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Ritsuryō
, , is the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (律令制). ''Kyaku'' (格) are amendments of Ritsuryō, ''Shiki'' (式) are enactments. Ritsuryō defines both a and an . During the late Asuka period (late 6th century – 710) and Nara period (710–794), the Imperial Court in Kyoto, trying to replicate China's rigorous political system from the Tang dynasty, 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 were the first signs of implementation of the system. Major re-statements of Ritsuryō included the following: * '' Ōmi-ryō'' (近江令, 669) – 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Japan's government briefly restored to power after the Meiji Restoration, which was replaced by the Cabinet. It was consolidated in the Taihō Code of 702. The Asuka Kiyomihara Code of 689 marks the initial appearance of this central administrative body composed of the three ministers—the '' Daijō-daijin'' (Chancellor), the '' Sadaijin'' (Minister of the Left) and the '' Udaijin'' (Minister of the Right).Hall, John Whitney ''et al.''. (1993) ''The Cambridge History of Japan'', p. 232./ref> The Imperial governing structure was headed by the ''Daijō-kan''. This council and its subsidiary ministries handled all secular administrative affairs of the country, while the ''Jingi-kan'' or Department of Worship, oversaw all matters regarding ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, tax free, often autonomous estates or manors whose rise undermined the political and economic power of the emperor and contributed to the growth of powerful local clans. The estates developed from land tracts assigned to officially sanctioned Shintō shrines or Buddhist temples or granted by the emperor as gifts to the Imperial family, friends, or officials. As these estates grew, they became independent of the civil administrative system and contributed to the rise of a local military class. With the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate, or military dictatorship, in 1192, centrally appointed stewards weakened the power of these local landlords. The shōen system passed out of existence around the middle of the 15th century, when villa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 the Asuka region, about south of the modern city of Nara. The Asuka period is characterized by its significant artistic, social, and political transformations, having their origins in the late Kofun period. The introduction of Buddhism marked a change in Japanese society. The Asuka period is also distinguished by the change in the name of the country from to . Naming The term "Asuka period" was first used to describe a period in the history of Japanese fine-arts and architecture. It was proposed by fine-arts scholars and Okakura Kakuzō around 1900. Sekino dated the Asuka period as ending with the Taika Reform of 646. Okakura, however, saw it as ending with the transfer of the capital to the Heijō Palace of Nara. Although histori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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-Frédéric. (2005). "Taihō Code" in . The work was begun at the request of Emperor Monmu and, like many other developments in the country at the time, it was largely an adaptation of the governmental system of China's Tang dynasty. The establishment of the Taihō Code was one of the first events to include Confucianism as a significant element in the Japanese code of ethics and government. The Code was revised during the Nara period to accommodate certain Japanese traditions and practical necessities of administration. The revised edition was named the . Major work on the Yōrō Code was completed in 718. The Taihō Code contained only two major departures from the Tang model. First, government positions and class status were based o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 the regime of Fujiwara no Nakamaro under Empress Kōken. The penal code portions (''ritsu'') were largely lost, although they have been reconstructed. The content of the civil code portions (''ryō'') are preserved nearly fully, copied out in later texts. Overview The Yōrō Code was a revision of the Taihō Code of 701, and differences may have been limited. Still, when Nakamaro put the laws into effect in 757, it was unpopular among the nobility as it "slowed down the promotion schedule for officials." State of preservation While the precursor code (Taihō Code) does not survive, a substantial amount of Yōrō Code is preserved in the piece, (833), especially the civil codes. In English-language scholarly literature, some commenta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kokushi (official)
were provincial officials in Classical Japan. They were nobles sent from the central government in Kyoto to oversee a province, a system that was established as part of the Taika Reform in 645, and enacted by the ''Ritsuryō'' system. There were four classes of ''kokushi'', from the highest to the lowest: ''Kami'' (守), ''Suke'' (介), ''Jō'' (掾), and ''Sakan'' (目). In the Middle Ages, an acting governor called ''mokudai'', the '' daikan'' of the ''kokushi'', took over the local government of the province, while the ''kokushi'' returned to the capital to take on a supervising role. History The oldest reference to the term ''kokushi'' appears on the Seventeen-article constitution from 604. As part of the Taika Reform in 645, a new system of provincial government was established, marking the beginning of the ''kokushi''. Before this, the governors were called ''mikotomochi'' (宰 or 使者). This term was replaced with the ''kanji'' characters 国 (province) and 司 (gover ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 first consolidated under Taihō Code which established the and Daijō-kan, the . However, the department and Daijō-kan made its first appearance in the Asuka Kiyomihara Code. While ''Daijō-kan'' handled secular administrative affairs of the country, ''Jingi-kan'' oversaw almost all matters related to Shintō, particularly of ''kami'' worship. In other words, the general function of ''jingi-kan'' includes to oversee ''kami''-related affairs at court, provincial shrines, performance rites for the , as well as coordinating the provinces' ritual practices with those in the capital based on a code called , which roughly translates to "Code of Celestial and Terrestrial Deities" or "Code of Heavenly and Earthly Gods". While the department e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Japan. The reforms also artistically marked the end of the Asuka period and the beginning of the Hakuhō period. Crown Prince Naka no Ōe (the future Emperor Tenji), Nakatomi no Kamatari, and Emperor Kōtoku jointly embarked on the details of the Reforms. Emperor Kōtoku then announced the era of " Taika" (大化), or "Great Reform". The Reform began with land reform, based on Confucian ideas and philosophies from Tang China, but the true aim of the reforms was to bring about greater centralization and to enhance the power of the imperial court, which was also based on the governmental structure of China. Envoys and students were dispatched to China to learn seemingly everything from the Chinese writing system, literature, religion, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans an archipelago of 6852 islands covering ; the five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Tokyo is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Japan is the eleventh most populous country in the world, as well as one of the most densely populated and urbanized. About three-fourths of the country's terrain is mountainous, concentrating its population of 123.2 million on narrow coastal plains. Japan is divided into 47 administrative prefectures and eight traditional regions. The Greater Tokyo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Districts Of Japan
In Japan, a is composed of one or more rural municipalities (towns or villages) within a prefecture. Districts have no governing function, and are only used for geographic or statistical purposes such as mailing addresses. Cities are not part of districts. Historically, districts have at times functioned as an administrative unit. From 1878 to 1921The governing law, the district code (''gunsei'', 郡制Entry for the 1890 originalanentry for the revised 1899 ''gunsei''in the National Diet Library ''Nihon hōrei sakuin''/"Index of Japanese laws and ordinances"), was abolished in 1921, but the district assemblies (''gunkai'', 郡会) existed until 1923, the district chiefs (''gunchō'', 郡長) and district offices (''gun-yakusho'', 郡役所) until 1926. district governments were roughly equivalent to a county of the United States, ranking below prefecture and above town or village, on the same level as a city. District governments were entirely abolished by 1926. History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ten Abominations
The Ten Abominations (十惡) were a list of offenses under traditional Chinese law which were regarded as the most abhorrent, and which threatened the well-being of civilized society. They are listed below. The first three were capital offences: # Plotting rebellion (謀反): to overthrow the current regime. The commentary states: "The ruler or parent has no harbours rom plots If he does have such plots, he must put them to death." This means that if one harbours rebellious thoughts against the ruler or father, he must then put them to death. # Plotting great sedition (謀大逆): to damage or destroy royal temples, tumuli, or palaces. The ancient Chinese belief in '' feng shui'' equated intentional damaging of royal property with casting a curse on the sovereign. This type of person breaks laws and destroys order and goes contrary to virtue. # Plotting treason (謀叛): to defect to an enemy state, usually carrying national secrets. # Parricide (惡逆): to harm or murder one' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 suffer exile, but sometimes social entities like institutions (e.g. the papacy or a government) are forced from their homeland. In Roman law, ''exsilium'' denoted both voluntary exile and banishment as a capital punishment alternative to death. Deportation was forced exile, and entailed the lifelong loss of citizenship and property. Relegation was a milder form of deportation, which preserved the subject's citizenship and property. The term diaspora describes group exile, both voluntary and forced. "Government in exile" describes a government of a country that has relocated and argues its legitimacy from outside that country. Voluntary exile is often depicted as a form of protest by the person who claims it, to avoid persecution and prosec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
