Beggar - thief

...In terms of the idea of ​​nobility and lowliness, prostitutes, actors, minor officials, and soldiers were considered lowly, while beggars did not fall into that category in society, but they were by no means respected. In ancient times, there were guild-like organizations in that society, and their leaders were called "beggars" and "leaders." One theory is that the origin of the guild was when the founder of the Ming Dynasty gave refugees a yellow tassel-like stick, which represented the emperor, as a token of their authority in order to control them. On the beggars' side, there were also explanations of the history of the organization, such as that a certain emperor had been a beggar before he rose to power, and that they had received special favors from him to this day....

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "beggar" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…貴賤の観念からすると，〈娼，優，隷，卒〉すなわち娼妓，俳優，小役人，兵卒が賤流とされたのに対して，こじきは社会的にその範疇にはいらないが，決して敬われる存在ではなかった。　古くからその社会にもギルドに似た組織があり，頭目は〈丐頭〉〈団頭〉と呼ばれた。一説には，明の太祖が難民を統制するため，その手形として皇帝をあらわす黄色のふさのついた棒を与えたのに始まるといわれ，こじきの側でも，なにがし皇帝は立身出世する前はこじきだったので，とくにその恩沢をうけて今にいたるというように，組織の沿革を説くこともあった。…

※「丐頭」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