京戸について : 都市としての平城京
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概要
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Within the process of state formation in ancient Japan, the institition of the law codes of 701 (Taiho-ryo 大宝令) is widely regarded as a very important event. It was approximately ten years after this epoch-making endeavor that the Capital at Nara (Heijo-kyo 平城京) was constructed ; and it continued as both the seat of ancient government and Japan's most spectacular city for the next seventy some odd years. And so in the same way as all the great capital cities of East Asia, Heijo-kyo became more the center of political power than a city which sprang up naturally as a result of social and economic development. At first, the research on Heijo-kyo was directed towards the aspect of it as Japan's first great Asian capital city, and therefore much work was done in reconstructing its basic surface plan. Recently, however, studies have appeared which attempt to find the particular characteristics of this metropolis through the analysis of its economic activities. While all of these studies have contributed much to clarifying the capital's institutions and physical structure, with respect to the citizenry who made up the Nara capital, researchers have offered only very vague ideas based more on their own personal convictions than on any concrete source materials ; and therefore the inner structure of this so-called ancient city remains rather unclear. In any city of the complexity of a Heijo-kyo there are great many aspects which must be considered in elucidating the movements and make-up its residents. In this essay, the author takes up the basic living unit of the capital, kyoko 京戸, that is, those households on land officially registered within Heijo-kyo. He focusses on the conditions of commoners, persons of no special status or office, and petty office holders, who are thought to have carried on lifestyles no different from commoners. In so doing, the author hopes to indicate the particular features of Japan's ancient city and ancient society. In part one the special features of Japan's kyoko are outlined from legal documents. Then in part two the author attempts to show the dual nature in the lifestyles of residents displaying such features. That nature lies in the connection of such a lifestyle to regions outside the capital city. Part three tries to grasp the particular structure which enveloped the activities of capital residents through an examination of taxpayers called rijin 里人 and misen 未選, of persons holding similar statuses working under government offices and of those involved in commerce (ichibito 市人). As a result of his study, the author wants to emphasise that in spite of the political nature of the capital's origins (as opposed to a city built upon the social division of labor), we can still see a citizenry that is "on the move," thus making the Nara capital into a city full of activity.
- 1984-06-20