Peerage - Peerage

Japanese: 爵位 - しゃくい

A system of privileges and honors that ranks titles of nobility and is recognized or granted by royal or state authority.

[Masami Watanabe]

Europe

Peerage is the successor to the nobility status of the Middle Ages, but unlike nobility, which was socially and naturally recognized through tradition and custom, it is a public institution determined by authority. Also, the connection with the idea of lineage has gradually weakened.

The oldest example of a king granting nobility by royal decree is when King Philip III of France appointed a financial official a noble in 1270. In 1339, a system of examination for nobility was established. During the reign of Henry III, it was decided that possession of a fief alone was not enough to prove one's status as a nobleman, and a certificate issued by the king was also required. Under the powerful royal authority of the 18th century, the titles of old feudal lords were ranked in stages, such as duc (duke), marquis (marquis), comte (count), vicomte (viscount), baron (baron), chevalier (knight), and écuyer (commoner), and also indicated the rank order at court. Prince (grand duke) was limited to members of the royal family. During the Revolution, the title was abolished by the National Assembly in 1790, but Napoleon established the title, and the old system was reinstated with the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1814, allowing imperial nobility and dynastic nobility to coexist. However, political and legal privileges were no longer attached to the title, and it became a purely honorary title. Since the Third Republic, it has only been used privately.

Other countries have also followed a similar course of rise and fall. In Britain, there is the rank of baronette (sub-baron) below baron, and these can be addressed as sir. Effective privileges have completely disappeared. In Germany, too, class privileges have been on a downward trend since 1848, and in 1871 the German Empire was reorganized into Fürst (Duke), Graf (Count), and Freiherr (Baron). In the Weimar Republic, it was only permitted to be used privately as part of a family name for one generation. This was effectively abolished.

[Masami Watanabe]

China

Along with official ranks and ranks, these are titles that define and express political and social status. Each rank of nobility is awarded by the Son of Heaven or the emperor, forming a national social order with the Son of Heaven (emperor) at the top. The word "nobility" was originally the name of a drinking vessel used in ceremonies, and the origin of the nobility is said to be in the custom of deciding seating order at banquets during the clan era. In principle, nobility titles are accompanied by hereditary fiefs according to rank, and the nobility system can be considered to have been established gradually as part of the "feudal" system (feudal fief system) of the Zhou dynasty. The nobility system of the Zhou dynasty is called the "Five Ranks of Nobility" (five ranks: Son of Heaven, Duke, Marquis, Earl, Concubine, and Man), but there are many unknowns, and it is said that it was organized into five ranks from the end of the Spring and Autumn period to the beginning of the Warring States period. During the Warring States period, when the "feudal" system was beginning to collapse, a nobility system separate from the five ranks was established in the Qin state. This system developed from the "Gun-kō-jaku" system, in which titles were given to those who achieved military merit regardless of their social status. There were 20 ranks, from Che-hō (with fief) to Gongshi, and was called the "Twenty Ranks of Nobility." It was developed and implemented throughout the Qin and Han dynasties. In the Han dynasty, there were the titles of feudal lords and emperor above the 20 ranks, making it a 22-rank system. The feudal lords were given kingdoms, and the Che-hō (later renamed Rehō) were given fiefs called shokuyu, but the most distinctive feature and significance of the Han dynasty system is that titles (min-jaku) were also given to ordinary people. In other words, up to the 8th rank, the title of Gongjō, was given to ordinary people, and the 9th rank, the Five Great Fu and above, were for government officials, and women were not directly given titles. Those who received titles were given privileges according to their rank, and this completed a social order that included even ordinary people in a unified manner. After the Wei-Jin period, this system of nobility became nothing more than a mere name, and a system of nobility that was based on the five ranks of nobility in the Zhou period and was only applicable to the emperor's relatives and meritorious retainers was revived, and various titles of marquis, such as prefecture, township, ping, inner guan, inner guan, and outer guan, were created under the six ranks of king, duke, marquis, count, zi, and man, and those of ranks of marquis and above were given fiefs and fiefs. This Wei-Jin system of nobility was inherited in subsequent periods, but there were differences between dynasties in terms of the type of title and whether or not they were given fiefs.

In Japan, the Peerage Act of July 1884 (Meiji 17) established five ranks of peerage - Duke, Marquis, Count, Prince, and Prince - but these were abolished by the Constitution of Japan in 1947 (Showa 22).

[Isamu Ogata]

"The Formation and Structure of the Ancient Chinese Empire" by Sadao Nishijima (1961, University of Tokyo Press)

[Reference] | Peerage

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

貴族の称号を序列化し、王権または国家権力が承認ないし賦与する特権や栄典の制度。

［渡辺昌美］

ヨーロッパ

爵位は中世の貴族身分の後身だが、伝統や慣習によって社会的に、いわば自然に認められた貴族と異なり、権力によって規定される公的な制度である。また血統の観念との結合がしだいに弱まる傾向を示した。

　国王が勅命をもって貴族の身分を賦与した最古の例としては、1270年フランス王フィリップ3世による一財務官の貴族叙任がある。1339年からは貴族身分の審査制度が設けられた。アンリ3世時代、知行地領有だけでは貴族たることを証しえずとし、国王発行の証書を不可欠とした。18世紀強大な王権のもとで、デュクduc（公爵）、マルキmarquis（侯爵）、コントcomte（伯爵）、ビコントvicomte（子爵）、バロンbaron（男爵）、シュバリエchevalier（騎士）、エキュイエécuyer（平貴族）等、旧時の封建領主の称号が段階づけられ、同時に宮廷席次をも示した。プランスprince（大公）は王族に限られた。大革命に際し1790年国民議会によって廃止されたが、ナポレオンによって爵位が制定され、さらに1814年王政復古とともに旧制度が復活され、帝政貴族と王朝貴族とが並存することとなった。ただし政治的法律的特権が爵位に付随することはなくなり、純然たる名誉称号と化した。第三共和政以後は私的に用いられるにすぎない。

　ほかの国でもこれに類する消長の経過をたどった。イギリスではバロンbaron（男爵）の下にバロネットbaronet（従男爵）の階等があり、これらはサーSirと称することができる。実質上の特権は完全に消失している。ドイツでも、1848年以後、身分特権は縮小の途をたどり、1871年ドイツ帝国では、フュルストFürst（公爵）、グラーフGraf（伯爵）、フライヘルFreiherr（男爵）に整理された。ワイマール共和国では一代に限って姓名の一部として私的に用いることだけを認めた。事実上の廃止である。

［渡辺昌美］

中国

官位、秩位と並んで、政治的・社会的身分を規定し表現する称号。各級の爵位が天子ないしは皇帝によって授与されることで、天子（皇帝）を最高位に置く国家的身分秩序が構成される。爵とは、本来儀式で用いられる飲酒器の名称であり、爵位の起源は、氏族制の時代に、宴会での席次を決める習俗にあるとされる。爵位には等級に応じた世襲できる封土(ほうど)を伴うことを原則としており、爵制は周代の「封建」制（分封制）の一環として漸次成立したものと考えてよい。周代の爵制は「五等爵」（天子および公・侯・伯・子・男の5等）とよばれるが、不明な点が多く、5等に整理されたのは春秋時代末期から戦国時代初期のころであるといわれる。「封建」制が崩壊に向かう戦国時代には、五等爵とは別個の爵制が秦(しん)国で成立した。これは、軍功をあげた者には身分にかかわらず爵位が与えられるという「軍功爵」から発展したものであり、徹侯（封土を伴う）から公士に至るまで20の等級があったことにより、「二十等爵」とよばれ、秦・漢両王朝を通じて整備され実施された。漢代には20等の上に諸侯王、さらにその上に天子の爵位があり、実質的には二十二等爵制である。諸侯王には王国、徹侯（のち列侯と改称）には食邑(しょくゆう)という封土が賜与(しよ)されたが、一般庶民にも爵位（民爵）が授与されたことが、漢代の爵制の最大の特色であり意義でもある。すなわち第8級の公乗までは一般民に与えられ、第9級の五大夫以上は官吏を対象とし、女子には直接の賜爵はない。受爵者には等級に応じた恩典があり、ここに庶民まで一元的に包括する身分秩序が完成した。魏晋(ぎしん)時代以降には、この民爵の制度は有名無実化し、周の五等爵を応用したところの、皇帝の親族と功臣のみを対象とする爵制が復活し、また王、公、侯、伯、子、男の6等の下に、県、郷(きょう)、亭、関内、関中、関外などの各種の侯が設けられ、亭侯以上には封土・封邑が与えられた。この魏晋の爵制はその後の時代に受け継がれたが、爵位の種類、封土の有無などについては、王朝間で差異がある。

　なお、日本では1884年（明治17）7月の華族令により公・侯・伯・子・男の5段階の爵位が設けられ、1947年（昭和22）日本国憲法により廃止された。

［尾形　勇］

『西嶋定生著『中国古代帝国の形成と構造』（1961・東京大学出版会）』

[参照項目] | 華族

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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