Sacrifice - Nie

It can refer to offerings to gods, or food sent from various provinces to be served on the Emperor's dinner table. In terms of the system, the latter is more important. The system of offerings is recorded in the traditions of the Kojiki and Fudoki, and is said to be a uniquely Japanese system that existed since the time of the Yamato Imperial Court before the introduction of the Ritsuryo system. It is considered to be a type of subjugation ritual in which conquered people offer food to the conqueror. As the Ritsuryo system was established, the old "sacrifice" system was reorganized, with some becoming tributes and the rest becoming offerings, but unlike so, yo, and cho, it continued to exist as a system outside the regulations of the Ritsuryo system. There are two theories about why the system of offerings remained under the Ritsuryo system: one is that things that are difficult to include in cho, such as fresh food, remained, and the other is that the subjugation ritual remained as a tradition or as an active means of control. According to the provisions of the Engishiki, there were the "annual fee" offering, the "seasonal fee" offering for festival banquets, and the "seasonal fee" offering offered every 10 days. On wooden tablets, the "monthly fee" offerings offered every month have been confirmed. The offerings included fish, shellfish, seaweed, animal meat, and fruit, and although they were not all fresh foods, the essence of the offerings was that they were responsive and seasonal. Also, it is said that the reason they were not stipulated in the Ritsuryo was because they were the food of the Emperor, which transcended the Ritsuryo code. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance was not involved in the collection of the offerings, and the Ministry of the Imperial Household was in charge of the inspection work, and the place of collection was the Naizenshi (Daizenshiki) or the Niedono (Niedono) in the Imperial Palace, which had a strong imperial family flavor. The wooden tablets used as shipping tags for offerings usually bear the names of provinces, districts, and villages, but do not include the names of individuals; even when they do, the name of a group, "Amabe," is written, suggesting that this was a system targeted at a specific group, whose members were called niehito and operated as a privileged group in the late Heian period. The system of offerings eventually disappeared, but even in the Middle Ages, groups connected to the emperor, such as ehito, amihiki, and ukai (kugonin), existed. There are many unknowns about offerings, but it is believed that the full picture will gradually become clearer from the wooden tablets currently being excavated from Heijo Palace, Fujiwara-kyo, and local government offices.

[Kenji Iinuma]

"Naoki Kojiro, 'A few considerations regarding sacrifices' (included in 'The Ritsuryo State and Aristocratic Society', 1969, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "Higashino Haruyuki, 'Ancient Japanese history as told by wooden tablets' (Iwanami Shinsho)" ▽ "Higashino Haruyuki, 'Research on ancient Japanese wooden tablets' (1983, Hanawa Shobo)" ▽ "Katsuura Reiko, 'The evolution of sacrifices and tributes under the Ritsuryo system' (included in 'Japanese History' No. 352, 1977, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "Kitou Kiyoaki, 'A consideration regarding sacrifices' (included in 'The Ritsuryo State and Aristocratic Society Continued', 1978, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

神などに供える神饌(しんせん)をさす場合と、天皇の食膳(しょくぜん)に供されるために諸国から調進される食物をさす場合がある。制度上では後者が重要である。贄の制度は『古事記』『風土記(ふどき)』の伝承のなかに記されており、律令(りつりょう)制度が導入される以前、大和(やまと)朝廷の時代からあった日本独自の制度といわれ、征服された人々が征服者に食物を貢進する服属儀礼の一種と考えられている。律令制度が整備されてゆくと、古い「贄」の制度は再編され、一部は調(ちょう)となり残りは贄となったが、租(そ)・庸(よう)・調などと異なり、令の規定外の制度として存続した。律令制下で贄の制度が残された理由については、調に含めにくいもの、たとえば生鮮食品が残ったという説と、服属儀礼が伝統として、もしくは積極的に支配装置として残ったという説がある。『延喜式(えんぎしき)』の規定によると、贄には「年料」の贄、節句の宴にあてる「節料(せちりょう)」の贄、10日ごとに貢進する「旬料(しゅんりょう)」の贄があり、木簡(もっかん)では、月ごとに貢進される「月料」の贄が確認される。その内容は魚貝類、海藻を中心に動物の肉、果物があり、生鮮食品のみとはいえないが、贄の本質は即応性、季節性にあったとみられる。また、律令に規定されなかったのは、律令を超越した天皇の食物であったためという。そのため収納事務には、大蔵省は関与せず、宮内省が検領の事務にあずかり、収納場所も内膳司（大膳職）ないし、内裏の贄殿(にえどの)というように天皇家の家産的色彩を強く帯びていた。荷札としての贄木簡には国・郡・郷名まで記載し、個人名は記していないのが普通で、記す場合も「海部(あまべ)」の集団名が記されており、特定の集団を対象とした制度とみられ、その集団の成員は贄人(にえひと)と称し、平安後期には特権的集団として活動した。やがて贄の制度は消滅するが、中世においても江人(えひと)、網曳(あみひき)、鵜飼(うかい)など（供御人(くごにん)）、天皇に結び付く集団が存在した。贄については不明な点が多いが、現在発掘が進行中の平城宮や藤原京および地方官衙(かんが)で出土している木簡によって、しだいに全容が明らかになると考えられる。

［飯沼賢司］

『直木孝次郎著『贄に関する2.3の考察』（『律令国家と貴族社会』所収・1969・吉川弘文館）』▽『東野治之著『木簡が語る日本の古代史』（岩波新書）』▽『東野治之著『日本古代木簡の研究』（1983・塙書房）』▽『勝浦令子「律令制下贄貢納の変遷」（『日本歴史』352号所収・1977・吉川弘文館）』▽『鬼頭清明著『御贄に関する一考察』（『続律令国家と貴族社会』所収・1978・吉川弘文館）』

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