Master-servant relationship

Japanese: 主従制 - しゅじゅうせい

The system of relationship of domination and submission between master and servant, or between lord and vassal. It can be seen in Japan from ancient times to modern times, but as a social system, the feudal relationship of domination and submission among the samurai in the Middle Ages and early modern times is particularly representative. In the samurai society that emerged in the mid-Heian period, there was a very one-sided and subservient relationship of domination and submission between the lord, who was the head of a local domain, and his family. However, in the process of integration and development of the samurai groups, there were also relatively looser lord-vassal relationships on the one hand. The lord-vassal relationship formed between the shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo, the head of the samurai family, and the local lord, the gokenin, with the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate was also basically based on the principle of personal domination, but the strength of the bond varied depending on the circumstances under which the local lords became gokenin, with some gokenin with a strong degree of submission and some with a weak degree of submission, some with individual and direct relationships, and some with indirect relationships through powerful gokenin such as shugo.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

主人と従者，主君と家臣間の支配と服属の関係のしくみ。日本において古代より近代に至るまでみられるが，社会制度としてはとくに中世･近世の武家における封建的主従関係が代表的なものといえる。平安中期に発生した武士の社会において，地方の領主である主人とその家人との間にはきわめて一方的･隷属的な支配服従関係が存在した。しかし武士団の統合，発展の経過の中で一方には比較的緩やかな主従関係も存在した。鎌倉幕府の成立によって武家の棟梁である将軍源頼朝と地方領主である御家人との間に形成された主従関係も基本的には人身支配の原理が存在していたが，地方領主の御家人化の経緯が多様であったのに対応してその結合にも強弱があり，服属度の強い御家人と弱い御家人，個別的･直接的な関係で結合したものと守護等有力御家人を通じて間接的な関係で結合したものとがあった。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

<<: Surgery - Surgery

>>: Zhuzhou