Ritsuryō
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, , is the historical
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system based on the philosophies of
Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
and
Chinese Legalism Legalism or ''Fajia'' is one of the six classical schools of thought in Chinese philosophy. Literally meaning "house of (administrative) methods / standards (法, Fa)", the Fa "school" represents several branches of "men of methods", in the ...
in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (律令制). ''Kyaku'' (格) are
amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...
s of Ritsuryō, ''Shiki'' (式) are enactments. Ritsuryō defines both a and an . During the late
Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after t ...
(late 6th century – 710) and
Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...
(710–794), the
Imperial Court in Kyoto The Imperial Court in Kyoto was the nominal ruling government of Japan from 794 AD until the Meiji period (1868–1912), after which the court was moved from Kyoto (formerly Heian-kyō) to Tokyo (formerly Edo) and integrated into the Meiji gover ...
, trying to replicate
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's rigorous political system from the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
, created and enforced some collections of Ritsuryō. Over the course of centuries, the ''ritsuryō'' state produced more and more information which was carefully archived; however, with the passage of time in the Heian period, ''ritsuryō'' institutions evolved into a political and cultural system without feedback. In 645, the
Taika reforms The were a set of doctrines established by Emperor Kōtoku (孝徳天皇 ''Kōtoku tennō'') in the year 645. They were written shortly after the death of Prince Shōtoku and the defeat of the Soga clan (蘇我氏 ''Soga no uji''), uniting Jap ...
were the first signs of implementation of the system. Major re-statements of Ritsuryō included the following: * '' Ōmi-ryō'' (近江令, 669) – 22 volumes of administrative code, of disputed existence * '' Asuka-kiyomihara-ryō'' (飛鳥浄御原令, 689) – 22 volumes of administrative code * '' Taihō-ritsuryō'' (大宝律令, 701) – of major influence, 11 volumes of administrative code, 6 volumes of criminal code * '' Yōrō-ritsuryō'' (養老律令, 720, enacted in 757) – 10 volumes of administrative code, 10 volumes of criminal code, revised edition of the ''Taihō-ritsuryō''


Main achievements


Government and administration

In the later half of the seventh century, the was introduced, dividing the
regions of Japan Japan is divided into eight regions. They are not official administrative units, though they have been used by government officials for statistical and other purposes since 1905. They are widely used in, for example, maps, geography textbooks, ...
into several administrative divisions. * * * In 715 CE, the was introduced, resulting in the following. * * * * This system was abandoned in 740 CE.


Centralization of authority

The ritsuryō system also established a central administrative government, with the emperor at its head. Two departments were set up: *The
Jingi-kan The , also known as the Department of Shinto Affairs, Department of Rites, Department of Worship, as well as Council of Divinities, was a Japanese Imperial bureaucracy established in the 8th century, as part of the ''ritsuryō'' reforms. It was fi ...
(神祇官, Department of Worship), in charge of rituals and clergy *The
Daijō-kan The , also known as the Great Council of State, was (i) (''Daijō-kan'') the highest organ of Japan's premodern Imperial government under the Ritsuryō legal system during and after the Nara period or (ii) (''Dajō-kan'') the highest organ of Jap ...
(太政官, Department of State), divided into eight ministries. Posts of those public Departments were all divided into four ranks ('' shitō''): ''kami'' (長官), ''suke'' (次官), ''jō'' (判官) and ''sakan'' (主典). This ubiquitous pattern would be replicated consistently, even amongst members of the court whose functions had little to do with those kinds of powers and responsibilities which are conventionally associated with governing – for example: ;Court musicians * .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834)
''Annales des empereurs du japon,'' p. 429.
/ref> * . * .Titsingh
p. 430.
/ref> * . ;Court pharmacists * .Titsingh
p. 434.
/ref> * . * . * .


Establishment of court rank

A global system of ranking for all public posts (官 ''kan'', 官職 '' kanshoku'') was introduced with over 30 ranks (位 ''i'', 位階 '' ikai''), regulating strictly which posts could be accessed by which rank. Ranking was supposed to be mostly merit-based, the children of high-ranking public officials were nonetheless granted a minimal rank. This provision (蔭位の制 ''on'i no sei'') existed in the Tang law, however under the Japanese ritsuryo ranks for which it was applied were higher as well as the ranks obtained by the children. The highest rank in the system was the first rank (一位 ''ich-i''), proceeding downwards to the eighth rank (八位 ''hachi-i''), held by menials in the court. Below this, an initial rank called ''so-i'' (初位) existed, but offered few rights. The top six ranks were considered true aristocracy (貴 ''ki''), and were subdivided into "senior" (正 ''shō'') and "junior" (従 ''ju'') ranks (e.g. senior third-rank 三位 ''shō san-mi'' junior second-rank 二位 ''ju ni-i''). Below the third rank, a further subdivision between "upper" (上 ''jō'') and "lower" (下 ''ge'') existed, allowing for ranks such as “junior fourth rank lower” (従四位下 ''ju shi-i no ge'') or “senior sixth rank upper” (正六位上 ''shō roku-i no jō''). Promotion in ranks was often a very gradual, bureaucratic process, and in the early days of the Codes, one could not advance beyond sixth rank except by rare exception, thus causing a natural cut-off point between the aristocrats (fifth-rank and above 族 ''kizoku'' and the menials (sixth-rank and below 下 ''jige''. Additionally, income in the form of ''
koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...
'' (石, 1 koku = about 150 kilograms), or bushels of rice from the provinces, increased dramatically as one advanced in rank. The average sixth-rank official might earn 22 koku of rice a year, but the fifth rank might earn 225 koku of rice, while a third rank official could earn as much as 6,957 a year. Registration of the citizens (戸籍 ''koseki''), updated every 6 years, and a yearly tax book (計帳 ''keichō'') were established. Based on the ''keichō'', a tax system was established called (租庸調 ''So-yō-chō''). Tax was levied on rice crops but also on several local products (e.g. cotton, salt, tissue) sent to the capital. The system also established local corvée at a provincial level by orders of the kokushi (国司), a corvée at the Capital (although the corvée at the capital could be replaced by goods sent) and military service.


Criminal code

A criminal system was introduced, with . *: Depending on the severity of the crime, 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 strikes on the buttocks. *: Depending on the severity of the crime, 60, 70, 80, 90 or 100 strikes on the buttocks, performed in public, using a slightly thicker cane than was used for ''chi''. *: Depending on the severity of the crime, imprisonment for 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 or 3 years. *
Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
(流 ru) Depending on the severity of the crime, , , or . *: Depending on the severity of the crime, death by or . It defined that were exempt from amnesty. The code was based on the Ten Abominations of the Tang code, but two crimes related to family life—family discord and disruption of the family (through incest, adultery, etc.) —were removed.


Handen-Shūju

In accordance with Chinese legal codes, land as well as citizens were to be "public property" (公地公民). One of the major pillars of the Ritsuryō was the introduction of the Handen-Shūju (班田収受制) system, similar to the
equal-field system The equal-field system () or land-equalization system was a system of land ownership and distribution in China used from the Northern Wei to the mid-Tang dynasty. By the Han dynasty, the well-field system of land distribution had fallen out of ...
in China. The Handen-Shūju regulated land ownership. Based on the registration, each citizen over 6 was entitled to a , subject to taxation (approx. 3% of crops). The area of each field was 2 for men (approx. 22 ares total), and two-thirds of this amount for women. (However, the Shinuhi and Kenin castes were only entitled to 1/3 of this area). The field was returned to the country at death. Land belonging to shrines and temples was exempt from taxation. Collection and redistribution of land took place every 6 years.


Castes

The population was divided in two castes, ''Ryōmin'' (良民) (furthermore divided into 4 sub-castes) and ''Senmin'' (賤民) (divided into 5 sub-castes), the latter being close to slaves. Citizens wore different colors according to their caste.


Evolution of Ritsuryō application

Several modifications were added over time. In order to promote cultivation, a law allowing the ownership for three generations of newly arable fields was promulgated in 723 (三世一身の法, ''Sanze-isshin Law'') and then without limits in 743 (墾田永年私財法, ''Konden Einen Shizai Law''). This led to the appearance of large private lands, the first ''
shōen A was a field or manor in Japan. The Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese term "莊園" (Mandarin: ''zhuāngyuán'', Cantonese: ''zong1 jyun4''). Shōen, from about the 8th to the late 15th century, describes any of the private, ...
s''. Strict application of the Handen-Shūju system decayed in the 8th and 9th century. In an attempt to maintain the system, the period between each collection/distribution was extended to 12 years under
Emperor Kanmu , or Kammu, was the 50th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 桓武天皇 (50) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Kanmu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the sco ...
. At the beginning of
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
, the system was almost not enforced. The last collection/distribution took place between 902 and 903. The caste system was less and less strictly enforced. Some Ryōmin would wed Senmin to avoid taxation, and Senmin/Ryōmin children would become Ryōmin. At the end of the 9th century / beginning of the 10th, the caste system was practically void of its substance. Hereditary high-ranks for public posts led to the monopoly of occupation of the most important posts by a limited number of families, in effect a nobility, amongst which the
Fujiwara clan was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since the ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...
,
Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during the ...
,
Taira clan The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divided ...
and the Tachibana clan.


See also

* *
Ōmi Code The are a collection of governing rules compiled in 668AD, hence being the first collection of Ritsuryō laws in classical Japan. These laws were compiled by Fujiwara no Kamatari under the order of Emperor Tenji. This collection of laws is now ...
*
Asuka Kiyomihara Code The refers to a collection of governing rules compiled and promulgated in 689, one of the first, if not the first collection of Ritsuryō laws in classical Japan. This also marks the initial appearance of the central administrative body called ...
*
Taihō Code The was an administrative reorganisation enacted in 703 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period. It was historically one of the . It was compiled at the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito. Nussbaum, Louis ...
*
Yōrō Code The was one iteration of several codes or governing rules compiled in early Nara period in Classical Japan. It was compiled in 718, the second year of the Yōrō regnal era by Fujiwara no Fuhito et al., but not promulgated until 757 under ...
*
Station bell Under the Japanese ritsuryō system, were bells of red copper issued by the central government or by local provincial government offices to travelling officials or messengers known as . Functioning as a proof of identity, they allowed them to proc ...
*
Fengjian ''Fēngjiàn'' ( zh, c=封建, l=enfeoffment and establishment) was a political ideology and governance system in ancient China, whose social structure formed a decentralized system of confederation-like government based on the ruling class consis ...


Notes


References

* Asakawa, Kan'ichi. (1903)
''The Early Institutional Life of Japan.''
Tokyo:
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

OCLC 4427686 ''see'' online, multi-formatted, full-text book at openlibrary.org
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''
Nihon Odai Ichiran Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
''; ou
''Annales des empereurs du Japon.''
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 5850691
* Sansom, George (1958). ''A History of Japan to 1334.'' Stanford:
Stanford University Press Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It was among the presses officially ...
. * Haley, John Owen. ''Authority Without Power: Law and the Japanese Paradox'' (Oxford, 1994),


External links


A full listing of public posts in the Ritsuryō System can be found here
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritsuryo Classical Japan Legal history of Japan