Eiden

Farming of fields by officials in ancient China and Japan. Local officials recruited peasants to reclaim and cultivate wasteland, and took half or most of the harvest for themselves. It was distinguished from military farming by soldiers, but both had something in common as government-run fields, and the names have sometimes been confused. In China, it was practiced from the Northern and Southern Dynasties through the Tang and Song dynasties, and in the Tang dynasty, the governors of prefectures and military governors doubled as field administrators, and later came under the jurisdiction of the central government's Hube field administrators. The official mansions established from the late Tang dynasty onwards also had characteristics similar to field farming. In the northwestern border region of the Northern Song dynasty, there are also examples of militia archers being employed to farm fields.

In Japan, during the early Heian period in the 9th century, publicly managed fields (including province-managed fields and national-managed fields) were established, and farmland developed by the king's retainers, provincial governors, and wealthy farmers was also called privately managed fields.

[Atsushi Ikeda]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国・日本古代の官による田地耕営。地方官が農民を募集して荒れ地を開墾耕作させ、収穫の半分ないし大部分を官の手に収めた。兵士による屯田と区別されたが、いずれも官営田として共通性があり、名称の混同もみられた。中国では南北朝時代から、唐、宋(そう)にかけて行われ、唐代では州の長官や節度使が営田使を兼ね、のちには中央の戸部の営田務が管轄した。唐後期以降に置かれた官荘も営田と似た性格をもつ。北宋の北西国境地方では、民兵の弓箭(きゅうせん)手を営田に使役した例もある。

　日本では平安時代初期の9世紀に公営田（省営田、国営田を含む）が行われるとともに、王臣勢家、国郡司、富農による農地開発も私営田とよばれた。

［池田　温］

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