Concubine - Hin

A rank below the consort or wife in the harem under the ryo system. A wife of third rank or higher was assigned a fourth or fifth rank woman, with a maximum of four women. The title of "bin" originated from the system of the Sui and Tang dynasties in China, and several examples appear in the Nihon Shoki, but after the Taiho Code was enacted, there were only two women, Kinokamado no Iratsume and Ishikawa no Tone no Iratsume, in the harem of Emperor Mommu, and no other examples have been found since. However, there are regulations regarding their treatment in the Yoro Code and the Engishiki, so it is clear that the system continued to exist until the mid-Heian period.

[Yoshihiko Hashimoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

令(りょう)制の後宮において妃・夫人の下位を占める身位。三位(さんみ)以上の夫人に対し、四位・五位の者をあて、定員は4人とする。嬪の称は中国隋(ずい)唐の制に由来し、『日本書紀』にも数例みえるが、大宝(たいほう)令制定後は、文武(もんむ)天皇の後宮に紀竈門娘(きのかまどのいらつめ)、石川刀子娘(とねのいらつめ)の2人を数えるだけで、その後の実例は見当たらない。しかし養老(ようろう)令をはじめ、延喜式(えんぎしき)にもその待遇に関する規定が存するから、制度としては平安中期まで存続したことがわかる。

［橋本義彦］

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