Murakata Soudou

A struggle by small-scale peasants to denounce the injustice of village officials in the Edo period. Also called small-scale riots or village disturbances. In early modern villages under the muraukesei system, village officials were given broad tax-collection and governance functions, which left room for them to commit fraud, and many village disturbances arose in which small-scale peasants uncovered and denounced the injustice. In Aoki Koji's "Comprehensive Chronology of Peasant Uprisings," over 3,000 incidents were confirmed throughout the country, but it is believed that in reality there were many more. The demands of the komae peasants ranged from irregularities in the accounts of taxes and village use, to the allocation of laborers for construction and village assistants, the embezzlement of farmland, the improper use of common land, family status issues, and tenant tax issues, and extended to a wide range of other aspects of village life, including the dismissal of village officials and the establishment of a bidding (election) system for successor services. In normal turmoil, the komae petitioned, the village officials prepared a written reply, and the matter was examined by the government office, but village officials from surrounding villages or temples were the agents, and the matter was often resolved through an internal settlement, but in later periods, some cases were appealed to the shogunate or domains, and some even developed into destruction. The early turmoil developed against the various privileges of village officials who were descended from local feudal lords, and from around the Kanbun period (1661-1673) there was a clear demand to change the tax and other duties from a fixed rate to a higher rate. From the middle period onwards, the number of incidents increased significantly, and the elements of tenant farming became stronger with the development of land pawning relations.

[Satoshi Hosaka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代の村役人に対する小前(こまえ)百姓たちの不正糾弾(きっうだん)闘争。小前騒動、村方出入(でいり)ともよぶ。村請制(むらうけせい)下の近世村落では、村役人に広範な徴租・統治機能が付与されており、村役人が不正を働かしうる余地が存在したので、小前百姓らがその不正を摘発し、糾弾する村方騒動が多数発生した。青木虹二(こうじ)編『百姓一揆(いっき)総合年表』には、全国各地で3000余件の事件が確認されているが、実際にはさらに多数の事件が存在したものと推定される。小前百姓たちの要求は、年貢・村入用の勘定不正をはじめとして、普請(ふしん)・助郷役(すけごうやく)などの人足割付(にんそくわりつけ)、田畑の横領、入会地(いりあいち)などの不正使用、家格問題、小作年貢問題などの村人の生活上多岐にわたって展開し、村役人の退役を求め、跡役の入札(いれふだ)（選挙）制などを要求することもある。通常の騒動は、小前が訴願し、村役人の返答書が作成され、役所での吟味は受けるが、周辺村落の村役人や寺院などが扱人となり、内済(ないさい)が成立して解決するものが多いが、後期に至ると幕府や藩に越訴(おっそ)するものや、打毀(うちこわし)へ発展するものもみられる。初期の騒動は、土豪の系譜を引く村役人の諸特権に対して展開し、寛文(かんぶん)期（1661～73）ころから年貢・諸役の面割(めんわり)から高割(たかわり)への変化要求が顕著にみられる。中期以降は、発生件数が著しく増加するとともに、質地関係の進展に伴い小作騒動的要素が強まってくる。

［保坂　智］

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