noble
A noble is a member of the nobility.
Noble may also refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Noble Glacier, King George Island
* Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land
* Noble Peak, Wiencke Island
* Noble Rocks, Graham Land
Australia
* Noble Island, Gr ...
titles. Their use traces back to ancient times when they began to be used as titles signifying a family's political and social status.
History
As the national unification by the Yamato imperial court progressed, a ''kabane'' was given to the most powerful families by the imperial court, which gradually became a hereditary noble title. During the ancient times, new ''kabane'' were made and there were almost thirty of them. Some of the more common ''kabane'' were , , ''
Sukune
''Sukune'' (宿禰) is one of the hereditary noble titles of ancient Japan. In the 3rd to 5th centuries, it was used as a title to represent military and administrative officers of the Yamato court.
In the 8th century, it became one of the ei ...
'' (宿禰), , , , , , and .
The descendants of the
Imperial family
A royal family is the immediate family of King, kings/Queen regnant, queens, Emir, emirs/emiras, Sultan, sultans/Sultana (title), sultanas, or raja/rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the ...
gods
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...
were given ''
Muraji
(from Old Japanese: ''muraⁿzi'' < *''mura-nusi'' "village master") was an ancient Japanese hereditary title denoting rank and political standing (a '''', and out of these, the most influential families were given '' Ōomi'' and ''
Ōmuraji
(from Old Japanese: ''muraⁿzi'' < *''mura-nusi'' "village master") was an ancient
Taika Reform
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 ...
, these were however abolished, and the kabane was no longer tied to a specific occupation or political position, but simply began to signify a family's aristocratic lineage and social status. In 684, the traditional ''kabane'' system was reformed into an eight-''kabane'' system consisting of '' Mahito'', ''
Ason
was a prestigious hereditary noble title in Japan, used mainly between Asuka and Heian periods. At first, it was the second highest, below '' Mahito'', which was given to members of the Imperial family, but after Heian period it became the h ...
Inagi
270px, Inagi City Hall
is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 92,585 in 41,592 households, and a population density of 5200 persons per km². The total area of the city was . ...
''.
The imperial House of Yamato became the most powerful family in the ''kabane'' system, although during the 6th century AD, a number of other leaders, often with high ranks of ''Omi'' and ''Muraji,'' sometimes overshadowed the Yamato rulers. This power dynamic became one of the incentives of the
Taika Reform
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 ...
.Hane, Mikiso; Perez, Louis G. (2014). Premodern Japan: a Historical Survey. (Second edition ed.). Boulder, CO. .
The ''kabane'' were divided into two general classes: the were given ''Omi'', and the were given ''Muraji''.
At first, the ''kabane'' were administered by individual clans, but eventually they came to be controlled by the
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 ...
court. In 684, the ''kabane'' were reformed into the . The powerful ''Omi'' of the time were given the ''kabane'' of ''Ason'', which ranked second under the new system, while most of the ''Muraji'' were given the ''kabane'' of ''Sukune'', which ranked third. Later, as the clans began to devolve into individual households, the ''kabane'' system gradually faded from use.
Name
It is generally believed that the name ''kabane'' (姓) either derived from the word "agamena" (崇名), or alternatively from the word "kyöröi" (骨), meaning "family" in Old Korean.