一一世紀の日本における送金為替手形の問題について
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概要
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This study examines two major theories regarding the origins of the Japanese concept of the “bill of exchange”. The first argues that this concept formulated during the “Heian” period (11th century); while the other, the “Kamakura” theory, argues for a later period (13th century) when merchants began to formally manage documents which, up to that point, had lacked sufficient transferability. “Kudashibumi” and “Henshou” documents which explicitly state that “drawers could consign payment to payers” in the 11th century could be linguistically defined as bills of exchange. Though the Heian theory regards these documents as a “means of payment”, it doesn't address whether a “means of remittance” occurred in these documents or not. In contrast, the Kamakura theory argues that these two documents served only as “orders for payment”, emphasizing that these documents were not always regarded as a bill of exchange because of their limited transferability and circulation. Thus, there were no crucial differences between the two major theories, just a difference in the extent of their definition of what constituted a bill of exchange. In this analysis, several historical documents from the Todai Temple indicate that Shinanozenji used a Henshou document addressed to the Suou provincial branch in Kyoto from the Todai Temple in order to convert clothes from Otsu into rice in Kyoto. This fact means that the Henshou worked as a bill of exchange for remittance. The document evolved characteristically to become more neutral and transferable as verbal agreements grew to also require an Ukebumi receipt. These findings weaken the Kamakura theory, and at the same time, advocate that the Heian theory which regarded Henshou only as a relevant document for collecting taxes contractually should be revised. Furthermore, more historical materials with Henshou documents showing the occurrence of contracts need to be re-examined.
- 東京大学東洋文化研究所,The Institute of Oriental Culture The University of Tokyo,京都大学の論文