The law of punishing both parties in a quarrel

During the Sengoku period, this law imposed punishment on both parties who used violence in a fight, regardless of whether they were just or not. In medieval Japan, there was a strong ethical code of taking revenge for damage suffered in a fight, and many individual fights turned into collective fights. The Muromachi Shogunate frequently issued bans on such fights from 1346 (Shohei 1, Sadawa 2), and in 1352 (Shohei 7, Bunwa 1), it stipulated that the first to attack would have their territory confiscated regardless of whether it was just or not, and that the defending side would be equally guilty if they were unjust (the cause of the fight was not legitimate), and even if they were just, half of their territory would be confiscated. Later, the tendency to punish both the attacking and defending sides regardless of whether they were just or not was strengthened, and this was inherited by the Bunkoku Law of the Sengoku daimyo, becoming the Ryoseibai Law. In essence, the Ryoseibai Law was enacted with the aim of denying self-help and forcing cases to be submitted to the jurisdiction of the daimyo, and was also adopted by the Edo Shogunate in its early days.

[Eiji Nitta]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

戦国時代、喧嘩で暴力を行使した者に対し、理非を問わず当事者双方に刑罰を課した法。日本の中世には、喧嘩で受けた被害に対して、復讐(ふくしゅう)することが強い倫理規範として存在しており、しかも個人的私闘は多く集団的私戦に転化した。こうした私闘に対して室町幕府は1346年（正平1・貞和2）以来しばしば禁令を発し、1352年（正平7・文和1）には、先に攻撃した側は理非を論ぜず所領没収、防戦側は非理（喧嘩の原因に関して正当性がない）の場合は同罪、理ある場合も所領半分没収と定めたが、その後、攻撃側・防御側ともに原因の理非を問わず処罰される方向が強化され、それが戦国大名の分国(ぶんこく)法に継承されて両成敗法となった。両成敗法は要するに自力救済行為を否定し、大名裁判権に強制的にゆだねさせることを目的に制定されたもので、江戸幕府も初期にはこれを採用している。

［新田英治］

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