Honbyakusho - Honbyakusho

In the Edo period, this was the title given to farmers who were the core of the peasant class. They were also called Takamochi or Takamochi Hyakusho. To qualify, they had to be registered in the land survey book, own fields and houses, and run their own businesses independently, while also being obligated to pay taxes and labor services to the feudal lord. Villages in the Edo period were composed of various types of farmers depending on the scale of their businesses, but they were usually composed of three types of farmers: (1) Honhyakusho, led by village officials, were at the core, (2) Mizunomihyakusho and Wakihyakusho, who were free of tax and subordinate to the Honhyakusho, and (3) farmers known as Nago, Hikan, and Genin, who were employed as domestic slaves within the Honhyakusho businesses.

Honbyakusho were farmers who were the foundation of the feudal lord's economy and were obligated to pay taxes, and as official members of the village, they had usufruct rights such as irrigation and membership, and were eligible to participate in village meetings and village administration. They usually owned around one chobu (10 koku) of cultivated land and farm tools, and were self-sufficient mainly through family labor. However, the content of their management varied considerably depending on the era and region. In particular, in the early Edo period, due to the feudal lord's policy of cultivating honbyakusho since the Taiko land survey, many farmers were listed in the land survey books, but the core of these were farmers known as yakuya, who owned land for houses and paid labor services, and are also known as early honbyakusho. Eventually, through the 17th century, as productivity developed, those who managed their businesses independently from the mukou and vassal peasants grew into honbyakusho, and it is said that by the late 17th century, during the Kanbun and Enpo periods (1661-1681), the honbyakusho system was established throughout the country. After that, the status of honbyakusho, once established, was sometimes fixed and given a family rank as a honbyakusho stock. After the 18th century, with the development of agricultural production and the spread of the commodity economy, some honbyakusho lost their land and fell into poverty, becoming mizunomi hyakusho, tenant farmers or day laborers, or leaving the villages as servants or impoverished people. There were also those who rose from mizunomi hyakusho to secure management on a par with honbyakusho, and some honbyakusho accumulated land and became landlords or merchants.

As the management of hon-hyakusho became more diverse, the village system centered on hon-hyakusho also changed. However, from the early period to the period of change in the system, throughout the Edo period, feudal lords' control over rural areas was consistently aimed at maintaining the management of hon-hyakusho, who were the core of the system. All of the various farm laws, including the Keian Imperial Edict, which regulated daily life, the ban on the sale of farmland for perpetual use, land restriction orders such as the land division restriction order and the prohibition on unauthorized cultivation, and other edicts, were targeted at hon-hyakusho, and their main aim was to maintain their management and secure annual taxes.

[Uesugi Masahiko]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代、農民層の中核になる農民の身分呼称。高持(たかもち)、高持百姓ともいう。その資格は、検地帳に登録され、田畑、屋敷を持って自立した経営を行い、かつ領主に年貢・夫役(ぶやく)の負担義務を負うものであった。江戸時代の村は、経営の規模などからもさまざまな農民から構成されていたが、通常は、〔1〕村役人に率いられる本百姓をその中核とし、〔2〕このほかに無高で本百姓に隷属する水呑(みずのみ)百姓、脇(わき)百姓、〔3〕本百姓経営のなかに家内奴隷的に抱えられた名子(なご)、被官(ひかん)、下人(げにん)と称される農民、の三種類の農民から構成されていた。

　本百姓は、年貢負担の義務を負う、領主経済の基盤となる農民であるとともに、村においてはその正式な構成員として、用水・入会(いりあい)などの用益権をもち、村寄合(むらよりあい)・村政に参加する資格を有していた。その経営は、通常一町歩（10石）前後の耕地と農具を保有し、家族労働を主体とした自給的なものであったという。ただその内容は、時代と地域によりかなり差があり、とくに江戸時代の初期には、太閤(たいこう)検地以来の領主の本百姓育成策によって、検地帳には多くの農民が名請(なうけ)されたが、そのなかで屋敷地を有し、夫役を負担する役屋(やくや)とよばれる農民がその中核となっており、これを初期本百姓などともいう。やがて17世紀を通じて、生産力の発展とともに、無高や隷属農民からも自立して経営を行うものが本百姓に成長して、17世紀後期の寛文(かんぶん)・延宝(えんぽう)期（1661～1681）には、全国的にほぼ本百姓体制が確立したといわれる。その後いったん確立した本百姓の地位が、本百姓株として家格化・固定化されることもあった。18世紀以後、農業生産の発展と商品経済の展開によって、本百姓のなかから、土地を失って没落し、水呑百姓に転落したり、小作人や日傭取(ひようとり)になったり、奉公人や没落人として離村する農民が出た。また水呑百姓から上昇して本百姓なみの経営を確保するものが出たり、本百姓のなかから土地集積を行い地主になったり商人化するものも出た。

　こうして本百姓の経営が多様化するとともに、本百姓を中心とする村落の体制も変動していった。ただ、初期からこうした体制の変動期まで、江戸時代を通じて、領主の農村支配は、一貫してその中核である本百姓の経営の維持をその目的としていた。慶安御触書(けいあんのおふれがき)の生活統制をはじめ、田畑永代(えいたい)売買の禁令、また、分地制限令や勝手作(かってづく)りの禁令といった土地制限令、その他触書などの各種の農民法令は、そのすべてが本百姓を対象としており、その経営の維持と年貢の確保がおもなねらいであったといえよう。

［上杉允彦］

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