Village Three Officials

Japanese: 村方三役 - むらかたさんやく

During the Edo period, village officials who were in charge of village administration under local officials such as the magistrate and county magistrate. Generally, in the eastern part of the country, they were made up of the headman, group leader, and peasant representative, while in the western part of the country, they were the village headman, elder, and peasant representative (group leader). They are also called the three local officials. The names of the three officials varied depending on the region and era, with the headman and village headman sometimes being called the chief officer (kimoiri), small division head, and otona, the group leader and elder were sometimes called the chief officer and long-range peasant, and the peasant representative was sometimes called long-range peasant and murayokome. The headman and village headman were the village chiefs, who governed the village, conveyed laws, and assigned and collected taxes and other duties. The top-class peasants who were descended from the vassals of the feudal lords of the Warring States period and the descendants of the adult peasants of the general village were appointed as the headman and village headman's salary, and were paid rice as the headman and village headman's salary (generally called takabiki and reduced annual tax). The group leader and elders were selected from the influential peasants in the village and assisted the headman and village headman. From the mid-Edo period onwards, peasant representatives were often appointed permanently in response to village disturbances and other events, and they were in charge of monitoring the headman and village headman's annual tax allocation and the village's income and expenditure as inspectors. For this reason, they were selected from the middle class of farmers who were skilled in reading, writing and arithmetic. In the early Edo period, headman and village headman positions were mostly hereditary, but later they were often selected by influential peasants through annual rotation or bidding for a one-generation term, and the position was also traded and called a headman's share. Although the positions of group leader and elder were for one generation only, they enjoyed the same privileges as the headman and village headman, such as the payment of rice stipends and reductions in high taxes. Village officials, though of peasant status, were positioned at the bottom of the feudal lord's control of rural areas, and so were often caught between the interests of both parties, and in peasant uprisings they sometimes took both sides. In addition, peasant representatives often played a central role in village disturbances. Furthermore, there were many cases where local officials of peasant status were placed above the headman and village headman, overseeing several to several dozen villages, and depending on the region they were called o-shoya, o-kanin, tomura, warimoto, gogashira, etc.
→ Related topics: Village headman | Adult | Group leader | Village chief | Village official

Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

江戸時代に代官・郡奉行など地方役人の下にあって村政にあたった村役人。一般に東国では名主・組頭・百姓代，西国では庄屋・年寄・百姓代（組頭）で構成される。地方(じかた)三役ともいう。三役の名称は地域・時代により種々あり，名主・庄屋を肝煎(きもいり)・小割元(こわりもと)・乙名(おとな)，組頭・年寄を肝煎・長百姓，百姓代を長百姓・村横目などとよぶ場合もあった。名主・庄屋は村の首長で，村落を統轄し，法の伝達や年貢・諸役の割付・徴収にあたった。戦国大名家臣の系譜をひく上層の百姓や惣村のオトナ百姓の末裔などが任じられ，名主・庄屋給として給米を支給（一般には高引と称し年貢を減額）された。組頭・年寄は，村内有力百姓から複数選出され，名主・庄屋を補佐した。百姓代は江戸時代中期以降，村方騒動などをきっかけに常置された場合が多く，名主・庄屋の目付役として年貢割付や村入用出納の監視にあたった。このため読み書きや算術に長じた中農層から選ばれた。江戸時代初期には名主・庄屋は世襲がほとんどであったが，のちには一代限りで有力百姓の年番や入札によって選ばれる場合も多くなり，名主株と称して役職が売買の対象ともなった。組頭・年寄は一代限りであったが，名主・庄屋に準じ給米の支給，あるいは高役減免の特典があった。村役人は百姓身分でありながら領主による農村支配の末端に位置づけられたため，しばしば両者の利害の板挟みとなり，百姓一揆では場合によって両様の立場をとった。また百姓代は村方騒動の中心を担うケースも多かった。なお百姓身分の地方役人として名主・庄屋の上にあって数村から数十ヵ村を統轄する者が置かれる例は多く，地域によって大庄屋・大肝煎・十村(とむら)・割元・郷頭などとよばれている。
→関連項目大庄屋｜大人｜組頭｜名主｜村役人

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