Four-time messenger

During the Ritsuryo period, there were four types of envoys who traveled to the capital to report the state of local politics to the central government: the Dai (Seicho)shi, the Tribute Shi, the Shozeicho Shi, and the Choshu Shi. All of them were of the rank of kokushi or higher. The books brought by the Choshu Shi, including the Dai (Seicho)shi, Choshu Shi, Shozeicho Shi, and Kobun (performance evaluations), were called Shido Kumon and were considered particularly important among the various documents and books submitted by the provinces, but each of them had a huge number of related documents called Edafumi.

The daily work of the Ritsuryo government was carried out based on these official documents, so much so that it was called document-based. The government tried to grasp the actual state of local politics, discover irregularities and deficiencies, and correct them by checking official documents against the actual items and comparing them with other official documents. The kokushi who went to Kyoto as Shidoushi were not only responsible for submitting official documents, but also for appearing at the relevant government offices and undergoing audits. If deficiencies or errors were discovered, the official documents would be returned and they would sometimes be asked to be resubmitted.

[Takeshi Fukuoka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

律令(りつりょう)時代、地方政治の実態を中央政府に報告するために上京した、大（計）帳使、貢調使、正税帳(しょうぜいちょう)使、朝集使の四種の使をいう。いずれも国司の目(さかん)以上がその任にあたった。四度使のもたらした大（計）帳、調帳、正税帳、考文(こうぶん)（勤務評定書）を中心とする朝集使持参の帳簿は、四度公文(くもん)とよばれ、地方より上申される諸文書、帳簿のなかでもとくに重要視されたが、それぞれについて枝文(えだふみ)とよばれる膨大な関連文書があった。

　律令政府の日常業務は、文書主義といわれるほどこれらの公文に基づいて遂行された。政府は公文と現物を照合したり、公文と公文とを比較検討したりなどして、地方政治の実態把握や不正・不備の発見とその是正に努めた。四度使として上京した国司たちは、単に公文を上申するだけでなく、関係官司に出頭して監査を受ける責任があり、もし不備や錯誤が発見されると、公文を返却されて、その再提出を求められる場合もあった。

［福岡猛志］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例