were Japanese hereditary
noble titles. Their use traces back to ancient times when they began to be used as titles signifying a family's political and
social status
Social status is the relative level of social value a person is considered to possess. Such social value includes respect, honour, honor, assumed competence, and deference. On one hand, social scientists view status as a "reward" for group members ...
.
History
At first, the ''kabane'' were administered by individual clans, but eventually they came to be controlled by the
Yamato imperial court. As the court's national unification efforts progressed, a ''kabane'' was given to the most powerful families, which gradually became a hereditary noble title, and new ones were created. There were almost thirty of them in number.
Some of the more common ''kabane'' were , , ''
Sukune'' (宿禰), , , , , , and .
Descendants of the were given ''
Omi'' and the were given ''
Muraji.''
Of these, the most influential families were given ''
Ōomi'' and ''
Ōmuraji''.
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 ...
in 684.
[Hane, Mikiso; Perez, Louis G. (2014). Premodern Japan: a Historical Survey. (Second edition ed.). Boulder, CO. .]
During this
reform
Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
, 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.
The existing ''kabane'' were also reorganized into an consisting of ''
Mahito'', ''
Ason'', ''Sukune'', ' (忌寸), ' (道師), ''Omi'', ''Muraji'', ' (稲置).
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.
References
Ancient Japan
Japanese historical terms
Asuka period
Kofun period
Titles
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