Manorial affairs - Shomu

Japanese: 荘務 - しょうむ

A person who is authorized to govern and manage a manor by encouraging agriculture, inspecting it, collecting taxes, etc. For example, in 1217 (Kenpo 5), Miyoshi Yasunobu, the lord of Ota Manor in Bingo Province, which was the land steward of Mount Koya, established the Ten Articles of Manor Affairs, which included provisions on additional rice tax, laborers from the Kanto region, land for peasants to use as land for ranaways, mulberry trees, land cultivation, and encouraging agriculture. Thus, manor affairs originally referred to the local governance and management of the manor itself, but in the late Heian period, as manor donations became more common and a multi-layered system of manor governance was formed consisting of the head family, ryoke, yokosho, and shiji and komon, the issue of who had the authority to execute manor affairs became an important one.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

荘園において勧農，検注，年貢収納など現地の支配･管理を行うこと，またはその権限を与えられた者。例えば1217年(建保5)に高野山領備後国太田荘の地頭三善康信が定めた地頭方荘務十箇条には，加徴米，関東人夫，百姓逃亡跡名田，桑，佃（つくだ），勧農などについての規定がされている。このように荘務とはもともと荘園現地の支配･管理それ自体をさすことばであったが，平安時代末期，荘園寄進がさかんに行われ，本家―領家―預所―下司･公文という重層的な荘園支配体系が形成されるとともに，荘務執行の権限がどこに所属するのかは重要な問題となった。

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

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