Slave - Nuhi

A slave-like outcast in the ancient Japanese outcast system. It inherited the slave system of the Sui and Tang dynasties in China. Men were called yakko and women meyatsuko. According to the household code of the Taiho Code, privately owned slaves were divided into private slaves and household members, government owned slaves were divided into public slaves (kan slaves) and government household members, and marriage between slaves of the same status was forced. Slaves were treated by their owners like assets, and were inherited, given as gifts, and bought and sold. Like horses and cattle, children born to slaves belonged to their owners, and children born between slaves with different owners belonged to the slave's owner. If a slave committed a crime, the owner could report it and kill him. Furthermore, public and private slaves, official households, and household members did not have surnames. The household ordinance stipulated that public slaves would be promoted to official households and private slaves to household members when released, but in reality, they were often immediately made free men. After the creation of the Koin Nenjaku (690), the number of private slaves could only increase through livelihood benefits. Slaves resisted by running away or filing lawsuits (claiming that they were originally free citizens) in an attempt to free themselves. The slave population had tended to be kept under control, but as cases arose of noble citizens passing themselves off as slaves or intermarrying with slaves to avoid paying taxes, the law was amended in 789 (Enryaku 8) to state that children born from intermarriages between nobles and nobles were considered noble citizens, and it is believed that the slave population rapidly decreased after this, and the system of privately owned slaves was dissolved in the mid-Heian period.

[Eiichi Ishigami]

"Inoue Mitsusada et al., eds., Japanese Thought Series 3: Ritsuryo (1976, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Kamino Seiichi, Ritsuryo State and the Outcasts (1986, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本古代の賤民(せんみん)制度における奴隷的な賤民。中国の隋(ずい)・唐(とう)の身分法の奴婢制度を継受したもの。男性を奴(やっこ)、女性を婢(めやつこ)と称す。大宝令(たいほうりょう)の戸令(こりょう)により、私有奴婢は私奴婢と家人(けにん)に、官有奴婢は公(く)奴婢（官(かん)奴婢）と官戸(かんこ)に分化し、同身分間の婚姻を強制された。奴婢は所有者により資財と同様に扱われ、相続・贈与・売買され、牛馬と同様に、生まれた子は所有者のものとなり、また所有者を異にする奴婢の間に生まれた子は婢の所有者のものとなった。所有者は奴婢に罪あれば届け出て殺すこともできた。また公私奴婢、官戸、家人は姓をもたなかった。放(ゆる)された場合、公奴婢は官戸に、私奴婢は家人に身分を上げられると戸令は規定するが、実際にはただちに良人(りょうじん)とされる場合が多かった。私奴婢は、庚寅年籍(こういんねんじゃく)（690）の造籍以降は生益(しょうえき)によってしか増加しないことになった。奴婢は逃亡や訴良（自らは元来良民身分であると訴え出ること）などの身分解放の行動により抵抗した。奴婢人口は抑制傾向にあったが、良民のなかに奴婢と偽ったり、奴婢と通婚して課役を逃れる例も生じてきたので、789年（延暦8）良賤通婚により生じた子を良民とすることに改めたのちに急激に減少したと考えられ、私有奴婢制は平安中期には解体した。

［石上英一］

『井上光貞他編『日本思想大系3　律令』（1976・岩波書店）』▽『神野清一著『律令国家と賤民』（1986・吉川弘文館）』

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