THE PREHISTORIC SOVEREIGNS (Continued)
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
AT the beginning of the previous chapter brief reference was made to
the three great divisions of the inhabitants of Japan; namely, the
Shimbetsu (Kami class) the Kwobetsu (Imperial class) and the Bambetsu
(aboriginal class). The Shimbetsu comprised three sub-classes;
namely, first, the Tenjin, a term used to designate the descendants
of the great primeval trinity and of the other Kami prior to the Sun
goddess; secondly, the Tenson, or descendants of the Sun goddess to
Jimmu's father (Ugaya-fukiaezu), and thirdly, the Chigi, an
appellation applied to the chiefs found in Izumo by the envoys of the
Sun goddess and in Yamato by Jimmu--chiefs who, though deprived of
power, were recognized to be of the same lineage as their conquerors.
It is plain that few genealogical trees could be actually traced
further back than the Chigi. Hence, for all practical purposes, the
Shimbetsu consisted of the descendants of vanquished chiefs, and the
fact was tacitly acknowledged by assigning to this class the second
place in the social scale, though the inclusion of the Tenjin and the
Tenson should have assured its precedence. The Kwobetsu comprised all
Emperors and Imperial princes from Jimmu downwards. This was the
premier class. The heads of all its families possessed as a
birthright the title of omi (grandee), while the head of a Shimbetsu
family was a muraji (group-chief). The Bambetsu ranked incomparably
below either the Kwobetsu or the Shimbetsu. It consisted of
foreigners who had immigrated from China or Korea and of aboriginal
tribes alien to the Yamato race. Members of the Ban class were
designated yakko (or yatsuko), a term signifying "subject" or
"servant."
THE UJI
In addition to the above three-class distribution, the whole Yamato
nation was divided into uji, or families. An uji founded by one of
the Tenson took precedence of all others, the next in rank being one
with an Imperial prince for ancestor, and after the latter came the
families of the Tenjin and Chigi. All that could not thus trace their
genealogy were attached to the various uji in a subordinate capacity.
It is not to be supposed that one of these families consisted simply
of a husband and wife, children, and servants. There were great uji
and small uji, the former comprising many of the latter, and the
small uji including several households. In fact, the small uji
(ko-uji) may be described as a congeries of from fifty to ninety
blood relations.
In the uji the principle of primogeniture was paramount. A successor
to the headship of an uji must be the eldest son of an eldest son.
Thus qualified, he became the master of the household, ruled the
whole family, and controlled its entire property. The chief of an
ordinary uji (uji no Kami) governed all the households constituting
it, and the chief of a great uji (o-uji no Kami) controlled all the
small uji of which it was composed. In addition to the members of a
family, each uji, small and great alike, had a number of dependants
(kakibe or tomobe). In colloquial language, an o-uji was the original
family; a ko-uji, a branch family. For example, if the Abe family be
considered, Abe-uji is a great uji (o-uji), while such names as Abe
no Shii, Abe no Osada, Abe no Mutsu, etc., designate small uji
(ko-uji). If a great uji was threatened with extinction through lack
of heir, the proper Kami of a small uji succeeded to the vacant
place. As for the kakibe or tomobe, they were spoken of as "so and so
of such and such an uji:" they had no uji of their own.
All complications of minor importance were dealt with by the Kami* of
the uji in which they occurred, consultation being held with the Kami
of the appropriate o-uji in great cases. Reference was not made to
the Imperial Court except in serious matters. On the other hand,
commands from the sovereign were conveyed through the head of an
o-uji, so that the chain of responsibility was well defined. An
interesting feature of this ancient organization was that nearly
every uji had a fixed occupation which was hereditary, the name of
the occupation being prefixed to that of the uji. Thus, the uji of
gem-polishers was designated Tamatsukuri-uji, and that of boat
builders, Fune-uji.
*An uji no Kami was called uji no choja in later ages.
There were also uji whose members, from generation to generation,
acted as governors of provinces (kuni no miyatsuko) or headmen of
districts (agata-nushi). In these cases the name of the region was
prefixed to the uji; as Munakata-uji, Izumo-uji, etc. Finally, there
were uji that carried designations given by the sovereign in
recognition of meritorious deeds. These designations took the form of
titles. Thus the captor of a crane, at sight of which a dumb prince
recovered his speech, was called Totori no Miyatsuko (the
bird-catching governor), and Nomi-no-Sukune, who devised the
substitution of clay figures (haniwa) for human sacrifices at
Imperial obsequies, was designated as Hashi no Omi (the Pottery
Grandee).
THE TOMOBE
The tomobe (attendants)--called also mure (the herd) or kakibe
(domestics)--constituted an important element of the people. They
were, in fact, serfs. We find them first spoken of in an active role
as being sent to the provinces to provide foodstuffs for the Imperial
household, and in that capacity they went by the name of provincial
Imibe. Perhaps the most intelligible description of them is that they
constituted the peasant and artisan class, and that they were
attached to the uji in subordinate positions for purposes of manual
labour. By degrees, when various kinds of productive operations came
to be engaged in as hereditary pursuits, the tomobe were grouped
according to the specialty of the uji to which they wore attached,
and we hear of Kanuchibe, or the corporation of blacksmiths; Yumibe,
or the corporation of bow-makers; Oribe, or the corporation of
weavers, and so on.
It is not to be supposed, however, that all the tomobe were thus
organized as special classes. Such was the case only when the
uji to which they belonged pursued some definite branch of
productive work. Moreover, there were corporations instituted
for purposes quite independent of industry; namely, to perpetuate
the memory of an Imperial or princely personage who had died without
issue or without attaining ancestral rank. Such tomobe were
collectively known as nashiro (namesakes) or koshiro (child
substitutes). For example, when Prince Itoshi, son of the Emperor
Suinin, died without leaving a son to perpetuate his name, the
Itoshibe was established for that purpose; and when Prince
Yamato-dake perished without ascending the throne, the Takebe was
formed to preserve the memory of his achievements. A be thus
organized on behalf of an Emperor had the title of toneri
(chamberlain) suffixed. Thus, for the Emperor Ohatsuse (known in
history as Yuryaku) the Hatsuse-be-no-toneri was formed; and for
the Emperor Shiraga (Seinei), the Shiraga-be-no-toneri. There can be
little doubt that underlying the creation of these nashiro was the
aim of extending the Imperial estates, as well as the number of
subjects over whom the control of the Throne could be exercised
without the intervention of an uji no Kami. For it is to be observed
that the sovereign himself was an o-uji no Kami, and all tomobe
created for nashiro purposes or to discharge some other functions
in connexion with the Court were attached to the Imperial uji.
TAMIBE
Another kind of be consisted of aliens who had been naturalized in
Japan or presented to the Japanese Throne by foreign potentates.
These were formed into tamibe (corporations of people). They became
directly dependent upon the Court, and they devoted themselves to
manufacturing articles for the use of the Imperial household. These
naturalized persons were distinguished, in many cases, by technical
skill or literary attainments. Hence they received treatment
different from that given to ordinary tomobe, some of them being
allowed to assume the title and enjoy the privilege of uji,
distinguished, however, as uji of the Bambetsu. Thus, the descendants
of the seamstresses, E-hime and Oto-hime, and of the weavers,
Kure-hatori and Ana-hatori, who were presented to the Yamato Court by
an Emperor of the Wu dynasty in China, were allowed to organize
themselves into Kinu-nui-uji (uji of Silk-robe makers); and that a
Hata-uji (Weavers' uji) was similarly organized is proved by a
passage in the records of the Emperor Ojin (A.D. 284) which relates
that the members of the Hata-uji had become scattered about the
country and were carrying on their manufacturing work in various
jurisdictions. This fact having been related to the Throne, steps
were taken to bring together all these weavers into the Hata-uji, and
to make them settle at villages to which the name of Kachibe was
given in commemoration of the weavers' ancestor, Kachi. The records
show that during the first four centuries of the Christian era the
people presented to the Yamato Court by the sovereigns of the Wu
dynasty and of Korea must have been very numerous, for no less than
710 uji were formed by them in consideration of their skill in the
arts and crafts.
SLAVES
The institution of slavery (nuhi) existed in ancient Japan as in so
many other countries. The slaves consisted of prisoners taken in war
and of persons who, having committed some serious offence, were
handed over to be the property of those that they had injured. The
first recorded instance of the former practice was when Yamato-dake
presented to the Ise shrine the Yemishi chiefs who had surrendered to
him in the sequel of his invasion of the eastern provinces. The same
fate seems to have befallen numerous captives made in the campaign
against the Kumaso, and doubtless wholesale acts of self-destruction
committed by Tsuchi-gumo and Kumaso when overtaken by defeat were
prompted by preference of death to slavery. The story of Japan's
relations with Korea includes many references to Korean prisoners who
became the property of their captors, and that a victorious general's
spoils should comprise some slaves may be described as a recognized
custom. Of slavery as a consequence of crime there is also frequent
mention, and it would appear that even men of rank might be overtaken
by that fate, for when (A.D. 278) Takenouchi-no-Sukune's younger
brother was convicted of slandering him, the culprit's punishment
took the form of degradation and assignment to a life of slavery. The
whole family of such an offender shared his fate. There is no
evidence, however, that the treatment of the nuhi was inhuman or even
harsh: they appear to have fared much as did the tomobe in general.
THE LAND
There are two kinds of territorial rights, and these, though now
clearly differentiated, were more or less confounded in ancient
Japan. One is the ruler's right--that is to say, competence to impose
taxes; to enact rules governing possession; to appropriate private
lands for public purposes, and to treat as crown estates land not
privately owned. The second is the right of possession; namely, the
right to occupy definite areas of land and to apply them to one's own
ends. At present those two rights are distinct. A landowner has no
competence to issue public orders with regard to it, and a lessee of
land has to discharge certain responsibilities towards the lessor. It
was not so in old Japan. As the Emperor's right to rule the people
was not exercised over an individual direct but through the uji no
Kami who controlled that individual, so the sovereign's right over
the land was exercised through the territorial owner, who was usually
the uji no Kami. The latter, being the owner of the land, leased a
part of it to the members of the uji, collected a percentage of the
produce, and presented a portion to the Court when occasion demanded.
Hence, so long as the sovereign's influence was powerful, the uji no
Kami and other territorial magnates, respecting his orders, refrained
from levying taxes and duly paid their appointed contributions to the
Court.
But in later times, when the Throne's means of enforcing its orders
ceased to bear any sensible ratio to the puissance of the uji no Kami
and other local lords, the Imperial authority received scanty
recognition, and the tillers of the soil were required to pay heavy
taxes to their landlords. It is a fallacy to suppose that the Emperor
in ancient times not only ruled the land but also owned it. The only
land held in direct possession by the Throne was that constituting
the Imperial household's estates and that belonging to members of the
Imperial family. The private lands of the Imperial family were called
mi-agata.* The province of Yamato contained six of these estates, and
their produce was wholly devoted to the support of the Court. Lands
cultivated for purposes of State revenue were called miyake.** They
existed in several provinces, the custom being that when land was
newly acquired, a miyake was at once established and the remainder
was assigned to princes or Court nobles (asomi or asori). The
cultivators of miyake were designated ta-be (rustic corporation); the
overseers were termed ta-zukasa (or mi-ta no tsukasa), and the
officials in charge of the stores were mi-agata no obito.
*The prefix mi (honourable) was and is still used for purposes of
courtesy.
**In ancient Japan, officials and their offices were often designated
alike. Thus, miyake signified a public estate or the store for
keeping the produce, just as tsukasa was applied alike to an overseer
and to his place of transacting business.
As far back as 3 B.C., according to Japanese chronology, we read of
the establishment of a miyake, and doubtless that was not the first.
Thenceforth there are numerous examples of a similar measure.
Confiscated lands also formed a not unimportant part of the Court's
estates. Comparatively trifling offences were sometimes thus
expiated. Thus, in A.D. 350, Aganoko, suzerain of the Saegi, being
convicted of purloining jewels from the person of a princess whom he
had been ordered to execute, escaped capital punishment only by
surrendering all his lands; and, in A.D. 534, a provincial ruler who,
being in mortal terror, had intruded into the ladies' apartments in
the palace, had to present his landed property for the use of the
Empress. These facts show incidentally that the land of the country,
though governed by the sovereign, was not owned by him. Lands in a
conquered country were naturally regarded as State property, but
sufficient allusion has already been made to that custom.
THE SPHERE OF THE SOVEREIGN'S RULE
It is related in the Records that, in prehistoric days, the last of
the chieftains sent by Amaterasu to wrest Japan from its then holders
addressed the leaders of the latter in these terms, "The central land
of reed plains owned (ushi-haku) by you is the country to be governed
(shirasu) by my son." Japanese historiographers attach importance to
the different words here used. Ushi-haku signifies "to hold in
intimate lordship"--as one wears a garment--whereas shirasu means "to
exercise public rights as head of a State." A Japanese Emperor
occupied both positions towards mi-nashiro (q.v.), toward naturalized
or conquered folks, towards mi-agata, miyake, and confiscated
estates, but his functions with regard to the people and the land in
general were limited to governing (shirasu).
If the ancient prerogatives of the sovereign be tabulated, they stand
thus:
(1) to conduct the worship of the national deities as general head of
all the uji;
(2) to declare war against foreign countries and to make peace with
them, as representative of the uji, and (3) to establish or abolish
uji, to nominate uji no Kami, and to adjudicate disputes between
them. The first of these prerogatives remains unaltered to the
present day. The second was partly delegated in medieval times to the
military class, but has now been restored to the Throne. As for the
third, its exercise is to-day limited to the office of the hereditary
nobility, the Constitution having replaced the Crown in other
respects.
Two thousand years have seen no change in the Emperor's function of
officiating as the high priest of the nation. It was the sovereign
who made offerings to the deities of heaven and earth at the great
religious festivals. It was the sovereign who prayed for the aid of
the gods when the country was confronted by any emergency or when the
people suffered from pestilence. In short, though the powers of the
Emperor over the land and the people were limited by the intervention
of the uji, the whole nation was directly subservient to the Throne
in matters relating to religion. From the earliest eras, too, war
might not be declared without an Imperial rescript, and to the
Emperor was reserved the duty of giving audience to foreign envoys
and receiving tribute. By foreign countries, China and Korea were
generally understood, but the Kumaso, the Yemishi, and the Sushen
were also included in the category of aliens. It would seem that the
obligation of serving the country in arms was universal, for in the
reign of Sujin, when an oversea expedition was contemplated, the
people were numbered according to their ages, and the routine of
service was laid down. Contributions, too, had to be made, as is
proved by the fact that a command of the same sovereign required the
various districts to manufacture arms and store them in the shrines.
THE THRONE AND THE UJI
The sovereign's competence to adjudicate questions relating to the
uji is illustrated by a notable incident referred to the year A.D.
415, during the reign of Inkyo. Centuries had then passed since the
inauguration of the uji, and families originally small with clearly
defined genealogies had multiplied to the dimensions of large clans,
so that much confusion of lineage existed, and there was a
wide-spread disposition to assert claims to spurious rank. It was
therefore commanded by the Emperor that, on a fixed day, all the uji
no Kami should assemble, and having performed the rite of
purification, should submit to the ordeal of boiling water
(kuga-dachi). Numerous cauldrons were erected for the purpose, and it
was solemnly proclaimed that only the guilty would be scalded by the
test. At the last moment, those whose claims were willingly false
absconded, and the genealogies were finally rectified.
Instances of uji created by the sovereign to reward merit, or
abolished to punish offences, are numerously recorded. Thus, when
(A.D. 413) the future consort of the Emperor Inkyo was walking in the
garden with her mother, a provincial ruler (miyatsuko), riding by,
peremptorily called to her for a branch of orchid. She asked what he
needed the orchid for and he answered, "To beat away mosquitoes when
I travel mountain roads." "Oh, honourable sir, I shall not forget,"
said the lady. When she became Empress, she caused the nobleman to be
sought for, and had him deprived of his rank in lieu of execution.
There is also an instance of the killing of all the members of an uji
to expiate the offence of the uji no Kami. This happened in A.D. 463,
when Yuryaku sat on the throne. It was reported to the Court that
Sakitsuya, Kami of the Shimotsumichi-uji, indulged in pastimes
deliberately contrived to insult the occupant of the throne. Thus he
would match a little girl to combat against a grown woman, calling
the girl the Emperor and killing her if she won; or would set a
little cock with clipped wings and plucked feathers to represent the
sovereign in a fight with a big, lusty cock, which he likened to
himself, and if the small bird won, he would slaughter it with his
own sword. The Emperor sent a company of soldiers, and Sakitsuya with
all the seventy members of his uji were put to death.
ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION
The administrative organization in ancient Japan was simply a
combination of the uji. It was purely Japanese. Not until the seventh
century of the Christian era were any foreign elements introduced.
From ministers and generals of the highest class down to petty
functionaries, all offices were discharged by uji no Kami, and as the
latter had the general name of kabane root of the uji the system was
similarly termed. In effect, the kabane was an order of nobility.
Offices were hereditary and equal. The first distribution of posts
took place when five chiefs, attached to the person of the Tenson at
the time of his descent upon Japan, were ordered to discharge at his
Court the same duties as those which had devolved on them in the
country of their origin. The uji they formed were those of the
Shimbetsu,* the official title of the Kami being muraji (group chief)
in the case of an ordinary uji, and o-muraji (great muraji) in the
case of an o-uji, as already stated. These were the men who rendered
most assistance originally in the organization of the State, but as
they were merely adherents of the Tenson, the latter's direct
descendants counted themselves superior and sought always to assert
that superiority.
*The distinction of Shimbetsu and Kwobetsu was not nominally
recognized until the fourth century, but it undoubtedly existed in
practice at an early date.
Thus, the title omi (grandee) held by the Kami of a Kwobetsu-uji was
deemed higher than that of muraji (chief) held by the Kami of a
Shimbetsu-uji. The blood relations of sovereigns either assisted at
Court in the administration of State affairs or went to the provinces
in the capacity of governors. They received various titles in
addition to that of omi, for example sukune (noble), ason or asomi
(Court noble), kimi (duke), wake (lord), etc.
History gives no evidence of a fixed official organization in ancient
times. The method pursued by the sovereign was to summon such omi and
muraji as were notably influential or competent, and to entrust to
them the duty of discharging functions or dealing with a special
situation. Those so summoned were termed mae-isu-gimi (dukes of the
Presence). The highest honour bestowed on a subject in those days
fell to the noble, Takenouchi, who, in consideration of his services,
was named O-mae-tsu-gimi (great duke of the Presence) by the Emperor
Seimu (A.D. 133). Among the omi and muraji, those conspicuously
powerful were charged with the superintendence of several uji, and
were distinguished as o-omi and o-muraji. It became customary to
appoint an o-omi and an o-muraji at the Court, just as in later days
there was a sa-daijin (minister of the Left) and an u-daijin
(minister of the Right). The o-omi supervised all members of the
Kwobetsu-uji occupying administrative posts at Court, and the
o-muraji discharged a similar function in the case of members of
Shimbetsu-uji. Outside the capital local affairs were administered by
kuni-no-miyatsuko or tomo-no-miyatsuko* Among the former, the heads
of Kwobetsu-uji predominated among the latter, those of
Shimbetsu-uji.
*Tomo is an abbreviation of tomo-be.
VALUE OF LINEAGE
It will be seen from the above that in old Japan lineage counted
above everything, alike officially and socially. The offices, the
honours and the lands were all in the hands of the lineal descendants
of the original Yamato chiefs. Nevertheless the omi and the muraji
stood higher in national esteem than the kuni-no-miyatsuko or the
tomo-no-miyatsuko; the o-omi and the o-muraji, still higher; and the
sovereign, at the apex of all. That much deference was paid to
functions. Things remained unaltered in this respect until the sixth
century when the force of foreign example began to make itself felt.
ENGRAVING: FISHERMAN'S BOAT AND NET