Riko system - Rikosei

A village organization (li was called fang in cities and xiang in suburbs) was implemented in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties to control farmers. At the end of the Yuan dynasty, village organizations existed in various regions, but in 1381 the Lijia system was implemented nationwide. A li was organized into groups of 110 neighboring landowners, and households that did not pay taxes were assigned to the Lijia as 'kirei' households. Ten wealthy households in a li were made the head of the li, and the remaining 100 households were divided into 10 Jia groups of 1 Jia and 10 Jia households as Jia Shou households. The head of the li and the 10 Jia Shou were rotated to serve as Lijia Chiefs every year, completing a cycle of 10 years. All national taxes were allocated based on the lijia unit through the Lijia organization according to household status. Forced labor was divided into general labor such as collecting taxes, maintaining public order, educating the people, procuring goods and expenses for the state and various government agencies, and compiling the feudal service register, as well as miscellaneous labor such as administrative and public order work for various government agencies, running relays, and other duties.Taxes were collected in the form of summer taxes and autumn grain rations based on the two tax laws.

The Lijia system was established on the basis of the land ownership of township landlords in their towns and villages, and the power of the landlords to control the community regulations based on this. From the mid-Ming period onwards, township landlords gradually fell into decline due to the oppression of township gentry landlords and the intensification of class conflict caused by the independence of tenant households (denko), and the function of the Lijia system also declined. Meanwhile, from the 15th century onwards, with the introduction of a system of silver payment for taxes, taxes came to be allocated directly to people and fields, rather than by household, and the Ten-Dan Law and the One-Tiao Whip Law were established. As a result, taxes came to be allocated on a prefecture or county basis, and the role of the Lijia system was significantly reduced. The Lijia system continued to exist in form in the early Qing period, but disappeared with the establishment of the Diding Yin system.

[Tsurumi Takahiro]

"Tsurumi Naohiro, 'Village Governance in the Ming Dynasty' (included in 'Iwanami Lectures on World History 12', 1971, Iwanami Shoten)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、明(みん)・清(しん)時代に施行された農民支配の郷村組織（里は都市では坊、都市周辺では廂(しょう)とよばれた）。元(げん)末には各地に村落組織が存在したが、1381年全国一律に里甲制が施行された。地域的に隣接する土地所有者110戸ごとに一里を編成し、税役を負担しない戸は畸零(きれい)戸として里甲に付された。里内の富裕戸10戸を里長とし、残りの100戸を甲首戸として一甲10戸の10甲に分け、毎年一里長・10甲首を交替で里甲正役にあて、10年にして一周した。国家の税役はすべて里甲を単位として、里甲組織を通じて戸等に応じて割り当てられた。徭役(ようえき)には租税の徴収、治安の維持、人民の教化、国家や諸官庁の物品・費用の調達、賦役黄冊(ふえきこうさつ)の編造などの里甲正役のほか、各種官庁の行政・治安上の使役や駅伝その他からなる雑役とに分かれ、租税は両税法に基づき夏税・秋糧が徴収された。

　里甲制は、郷居地主の郷村における土地所有と、これに基づく共同体規制を掌握する地主権力を基盤として成立した。明中期以降、郷居地主は、郷紳地主の抑圧と佃戸(でんこ)の自立化による階級対立の激化によってしだいに没落し、里甲制機能も低下した。一方、15世紀以降税役の銀納化によって、税役は戸等によらず、直接人丁や田土に割り当てられるようになり、十段法や一条鞭法(いちじょうべんぽう)が成立した。この結果、税役は州・県を単位として割り当てられることとなり、里甲制の役割は著しく減少した。清初にも里甲制は形式的には存続したが、地丁銀の成立によって消滅した。

［鶴見尚弘］

『鶴見尚弘著『明代における郷村支配』（『岩波講座　世界歴史12』所収・1971・岩波書店）』

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