Challenging Words - Cat's Cradle

...The origin of this group was a group of craftsmen who came from China and the Korean peninsula, and before the Ritsuryo period they were called Nishigori, Ayahatori, Kurehatori, etc. According to the Taiho Code, to meet the needs of the imperial court, the Oribe no Tsukasa, which was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, placed Ayatori (Ayanoshi and Ayanoshou) as technical officials, and among the 570 dyeing households under its control, Nishigori, Kurehatori, and Kawauchi Kunihiro silk weavers were controlled. These weavers mainly lived in the Kinai region, were obliged to pass on their skills to the next generation, and were required to pay a tribute of one loom per household of three to seven, one person per year, of one or two pieces of manufactured goods, in return for which they were exempt from miscellaneous taxes, or from taxes and miscellaneous taxes.

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Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…その源流は中国，朝鮮半島から渡来した技術者集団であり，律令期以前には錦部（にしごり），漢織（あやはとり），呉織（くれはとり）などとよばれた。大宝令制によると，宮廷需要をまかなうために大蔵省所管の織部司（おりべのつかさ）に技術官人として挑文（あやとり）(養老令制では挑文師（あやのし），挑文生（あやのしよう）)が置かれ，配下の品部（しなべ）である染戸（そめへ）570戸のうちに錦綾織，呉服部（くれはとり），川(河)内国広絹織人が掌握されていた。これらの織手は主として畿内に居住し，技術の世襲を義務づけられ，3～7戸で1台の織機を使用して，1人年額1～2疋の製品を貢納する代償に，雑徭（ぞうよう）もしくは調と雑徭を免除される規定であった。…

※「挑文」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報