Court noble law - Kugeho

One of the Japanese medieval laws. In the Middle Ages, there were several different legal orders in response to the division and decentralization of political power. In a broad sense, it refers to the legal order opposed to the samurai law, and in a narrow sense, it refers to the legal order in individual manors (Honjo law). The court noble law was gradually established in parallel with the dissolution of the ritsuryo system. In the early and middle Heian period, the ritsuryo was revised and supplemented, and more flexible and realistic operation was attempted through the establishment of rules and the issuance of kaku and shiki. The compilation of kaku over three generations, Kōnin, Jōgan, and Engi, significantly revised the ritsuryo and attempted to incorporate it in a more Japanized form. Furthermore, in the middle and late Heian period, the formation of the manor system and the stirrings of a medieval social system called for the formation of a new legal order to correspond to this. The Hosso Shōshō, written in the first half of the 12th century, was a response to such demands, and although its format was that of a legal commentary book for the Myōbō scholars, it boldly revised the interpretations and set out new legal meanings, functioning as a practical law in their litigation practices. The book was made up of 177 articles covering criminal and civil matters (marriage law, slave law, property law, inheritance law, buying and selling and lending law, etc.), and became the basis for the later development of court noble law. In the Kamakura period, legal books such as Saiban Shōshō, Kingyoku Shōchūshō, and Myōbō Jōjō Kanroku were created, setting out legal meanings that were more in line with social reality. In addition, the judgments created by legal scholars from time to time also functioned as precedents, and the new system of court nobles, which was issued several times from the end of the Heian period onwards, also constituted part of the court noble law and functioned as a law for the political and social control of court nobles and temple and shrine power. From the mid-Kamakura period and the Gosaga Insei period onwards, the development of the samurai law stimulated the development of the litigation system. However, the decline of the court nobles became significant during the turmoil of the Northern and Southern Courts period, and as the samurai began to absorb imperial power in the Muromachi period, the law lost its real meaning and became a mere formality, reverting to mere court customs.

[Mitsuo Tanahashi]

"Feudal Rule and Law" by Tokuhiko Ushita (Iwanami Lecture Series: Japanese History: Middle Ages 1, 1975, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Medieval Political and Social Thought, Part 2, by Hiroshi Kasamatsu et al. (1981, Iwanami Shoten) " ▽ "Medieval Japan's State" by Shinichi Sato (1983, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Law and the State in the Establishment of the Middle Ages" by Mitsuo Tanahashi (1983, Hanawa Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本の中世法の一つ。中世においては、政治勢力の分裂と分権化に対応して、いくつかの異なった法秩序が存在したが、広義には武家法に対立する法秩序をいい、狭義にはこのうち個別荘園(しょうえん)における法秩序（本所(ほんじょ)法）を除いたものをいう。公家法は、律令(りつりょう)制の解体と並行して徐々に確立していった。平安初・中期には、例の制定や、格(きゃく)・式(しき)の発布を通じて、律令の修正・補足と、より弾力的・現実的運用が図られていく。弘仁(こうにん)・貞観(じょうがん)・延喜(えんぎ)の3代にわたる格式の編修は、律令を大幅に修正し、より日本化した形でその摂取を図るものとなった。さらに、平安中・末期に至ると、荘園制の形成をはじめ中世的社会体制の胎動に伴って、これに対応する新たな法秩序の形成が要請される。12世紀前半ころに成った『法曹至要抄(ほっそうしようしょう)』は、このような要請にこたえたもので、形式は明法家(みょうぼうか)の律令解釈書ではあったが、大胆にその解釈改変を行うとともに新たな法意を打ち出し、彼らの訴訟実務の場で現実的な法として機能した。同書は、刑事・民事（婚姻法、奴婢(ぬひ)法、所有権法、相続法、売買貸借法など）など全177か条からなり、後の公家法展開の母胎となった。鎌倉期に入って、『裁判至要抄』『金玉掌中抄(きんぎょくしょうちゅうしょう)』『明法条々勘録(みょうぼうじょうじょうかんろく)』などの法書が作成され、より社会的現実に対応した法意が打ち出されていく。このほか、随時作成される明法家らの勘例も判例的な機能をもち、また平安末期以降いくたびか発布された公家新制も公家法の一部を構成し、公家・寺社勢力の政治的・社会的支配の法として機能することとなる。鎌倉中期、後嵯峨(ごさが)院政期以降は、武家法の発達に刺激されて訴訟制度の整備が進んだ。しかし、南北朝の動乱を通じて公家の衰微が著しくなり、室町期に至って武家による王朝権力の吸収が進行すると、その現実的意味を失い、形骸(けいがい)化して有職故実(ゆうそくこじつ)化していくこととなる。

［棚橋光男］

『羽下徳彦著「領主支配と法」（『岩波講座　日本歴史　中世1』1975・岩波書店）』▽『笠松宏至他著『中世政治社会思想　下』（1981・岩波書店）』▽『佐藤進一著『日本の中世国家』（1983・岩波書店）』▽『棚橋光男著『中世成立期の法と国家』（1983・塙書房）』

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