Five Armies Commandery - Gogun to Tokufu

The highest commanding body in the Ming Dynasty. After unifying the country, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, changed the Privy Council, which had existed since the Yuan Dynasty, into the Grand Commandery, but in 1380, he divided it into five parts, Left, Right, Center, Front, and Rear, and called it the Five Commanderies. The Five Commanderies were responsible for command authority, while the Military Department was in charge of military administration. The Commanderies were headed by the left and right commanders, and under them were various officials such as commander-in-chief and commander-in-chief. The commanders were dukes, marquises, counts, and those with distinguished service. The jurisdiction of the Commander-in-Chief was divided into regions, with the Left Commander-in-Chief in charge of Zhejiang, Liaodong, and Shandong, the Right Commander-in-Chief in charge of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Guangxi, the Central Commander-in-Chief in charge of Zhili, Zhongdulushi, and Henan, the Front Commander-in-Chief in charge of Fujian, Huguang, Jiangxi, and Guangdong, and the Rear Commander-in-Chief in charge of Beiping (Beijing) and Shanxi. However, when the three new Commander-in-Chief Camps were established during the reign of Emperor Yongle, their admirals took over as commanders instead of the Commander-in-Chiefs, and after Emperor Jiajing, authority was transferred to the newly established Rong Government, and the Five Commander-in-Chiefs lost real power.

[Kawagoe Yasuhiro]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、明(みん)代の最高統帥機関。明の太祖朱元璋(しゅげんしょう)は天下統一後、元(げん)以来の枢密院を改めて大都督府としたが、1380年、これを左、右、中、前、後の五つに分け、五軍都督府と称した。五軍都督府は、兵部が軍政を担当するのに対して、統帥の権をつかさどった。都督府には左右都督を長官に、それぞれその下に都督同知、都督僉事(せんじ)などの各官が置かれ、都督には公、侯、伯および勲功ある者が任ぜられた。都督府の管轄区域は地域的に分割され、左軍都督府は浙江(せっこう)、遼東(りょうとう)、山東、右軍都督府は雲南、貴州、四川(しせん)、陝西(せんせい)、広西、中軍都督府は直隷、中都留守司、河南、前軍都督府は福建、湖広、江西、広東(カントン)、後軍都督府は北平（北京(ペキン)）、山西をそれぞれ統轄した。しかし、永楽帝の時代に新しく三大営が設立されると、その提督が都督にかわって統帥の任にあたり、また嘉靖帝(かせいてい)以後は新たに設けられた戎政府(じゅうせいふ)に権限が移り、五軍都督府の実権は失われた。

［川越泰博］

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