Sign - F

A form of official document. In the Ritsuryo system, a document issued by a higher-ranking government office to a lower-ranking government office directly under it. In contrast, a document submitted by a lower-ranking government office to a higher-ranking government office is called a 'ge'. The Dajokan Fu (abbreviated as 'kanpu') is a talisman issued by the Dajokan to the Eight Ministries, various provinces, and the Dazaifu, and is the most important political document in the Ritsuryo period. In addition, there were kakushofu (when simply called 'shofu', it means 'minbushofu') issued by the Eight Ministries to the various Ryoji and Shiki, kokufu (kokufu) issued by the kokushi to the Gunji, and Gunji issued by the Gunji to lower-ranking institutions, all of which were in a format similar to kanpu. In normal documents, the date is written after the main text, and the person in charge's rank and signature are written, but in fu, the date is written after the person in charge's rank and signature. In other words, the date is written at the end. Also, the seal of each government office is always stamped on the fu. At first, the seal was stamped on the entire surface of the character, but around the Kamakura period, the seal was stamped on the first and last three places on the fu. The fu issued to various provinces was generally stamped with an internal seal (the "Emperor's seal"), while the fu issued to various offices in the capital was stamped with an external seal (the "Dajokan seal"). From the middle to the end of the Heian period, senji and kansenji became important government documents, and from the middle to the end of the Kamakura period, inzen and rinji replaced fu as important documents, and fu became ceremonial. Furthermore, fu for each province, kokufu and gunfu disappeared in the middle to the end of the Heian period as the Ritsuryo system changed.

[Ueshima Yu]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

公式様文書(くしきようもんじょ)の一形式。律令(りつりょう)制で、上級官司からそれに直属する下級官司に下す文書。これに対して下級官司から上級官司に差し出す文書を解(げ)という。太政官(だいじょうかん)から八省・諸国・大宰府(だざいふ)に下す符が太政官符（官符と略す）で、律令時代のもっとも重要な政治文書である。また八省から諸寮司(りょうじ)および職(しき)に下すのが各省符（単に省符という場合は民部省符のことをいう）、各国司から郡司に下す符が各国符で、さらに郡司が下級機関に下す郡符などがあり、いずれも官符に準じた書式をとった。普通の文書は本文のあとに日付を入れ、責任者の位署を書き署名するが、符は責任者の位署・署名のあとに年月日を書く。すなわち日付が最後に書かれるのが特徴である。また符にはそれぞれの役所の官印をかならず捺(お)す。初めは字面全部に官印が捺されたが、鎌倉時代ごろになると、官符の場合、最初と最後の三か所に捺されるようになる。官符で諸国に下すものにはだいたい内印(ないいん)（「天皇御璽(ぎょじ)」）を捺し、在京の諸司に下すものには外印(げいん)（「太政官印」）を捺した。平安中・末期ごろから宣旨(せんじ)・官宣旨が、さらに鎌倉中・末期ごろからは院宣(いんぜん)・綸旨(りんじ)が官符にかわる重要な国政文書となり、それに伴って官符は儀礼的なものとなっていった。また、各省符・国符・郡符も律令体制の変質のなかで、平安中・末期には消滅した。

［上島　有］

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