:''This is about the early Japanese kin groups. For other uses, see
Uji (disambiguation) Uji (宇治) is a place in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan.
Uji may also refer to:
* Uji (clan) (氏), a Japanese kin group system of the Kofun period
* Uji (Being-Time) (有時), "Being-Time," a teaching of Zen master Dōgen
* Jaume I University
Jaum ...
.''
are
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 ...
ese kin groups of the
Kofun period
The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...
.
''Uji'' were similar to the traditional
Japanese clan
This is a list of Japanese clans. The old clans ('' Gōzoku'') mentioned in the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki lost their political power before the Heian Period, during which new aristocracies and families, ''Kuge'', emerged in their place. After the He ...
s;
[ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)]
"Uji"
in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 1010. however, the pre-
Taika ''uji'' did not have many of the characteristics which are commonly understood to be part of Japanese clans. For example, the
Nakatomi clan
was a Japanese aristocratic kin group (''uji''). Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Nakatomi," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 39 retrieved 2013-5-5. The clan claims desce ...
and 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 ...
were each ''uji''.
[ Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)]
"Ryūzōji",_''Nobiliare_du_Japon'',_p._67_"Ryūzōji",_''Nobiliare_du_Japon'',_p._67_[PDF_71_of_80)/nowiki>">DF_71_of_80)">"Ryūzōji",_''Nobiliare_du_Japon'',_p._67_
[PDF_71_of_80)
/nowiki>_retrieved_2013-5-12.
The_''uji''_was_not_only_a_social,_economic_and_political_unit.__It_also_had_religious_significance_in_the_5th–7th_centuries._The_family_chief_has_the_title_of_''Uji_no_kami''_(氏上)_although_''uji_no_osa''_(氏長),_''uji_no_chōja''_(氏長者),_and_''uji_no_mune''_(氏宗)_were_also_used_depending_on_the_time_period._At_the_beginning_of_the_Heian_period_''uji_no_chōja''_was_used_most_often.
_History
The_''Uji''_formed_a_decentralized_ruling_structure.
According_to_China.html" "title="DF_71_of_80)
/nowiki>.html" ;"title="DF 71 of 80)">"Ryūzōji", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 67 [PDF 71 of 80)
/nowiki>">DF 71 of 80)">"Ryūzōji", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 67 [PDF 71 of 80)
/nowiki> retrieved 2013-5-12.
The ''uji'' was not only a social, economic and political unit. It also had religious significance in the 5th–7th centuries. The family chief has the title of ''Uji no kami''
History
The ''Uji'' formed a decentralized ruling structure.
According to China">Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
records, the clans divided in rising urban centers occupied the Yamato Plains (the region between the present-day cities of Nara and Osaka). The clans were responsible for the protection and the taxation of these independent territories. Each clan was ruled by a headman or warlord and worshiped its own unique Ujigami or clan spirit. The most thorough ancient description of the Uji clan system comes from early Chinese records during the Kofun period, Kofun or Tomb period (300–552 CE) .
As pointed out in the ''History of Wei'', the peace was preserved among the Wa people as long as a queen, who was a member of the powerful Yamato
was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a name for the whole of Japan.
Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan.
Japanese his ...
clan, played the role of mediator between the various clans. Since pre-classical Japan lacked a centralized government, an official language and a written body of laws, the Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
religious beliefs determined the hereditary lineage of the Uji members.
The powerful Yamato clan, the Japanese Imperial family
The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...
, consolidated its power during the late sixth and early seventh century, Prince Shotoku, created the Seventeen Article Constitution in 604 CE. This ''constitution'' did not constitute an official legal text but it was an attempt to create a bureaucracy to undercut the political domination of the great clans.[''Nikon Shoki'' (Chronicles of Japan) in ''Kokushi Taikei'' (Major compilation of National History), new and enlarged, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1967), pp 142–146.]
References
{{reflist
*
Kofun period