveyed as one fact of the state's regulation of religious institutions, resulting in regis- tries listing holdings according to land type. During the reign of Emperor Tenmu (673-686), temple's were forbidden from owning wilderness, and the land holdings of those which had been recogni- `Videnj' zed by the state were limited to From the reign of Emper- ess Jito (690-697) on, Yiden came to be understood within the con- text of the development of the public land allotment (handen za M) system. It was in 709 that a land record, called denleiM:e, was issued to make the final determination of the extent of iiden. From that time on, the territory of each temple was strictly regul- ated based on ]'iden holdings, through attempts to implement the determinations contained in denlei ; however, the previously diversi- fied land holding portfolios of temples were not immediately elimi- nated as a result of such effort. Npma;tv It was in this way that temple proprietorship as a pre-Taika Reform managerial entity was incorporated into the Ritsuryo land system; however, the fact that established amounts of 1'iden did not comprise all the territory held by a temple remained an issue. The same problem no doubt existed in the case of secular powers with respect to land allotments based on rank (iden tiZN) NII-Electronic Library Service The HistorioalHistorical SocietySooiety of Japan cen ・ and office （shihiden 職 田 ）． In other words ， through the 8th large− land holding demanded that the actual mana − tury， scale gerial entity that had actually taken shape be reconciled with or adjusted to contemporary land institutions． 一 四 三 （ 四 六 五 ） 一 NII-ElectronicN 工 工 Eleotronio Library Service.
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