Common people - common people

Japanese: 賤民 - せんみん

Historically, and particularly in legal history, it generally refers to people who are placed at the bottom of society in terms of social status and who are especially despised and discriminated against.

[Eiju Narusawa]

Ancient

In the ancient Ritsuryo system, the class system divided the people into two classes: Ryo and Ken, with citizens who paid public taxes being called Ryo (good citizens) and those who were subordinate to a specific master and were obligated to perform special services being called Ken (Kenmin). Ken was divided into five types: Ryoko, Kanko, Kenin, Kunuhi, and Shinuhi, and they were called Goshiki no Ken. These Ken were controlled and owned by the Imperial Court, aristocrats, and powerful clans, and were made to perform menial tasks as their labor force. Ryoko were employed as guards for the tombs of the Emperor and Imperial family, and were the highest-ranking Ken in terms of status. Kanko were employed as menial tasks for government offices, and were ranked higher than Kunuhi. The ryo-ko and kan-ko established households and were given the same amount of land as the nomin. Like slaves, family members were only given one-third of the land that nominals were given and were considered objects of inheritance, but they were allowed to form families and run private businesses and were not subject to sale or purchase. Public slaves were owned by the government, while private slaves were owned by individuals and were subject to sale, transfer, and pawning, and were full-fledged slaves who were not allowed to live as families. Nominals were allowed to intermarry with nominals, and the children of nominals were considered to belong to the nominal class. However, the class distinction between nominal and nominal classes had already begun to effectively collapse among the people by the end of the 8th century. The ancient class system was then dismantled by the efforts of the people, including the nominals, to achieve liberation.

[Eiju Narusawa]

middle ages

The outcasts (discriminated people) of the Middle Ages were completely ignored outsiders with no personal relationship of servitude. In medieval society, in addition to the discriminated people, there were also servants and servants who were despised and discriminated against, but they had a servile relationship with aristocrats, temples, samurai, and powerful commoners, and lived in the world (general society). Priests were outside of the world, but were equal to or even greater than the commoners. The discriminated people of the Middle Ages were outside of the world and were looked down upon as being lower than the commoners. They were called various names such as hinin (people who live in the countryside) and kawaramono (people who live in the countryside), and they formed groups to a certain extent and lived in cities, but were also scattered in rural areas, and in order to survive, they did hard work, dangerous work, and other jobs that people disliked, or engaged in acts similar to begging, including miscellaneous performing arts. In medieval society, status was not fixed by a system, and there were countless instances of individuals rising and falling, and many of them remained at the bottom of society, but there were also many fluid parts. However, at the end of the Middle Ages, the status system as a whole was moving in the direction of improvement, and the status of discriminated people gradually became fixed.

[Eiju Narusawa]

Early modern period

Under such circumstances, the outcasts of the early modern period, called kawata, were considered to have had a higher status than the discriminated people of the Middle Ages, who were completely ignored. For example, in land survey books from that time, kawata were recorded as part of the farmers, and were under the control of the village. The idea of being unclean was widespread, so it cannot be said that they were not looked down upon as they were involved in the disposal of dead cattle and horses, but they were not subjected to severe institutional discrimination. However, in the mid-17th century, as the feudal class system was established, the discriminatory control of kawata by early modern daimyo gradually became stronger, and outcasts such as kawata came to be officially called eta nationwide. During this period, the development of the commodity economy led to intensified stratification, and a large number of homeless people appeared, with a significant portion of them becoming hinin (people of noble status). From the late 17th century to the early 18th century, the control of the outcasts, primarily made up of eta and hinin, was strengthened institutionally.

In the early modern period, those who were called 'Eta' were usually people of the farming, artisan, or merchant classes. The term 'Eta' and 'Hinin' as 'Eta' is a term used in legal history. Even in the modern period, there are documents that refer to ordinary people such as farmers and workers as 'Eta' in a derogatory manner.

[Eiju Narusawa]

Modern and contemporary

In 1871 (Meiji 4), as part of the reforms of the Meiji Restoration, particularly the abolition of the feudal class system and the reorganization of the class system (peerage, samurai, and commoners), the "Edict to Liberation of the Commoners" was issued, and the former commoners were incorporated into the commoner register. However, social discrimination against people of the former commoner class remained, and this became a social issue known as the Buraku problem, leading to the rise of the Buraku Liberation Movement, which began as a movement to improve the Buraku community. In the early Meiji period, the term "new commoners" came to be used to refer to former commoners, especially those of the former eta class, and was often used in a discriminatory manner. Around 1907 (Meiji 40), the term "special buraku" came to be used nationwide, replacing "new commoners." From the end of the Meiji period onwards, except for a period when "soomin buraku" was used mainly by government offices, "special buraku" became the mainstream term for the buraku community in the Buraku problem. This term, too, is often used derogatorily, demonstrating the severity of the discrimination and prejudice that persists.

[Eiju Narusawa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

歴史的に、ことに法制史的には、一般に、身分上、社会の最下層に置かれ、とくに蔑視(べっし)・差別された人々をさす。

［成澤榮壽］

古代

古代律令(りつりょう)制の身分制では、人民の身分を良と賤に大別し、公課を負担する公民を良（良民）とし、特定の主人などに従属し、特殊な奉仕を義務づけられた者を賤（賤民）とした。賤を5種に分け、陵戸(りょうこ)、官戸(かんこ)、家人(けにん)、公奴婢(くぬひ)、私奴婢(しぬひ)とし、これを五色(ごしき)の賤といった。これらの賤民は、朝廷・貴族・豪族などに支配・所有され、その労働力として雑役に従事させられた。陵戸は、天皇・皇族の陵墓の守衛に従事し、身分的には賤民中もっとも上位にあった。官戸は、官司の雑役に従事し、公奴婢より上位にあった。陵戸・官戸は戸を構え、口分田(くぶんでん)も良民と同額を貸与された。家人は、奴婢と同様、口分田は良民の3分の1しか与えられず、相続の客体とされたが、家族を構成し、私業を営むことが認められ、売買の対象にされなかった。公奴婢は官有の、私奴婢は個人所有の奴婢で、売買・譲与・質入(しちいれ)の対象とされ、家族生活を認められない本格的な奴隷であった。賤民はいずれも良民との通婚を許されず、賤の子は賤に属するとされた。しかし、良・賤の身分差別は、人民の間では早くも8世紀末には事実上崩壊し始めた。そして、古代の身分制は、賤民を含む人民の解放への営みによって切り崩されていった。

［成澤榮壽］

中世

中世の賤民（被差別民）は、人格的な隷属関係をもたないまったく無視されたアウトサイダーであった。中世社会には、被差別民のほかに、蔑視・差別されていた存在として下人(げにん)、所従(しょじゅう)があったが、彼らは貴族、寺院、武士、有力な庶民と隷属的な主従関係にあり、世間(せけん)（一般社会内）で生活していた。僧侶(そうりょ)は世間の外にいたが、庶民と同等またはそれ以上の存在であった。中世被差別民は世間の外にあり、かつ庶民より下の蔑視された存在であった。彼らは非人・河原者(かわらもの)などさまざまに呼称され、ある程度の集団を形成して都市に存在し、農村にも散在して、生きていくために、きつい仕事、危険な仕事など、人のいやがる仕事をやり、あるいは雑芸能を含む物乞(ご)いに類する行為を行った。中世社会は、身分が制度的に固定されてはおらず、個々人の解放・向上、没落・変転が無数にあって、彼らは社会の底辺に滞留する者が多かったが、流動的な部分も少なからずあった。しかし、中世末期、身分体系が全体として整備の方向をたどり、被差別民もしだいに固定化に向かった。

［成澤榮壽］

近世

そのような状況のもとで成立した皮多(かわた)などとよばれた近世初頭の賤民は、まったく無視された存在であった中世被差別民に比べ、その地位は高かったと考えられる。たとえば、当時の検地帳などでは、皮多は農民の一部として記載され、村の支配下に存在し、触穢(しょくえ)観念が流布していたから、斃牛馬(へいぎゅうば)処理などに携わった彼らが蔑視されていなかったとはいえないが、制度的な厳しい差別を加えられてはいなかった。しかし、17世紀なかば、封建的身分制が確立されるなかで、近世大名の皮多に対する差別的統制がしだいに強化され、皮多など賤民は全国的、統一的に穢多(えた)と公称されるようになった。この時期、商品経済の発展のため、階層分化が激化し、多数の浮浪民が出現、彼らの少なくない部分が非人身分となり、17世紀末～18世紀初め、穢多・非人を主要部分とする賤民統制の制度的強化が行われた。

　なお、近世で賤民とよばれていたのは通常、農工商身分の人々であった。穢多・非人などを近世賤民と呼称するのは法制史的用語である。近代になってからも農民・労働者など一般庶民を侮蔑(ぶべつ)的に賤民とよんだ文書が存在する。

［成澤榮壽］

近代・現代

1871年（明治4）明治維新の改革、なかんずく封建的身分制の廃止、身分制の再編（華族・士族・平民）の一環として「賤民解放令」が布告され、従来の賤民は平民籍に編入された。しかし、旧賤民身分の人々に対する社会的差別が残存し、部落問題という社会問題となり、部落改善運動にはじまる部落解放運動が勃興(ぼっこう)する。明治初期、旧賤民、ことに旧穢多身分の人々に対して、「新平民」という呼称が用いられるようになり、多くの場合、差別的に用いられた。1907年（明治40）前後から、「新平民」にかわって「特殊部落」の語が全国的に流布した。明治末以降、官庁を中心に「細民部落」が用いられた一時期を除き、「特殊部落」が部落問題の部落に対する呼称の主流となった。この呼称も侮蔑的に使われることが多く、差別と偏見の残存の厳しさを示した。

［成澤榮壽］