Throughout the house

In the Edo period, this was a term used to refer to the vassals of a clan. A group of vassals. The vassals of a particular feudal lord were also called "Maeda-dono no Gokenchu" (Maeda Lord's Household). Kenchu ​​means the inside of a household, or "ieju," and originally referred to the family ties that were the core of the growth of medieval warrior groups. As warrior groups developed, it came to include not only the head of the family and his family, but also newly subordinate retainers, and after the Muromachi period, it became a general term for vassals. With the transition from the Sengoku daimyo to the early modern daimyo, the composition of the vassals became more complex, but since the principle of vassal organization was to position vassals within the fictitious family of the daimyo, the word kenchu ​​became more established as a general term for vassals. The Tokugawa family gave the Matsudaira surname to powerful outside daimyo, and the daimyo also gave their own surnames to powerful vassals, making them similar to clans, which is an indication of vassals being positioned within their own household.

[Negishi Shigeo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代、一藩の家臣を総称してよんだ語。家臣団。また特定の大名の家臣をさして「前田殿の御家中」などとよんだ。家中とは家の内部、「いえじゅう」という意味であり、中世武士団が成長の中核とした同族結合をさしたが、武士団の発展につれて、惣領(そうりょう)とその一族だけでなく、新たに服属した郎党をも含めるようになり、室町時代以降、家臣の総称となった。戦国大名から近世大名への転化に伴い、家臣団の構成は複雑になったが、家臣団編成の原理が、大名の擬制的な家の内部に家臣を位置づけるものであったため、家中の語はさらに家臣団の総称として定着した。徳川家が有力外様(とざま)大名に松平(まつだいら)姓を与え、大名も有力家臣に自分の姓を与えて一門に準じたのは家臣を自らの家中に位置づけた表れである。

［根岸茂夫］

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