Offerings - Kugonin

These people belonged to the Imperial Court and provided food and drink to the Emperor. They were also called Kinri Kuonin. They descended from the niebito (sacrificial offerings) of the Ritsuryo system, and made daily offerings from the six provinces of Kinai and Omi. As their privileges were gradually recognized, they played a role in supporting the Emperor's private economy. In Chikuma Mikuriya in Omi Province, they provided tribute to the Imperial Court through the Naizenshi, focusing on soy-marinated crucian carp, sushi crucian carp, and seasoned salted crucian carp. From the late Heian period, the term "kugonin" came to replace "nikenin," and the kugonin of Awazu Hashimoto and Sugaura in Omi Province were involved in fishing on Lake Biwa, as well as boat transport and shipping on the lake, as was the kugonin of Imamiya in Settsu Province. Many of the kugonin and kusainin of Mikuriya and Misono were headmen or peasants who were exempt from paying taxes and performing public duties with the development of the manor system, but it is thought that the majority were engaged in non-agricultural activities. Many of the tributes were from the Mizushidokoro (shrine chamberlain), but when the head of the kuranokami (house chamberlain) also served as the head of the kuranokami (house chamberlain), they came under the control of the kurano-ryo (house chamberlain), and the Yamashina family inherited this position, and as a result, they also belonged to the Yamashina family. They freely served several powerful families based on personal relationships that were not linked to land control, and were given free passage and trade privileges in the name of the Emperor, and were based on specific bases. As the distribution of goods progressed from the mid-Kamakura period onwards, those who obtained sales monopoly rights through commercial tags also had the organization and characteristics of a commercial za (trading za), and began to offer a variety of products as tributes, ranging from food such as raw fish, poultry, sweetfish, chestnuts, sweets, and bamboo shoots, to handicrafts such as charcoal, braziers, bamboo, mercury, and lanterns.

[Junichi Ebe]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

朝廷に属し、天皇の飲食物を貢納する人々。禁裏(きんり)供御人ともいう。律令(りつりょう)制の贄人(にえびと)の流れをくみ、畿内(きない)、近江(おうみ)の6か国の日次御贄貢進(ひなみみにえこうしん)を業とし、しだいに特権を公認されながら天皇の私経済を担う役割を果たした。近江国筑摩御厨(ちくまみくりや)では醤鮒(ひしおのふな)、鮨鮒(すしのふな)、味塩鮒(あじしおのふな)などを中心に内膳司(ないぜんし)を通じ朝廷に貢納された。平安時代後期から贄人にかわって供御人と称されるようになり、近江国粟津橋本(あわづはしもと)供御人、同菅浦(すがうら)供御人は琵琶(びわ)湖での漁労に携わるとともに、湖上の舟運、廻船(かいせん)に従事しており、摂津国今宮(いまみや)供御人も同様である。御厨、御園(みその)の供御、供祭(ぐさい)人は、多くが荘園(しょうえん)制の発展に伴い年貢、公事(くじ)を免除された名主、百姓身分の者であったが、大部分は非農業的活動に従事していたと考えられる。供御人の多くは御厨子所(みずしどころ)供御人であったが、内蔵頭(くらのかみ)が御厨子所別当(べっとう)を兼ねるに及び内蔵寮の支配下に入り、山科(やましな)家がこれを世襲した結果、山科家にも属することとなった。彼らは天皇の名による諸国自由通行、交易の特権や、特定の根拠地を軸に、土地支配と結び付かない人的関係に基づくことによって自由にいくつかの権門に兼ね仕えている。鎌倉時代中期以降の商品流通の進展のなかで、商売札によって販売独占権を得た者は商業座の組織、性格をあわせ有し、生魚、鳥、鮎(あゆ)、栗(くり)、菓子、竹の子などの食物から炭、火鉢、竹、水銀、灯籠(とうろう)などの手工業品にまで及ぶ種々の産物を貢納するようになった。

［江部純一］

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