Soryosei system

Japanese: 惣領制 - そうりょうせい

It refers to the system of clan ties that served as a unit of social organization formed by medieval samurai.

[Tokuhiko Ushita]

Head

The word "souryo" originally meant to possess all the territory. In the Kamakura period, the term "souryo" was used to mean the leader of the clan, which was a blood-related group of warriors and feudal lords, and other members of the clan were called illegitimate children, combining the meaning of the leader of all the clan's territories and the meaning of the family head, which was the heir to the family.

Regarding the definition of the soryo system, there are roughly two views: (1) that it is based on the principle of blood ties that allowed the samurai, or feudal lord class, to control their territories in a feudal lord-like manner, in other words, that allowed the samurai, as feudal lords, to plunder products from the myoshu class, who were independent producers within their territories; and (2) that it originated from the agricultural management itself of the myoshu class in the late ancient period.

The view of (1) is explained as follows. In the feudal lord class at the end of ancient times, a system was established in which the eldest son was at the core and the power of the family was concentrated to control the territory, and this family group formed relationships with higher authorities and other samurai groups. Within the family, the family property (territory) was divided and inherited, with the eldest son inheriting most of the territory and distributing some to his illegitimate children, but the eldest son controlled the entire territory, and only the eldest son represented the family to the outside world and fulfilled military and economic duties. The burden was distributed and levied within the family according to the size of the territory. The Kamakura shogunate was established based on this system, with the eldest son controlled as a vassal of the shogun. The shogunate's levies on the vassals included military service, such as Kyoto Daibanyaku (guard service in Kyoto), and economic service, such as Kanto Mikuji (public affairs in the Kanto region), were levied on the eldest son. The eldest son led his illegitimate children and served the Kamakura Shogun as a retainer.

(2) is explained as follows: The headman class in the Heian period formed large patriarchal families, and the headman, as the head of the household, distributed the myoden (rice fields) and other means of production to his descendants and relatives, and ran the agricultural business under the strong control of the head of the household. This principle developed to determine the blood relations of the feudal lord class. The head of the household inherited the family's land from the previous headman, distributed it to his descendants and relatives, and allocated and collected taxes from above to his illegitimate children. The land and other means of production were owned by the headman, and he strongly controlled the family based on blood relations. Furthermore, when subordinates became independent from the headman's real name (honmyo) and formed side names (wakimyo), a strong relationship of dominance and subordination was created between the real name and the side name, and this relationship also became the principle that regulated the headman and his illegitimate children.

The view of (1) limits the eldest son system to the feudal class, and therefore recognizes the relative independence of illegitimate children from their eldest son in terms of the possible conditions for the division of family property, whereas the view of (2) advocates strong control by eldest sons over their illegitimate children.

[Tokuhiko Ushita]

Heir and illegitimate child

Specifically, the head of the family had various powers to regulate illegitimate children, such as (1) being the center of the family's religious rites, (2) having the power to decide who would be the next head of the family, (3) inspecting and deciding on the land owned by illegitimate children of the family, (4) possessing documents such as succession papers, (5) approving and guaranteeing the sale and purchase of land owned by illegitimate children, and (6) confiscating the land of illegitimate children who did not follow the head's orders. However, the strength of these powers is interpreted in various ways depending on the situation and the viewpoint.

[Tokuhiko Ushita]

Dismantling the Soryo System

The eldest son system is thought to have been established at the end of the Heian period, and developed mainly in the Kamakura period, but after the mid-Kamakura period, as limitations arose in dividing up land, divided inheritance gradually stopped and the system collapsed accordingly. From the mid-Kamakura period, efforts began to maintain the integrity of family property, first with the ichigobun system (a female's share), in which a female's land would be returned to the eldest son after her death, but when bastard families that were able to become independent became independent as a result of wars in foreign countries (the so-called Mongol invasions), a trend towards single inheritance emerged during the Nanboku-cho period. In the Muromachi period, when single inheritance was established and the position of the family head became absolute, bastard children became vassals of the family head, and the eldest son system, which was based on divided inheritance, collapsed. It is thought that the unity of the samurai class then went beyond the principle of blood ties that was the eldest son system, and moved towards the formation of territorial ties.

However, recent research has emphasized that the principle of unity among the samurai class was not necessarily based primarily on patrilineal blood ties, but was instead a complex interrelationship of various elements, such as maternal blood ties, in-laws formed by marriage, and adopted and foster children relationships, including eboshi parents and children. As a result, there is a growing tendency to question the validity of the traditional concept of the eldest son system.

[Tokuhiko Ushita]

"Legal History Collection Vol. 2" by Nakata Kaoru (1938, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Ishimoda Tadashi's Introduction to Late Ancient Political History (1956, Miraisha)" ▽ "Nagahara Keiji's Study on the Establishment of Japanese Feudalism (1961, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Medieval Samurai Groups" (Toyoda Takeshi Collected Works Vol. 6, 1982, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "Headmaster System" by Ushita Norihiko (1966, Shibundo, Japanese History New Books) ▽ "Study on the Establishment History of Feudal Lord-vassal Systems" by Okyo Ryo (1967, Sobunsha) ▽ "Local Lordship System" by Suzuki Kunihiro (1980, Yuzankaku Publishing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

中世武士の形成する社会組織の単位としての同族結合の体制をいう。

［羽下徳彦］

惣領

惣（総）領とは本来全所領を領有するという意味。鎌倉時代には、一族の全所領の総括者の意味と、家の継承者たる家督の意味とをあわせて、武士＝領主階級の血縁集団たる一族・一門・一家の統括者を意味し、一族の他の構成員は庶子といわれた。

　惣領制の規定については、大別して（1）武士＝領主階級の領主制的所領支配、すなわち武士が領主として所領内の独立生産者たる名主(みょうしゅ)層から生産物を収奪するための血縁的結合の原理とみる見解と、（2）古代末期の名主層における農業経営そのものから出発するとみる説とがある。

　（1）の見解では次のように説かれる。古代末期の領主階級において、惣領を中核とし一族の力を結集して所領支配を実現する体制が成立し、この一族集団が上部権力や他の武士集団と関係を結ぶ。一族内部では家産＝所領の分割相続が行われ、惣領が所領の大部分を相続し一部を庶子に分与するが、惣領は全所領を統括し、外部に対しては惣領のみが一族を代表し、軍事的・経済的義務を果たす。その負担は一族内で所領の規模に応じて配分賦課される。鎌倉幕府はかかる体制を基盤とし、惣領を御家人(ごけにん)として掌握するところに成立する。幕府の御家人への賦課は、京都大番役(おおばんやく)をはじめとする軍事的奉仕も、関東御公事(かんとうみくうじ)のような経済的奉仕も、惣領に対してなされる。惣領は庶子を率いて御家人として鎌倉殿(かまくらどの)に奉仕する。

　（2）では次のように説明される。平安期の名主層は家父長制大家族をなし、家長たる名主は名田(みょうでん)その他の生産手段を子弟近親に配分し、家長の強い統制のもとに農業経営を行う。この原理が発展して領主層の血縁関係を規定する。惣領は一族の所領を前惣領から継承し、子弟近親に配分し、上部からの賦課を庶子に割り当て徴納する。所領その他の生産手段は惣領が所有し、血縁関係を基軸として強力に一族を支配する。また名主の有する本名(ほんみょう)から従属者が独立して脇名(わきみょう)を形成するとき、本名と脇名の間には強い支配隷属関係が生ずるが、この関係も惣領・庶子を規制する原理となる。

　（1）の見解は、惣領制を領主階級に限定するから、家産分割の可能な条件のなかでは、庶子の惣領に対する相対的な独立性を認めるが、（2）の説では、惣領の庶子に対する強い統制力を説くことになる。

［羽下徳彦］

惣領と庶子

具体的には、惣領は、〔1〕一族の祭祀(さいし)の中心となり、〔2〕次代の惣領の決定権を有し、〔3〕一族庶子の所領に対し検注・検断を行い、〔4〕代々の譲状(ゆずりじょう)などの証文を所持し、〔5〕庶子の所領売買を承認・保証し、〔6〕惣領の命に従わない庶子の所領を没収するなど、惣領は庶子に対してさまざまな規制力を有する。もっとも、その強弱については、場合により、また見解により種々の解釈がなされている。

［羽下徳彦］

惣領制の解体

惣領制の成立は平安末期と考えられ、鎌倉時代を中心に展開したが、鎌倉中期以後、所領分割に限界を生じてくると、しだいに分割相続が行われなくなり、それにつれて崩壊する。鎌倉中期からまず女子一期分(いちごぶん)、すなわち女子の所領は死後惣領に返すという形で家産の統一性保持の努力が始まるが、異国合戦（いわゆる元寇(げんこう)）を一つの契機として独立できる条件のある庶子家が独立してしまうと、南北朝期から単独相続の傾向が現れる。室町時代、単独相続が確立し家督の地位が絶対化すると、庶子は家督の家臣と化し、分割相続を基礎としていた惣領制は解体する。そして武士階級の結合は、惣領制という血縁原理を越えて、地縁的結合の形成へ向かうと考えられる。

　しかし近年の研究では、武士階級の結合原理は父系血縁を主とするとはかならずしもいえず、母系の血縁関係、婚姻によって結ばれる姻族関係、烏帽子(えぼし)親・子を含む養子・猶子(ゆうし)関係などさまざまな要素が複雑に関係することが強調されるようになり、従来の惣領制という概念の有効性について疑問を抱く傾向が強くなっている。

［羽下徳彦］

『中田薫著『法制史論集　二』（1938・岩波書店）』▽『石母田正著『古代末期政治史序説』（1956・未来社）』▽『永原慶二著『日本封建制成立過程の研究』（1961・岩波書店）』▽『『中世の武士団』（『豊田武著作集　六』1982・吉川弘文館）』▽『羽下徳彦著『惣領制』（1966・至文堂・日本歴史新書）』▽『大饗亮著『封建的主従制成立史の研究』（1967・創文社）』▽『鈴木国弘著『在地領主制』（1980・雄山閣出版）』

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

<<: Total war

>>: General [town] - Soryo