Ritsuryō

The ritsuryō (律令) is the old system of laws of medieval Japan based on the Confucianisme and the Légisme come from China. The political system which results from this is called ritsuryō-sei (律令制). One indicates by kyaku (格) the amendments of the ritsuryō and by shiki (式) his various promulgations.

The ritsuryō defines at the same time a penal code (律, ritsu ) and an administrative code （令, ryō ).

At the end of the Period Asuka (fine of the 6th century - 710) and during the Period Nara (710 - 794), the imperial Court, which then tried to reproduce the rigorous political system of the China of the Tang, created and enriches certain volumes by the ritsuryō . Thus, in 645, the Réforme of Taika (大化の改新, Taika No kaishin ) was the first text codifying this new système.

The principal texts forming the ritsuryō are:

* the Ōmi-ryō (近江令, written into 669) comprising 22 volumes of administrative code and whose existence is discussed;

* the Asuka-kiyomihara-ryō (飛鳥浄御原令, written into 689) comprising 22 volumes of administrative code additional;

* the Taihō-ritsuryō (大宝律令, written into 701) whose importance is major, containing 11 volumes of administrative code and 6 volumes of penal code;

* the Yōrō-ritsuryō (養老律令, written into 720 and promulgated into 757) containing 10 volumes of administrative code and 10 volumes of penal code; constitute a revised version of the Taihō-ritsuryō .

Principal installations

Government and administration

This new system organizes the country in several administrative divisions :

* the kuni (国, “province”) forming the Gokishichidō (五畿七道, “five provinces and seven ways”) and themselves divided into

* kori (郡, “district”) divided in their turn into

* laughed (里, roughly “village”)

Later, a new division called go (郷, roughly “canton”) was created between the kori and the laughed .

This system set up a administrative government centralized with, at its head, the emperor. Two institutions were created:

* the Jingi kan (神祇官, department of the Worship) in charge with the rites and the clergy;

* the Dajō kan (太政官, State Department) divided into eight ministères.

The stations of these public institutions all were divided into four ranks (四等官, Shitōkan ): kami (長官), suke (次官), jō (判官) and sakan (主典). In parallel, a total hierarchy is introduced for all these offices with about thirty rows (官位, Kan' I ), strictly regulating the access of the various offices to the various rows. This hierarchy was supposed to function “with the merit”, but the children of the senior officials nevertheless were named directly at a station of a row higher than the normal. This type of promotion (蔭位の制, on' I No sei ) existed already in the law of the Tang, but in the ritsuryō , the rows for which it applied were raised, just like the rows which the children of these dignitaires.
obtained

Were also set up:

* a census of the citizens (戸籍, koseki ) reactualized every year;

* an annual project on the taxes to be perceived (計帳, keichō );

* a system of taxes based on the keichō (租庸調, soyōchō ) and taken on rice harvests and various local products (cotton, salt, fabrics…) envoys towards the capital ;

* of the drudgeries at the local level ordinates by the Kokushi (国司), of the drudgeries to the capital (although these drudgeries could be replaced by the sending of various goods) and a military service.

Penal code

A penal system was created, with five levels of sorrows:

* Chi (笞): Corporal punishment;

* Jō (杖): Corporal punishment (harder);

* Zu (徒): Imprisonment;

* Ru (流): Exile;

* Shi (死): Capital punishment.

Eight crimes are also defined for which the Capital punishment was inevitable, even for largest aristocrats (attempted murder d' on the person of the emperor or of one of the members of its family, etc…). Those are drawn from the Ten Abominations Code of the Tang, but two crimes relating to the disturbance of the structure of the family were removed (adultery in particular).

Handen Shūju

The grounds as well as the citizens was regarded as “public property” (公地公民, kōchikōmin ). One of the pillars of the ritsuryō was the introduction of the system of the handen shūju sei (班田収受制, “system of distribution of the arable lands”) inspired of the kinden sei (均田制, “system of the equitable fields”) then places from there in China. The handen-shūju controlled the property of the arable lands. Starting from the data of the census, each citizen of more than 6 years saw himself allotting a “field public” subjected to a tax (approximately 3% of harvests). The surface of each field was worth 2 Kai (approximately 20 ares) for the men and two thirds of this value for the women (the Shinuhi and Kenin were however seen allotting only one third of this surface). The fields were restored at the State with died of the allocatee. The grounds belonging to the temples and the other places of worship were free from taxes.
The restitutions and the redistribution of the grounds took place every 6 years.

Castes

See also: Japanese Castes of Ritsuryō, Japanese Castes of the '' ritsuryō ''

The population was divided into two castes:

* the Ryōmin (良民, “good citizens”) divided into four under-castes;

* the Senmin (賤民, “humble citizens”) divided into five under-castes and to which the statute is relatively close to that of the esclaves.

The citizens wore clothing of various colors according to their caste.

Evolution of the application of Ritsuryō

Many modifications were made to this system with the passing of years. To promote agriculture, a law granting the property of the new arable lands for three generations was promulgated in 723 (三世一身法, sanzei isshin hō ) then another granting this property without limits in 743 (墾田永年私財法, konden eisei shizai hō ). This led to the appearance of great private fields, the first Shōen (荘園).

The strict application of the system of the handen shūju declined during. To try to maintain this system in place, the duration between each restitution/redistribution was extended to 12 years under the reign of the Empereur Kanmu. To the beginning of the Period Heian, this system was not applied almost any more. The last restitutions/redistributions proceeded between 902 and 903.

The system of the castes was less and less respected. Some Ryōmin wanted to marry with Senmin to escape the taxes and the newborns of such unions became ryōmin . At the end of the 9th century, this system was practically emptied of its substance.

The hereditary access to the high positions of the State led to a Monopole of a restricted number of big families on the key positions of the government, among which the clans Fujiwara, Minamoto, Taira and Tachibana.

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