Musashi Seven Party

Small and medium-sized samurai groups were distributed mainly in Musashi Province from the end of the Heian period to the beginning of the Muromachi period. It refers to seven clan-like samurai groups: Tanji, Kisaichi, Kodama, Inomata, Nishi, Yokoyama, and Murayama. In the "Musashi Seven Party Genealogy," Noyo appears instead of Kisaichi, and in "Teijo Zakki" and other documents, Murayama does not appear, but Tsuzuki is included. In historical documents from the end of the Heian period to the Kamakura period, only the Yokoyama Party, Kodama Party, and Tan Party appear, and there is no mention of the "Musashi Seven Party." From the end of the 9th century to the 10th century, the eastern provinces were filled with "vicious bandits and bandits". There were successive rebellions by people involved in commercial transport, such as the "horse riding party", and people who were adept at riding horses appeared. On the one hand, they were managers of Chichibu, Ono, and Aguhara ranches, and they engaged in hunting as "parties". Through their private farming activities, they acquired horses and cattle from peasants, and gradually became wealthy businessmen. In the middle of the 10th century, the Ritsuryo state organized these influential people into "soldiers of various provinces and households", and prepared for bandits and also developed them into a military organization. As influential people in their local areas, they promoted the cultivation of fields, grew as local lords, and gradually became full-time samurai. At the beginning of the Kamakura period, the small and medium-sized samurai of Musashi who followed Minamoto no Yoritomo were mostly almost independent clan-based samurai groups that linked together to form party-like samurai groups. After the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate, some samurai became vassals of the Gokenin (vassals of the shogunate) or the Hojo clan's Miuchibito (vassals of the Hojo clan), and some descendants had documents that were passed down through generations. During the Muromachi period, they began to be called the "Seven Parties of Musashi," and changed from blood ties to groups with territorial ties, developing into the Shirahata Ikki and Bushu Ikki.

[Kazumi Ito]

"Musashi Samurai" by Watanabe Sesuke and Yashiro Kuniharu (1913, Hakubunkan / reprint edition, 1971, Arimine Shoten)" ▽ "Prologue to the World of Samurai" by Yasuda Motohisa (1973, Yoshikawa Kobunkan) ▽ "One Form of the Musashi Samurai Corps - A Study of the Anpo Clan" by Ito Kazumi (1981, Bunken Publishing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

平安時代末期から室町時代初期に武蔵国を中心に分布していた中小武士団。丹治(たんじ)、私市(きさいち)、児玉(こだま)、猪俣(いのまた)、日奉(にし)、横山(よこやま)、村山(むらやま)の七つの同族的武士団をさす。「武蔵七党系図」には私市のかわりに野与(のいよ)がみえ、『貞丈雑記(ていじょうざっき)』などでは村山がなく、都筑(つづき)を入れている。平安時代末から鎌倉時代の史料には横山党、児玉党、丹(たん)党しかみえず、「武蔵七党」とあるわけではない。9世紀末から10世紀にかけての東国は「凶猾(きょうかつ)党を成し、群盗山に満つ」状態で、「僦馬(しゅうば)の党」など商業運送に携わる人々の反乱が相次ぎ、馬を自由に乗りこなす人々が現れていた。彼らは一方では秩父(ちちぶ)牧、小野(おの)牧、阿久原(あぐはら)牧などの管理者でもあり、「党類」をなして狩猟に従事し、私出挙(しすいこ)活動を通じ、百姓の牛馬なども手に入れ、しだいに富豪経営者となった。10世紀なかば、律令(りつりょう)国家はこれら有力者を「諸国兵士、諸家兵士」に組織し、群盗に備えるとともに軍事組織としても整備していった。彼らは現地では有力者として田畑開墾を進め、在地領主として成長し、しだいに専業武士となった。鎌倉時代の初めに源頼朝(よりとも)に従った武蔵の中小武士は、ほとんどがほぼ独立した同族武士団で、互いに結び合い、おのおのが党的武士団を形づくっていた。鎌倉幕府成立後、御家人(ごけにん)や北条氏の御内人(みうちびと)となる武士もみえ、相伝(そうでん)文書をもつ子孫もある。室町時代に「武蔵七党」と称され始め、血縁から地縁結合をもつ集団にかわり、白旗一揆(しらはたいっき)、武州(ぶしゅう)一揆へ発展していった。

［伊藤一美］

『渡辺世祐・八代国治著『武蔵武士』（1913・博文館／復刻版・1971・有峰書店）』▽『安田元久著『武士世界の序幕』（1973・吉川弘文館）』▽『伊藤一美著『武蔵武士団の一様態――安保氏の研究』（1981・文献出版）』

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