Commoner - Heimin

In 1869 (Meiji 2), when the new Meiji government abolished the status order of the old Shogunate and feudal domain society, this was the title given to the three classes of farmers, artisans, and merchants. The government declared "equality of the four classes" as one of the basic policies of the new government, but discriminatory titles such as imperial family, nobility, samurai, and commoners remained among the people. The government lumped farmers, artisans, and merchants together as commoners, and in 1870 allowed them to use surnames. As a result, measures were taken to force townspeople and farmers, who had not had surnames as a rule, to use surnames. The following year, the government allowed commoners to ride horses and wear haori and hakama, and also allowed freedom of marriage between nobility and commoners. In the same year, the status of discriminated people, previously called "eta" and "hinin," was also abolished, and they were incorporated into the commoner registry. Thus, commoner was limited to a title indicating lineage, and was no longer subordinate to the nobility and samurai, as it had been until then, and was treated equally under the law. However, the title "commoner," which remained in family registers, only disappeared completely after the enactment of the Family Registration Law in 1890, and the traditional class consciousness that distinguished between nobility, samurai, and commoners remained among the people for a long time. In fact, during the Meiji Restoration and the early civil rights movement, samurai were often active and led farmers and others. However, with the spread of education and the improvement of knowledge, from the late 1880s onwards, for example, commonerism was advocated, and the rise of various classes other than the nobility and samurai, who were called commoners, became remarkable, as seen in the formation of the Heiminsha and the publication of the Heimin Shimbun.

[Hiromi Ishizuka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1869年（明治2）明治新政府が、旧幕藩制社会の身分秩序を廃止した際、それまでの農・工・商の三民につけた身分上の呼称。政府は新政の基本方針の一つとして、「四民平等」を宣言したが、なお皇族、華族、士族、平民のように、国民のなかには差別的呼称が残された。政府は農・工・商を平民に一括して、70年彼らに姓（苗字(みょうじ)）を許可した。その結果、それまで原則として苗字がなかった町人、農民にも、強制的に姓を唱えさせる措置がとられた。その翌年、政府は平民に乗馬や、羽織、袴(はかま)の着用を許し、また華族から平民に至るまで相互に婚姻の自由も認めることになった。ついで同年、従来から「穢多(えた)」「非人」とよばれてきた被差別民に対する身分外身分も撤廃され、平民籍に編入された。こうして、平民とは単に家系を示す呼称に限られ、それまでのように、華族や士族の下位に位置づけられ、彼らに従属する関係ではなくなり、法制上でも同等に扱われることになった。しかし、戸籍記載の場合に残された平民の呼称が完全に消失するのは、90年の戸籍法の制定以降であったように、旧来の華族、士族、平民を格づけた身分意識は、国民の間に長く残存した。事実、明治維新や初期民権運動などで士族が積極的に行動して、農民その他を指導したことが多かった。しかし、教育の普及、知識の向上などにより、1880年代後半以降、たとえば、平民主義が主張され、平民社の結成、『平民新聞』の刊行などのように、いわゆる平民とよばれた華・士族以外の諸階層の台頭が目覚ましくなっていった。

［石塚裕道］

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