Transgressor - Imperial

Japanese: 横行人 - おうぎょうにん

It is also called ōkounin. Yokou was originally a Chinese word, and was used in Japan since ancient times to mean to move sideways or to walk around freely. However, from the 10th century onwards, it was frequently used by the Imperial Court and manorial lords to criticize people who were known for their arrogant behavior, and the term ōkounin was derived and spread. It is difficult to define exactly what Yokounin were, but examples of Yokounin included local manorial officials and powerful farmers who did not obey orders or instructions from above and tended to engage in rebellious behavior in manors and public lands, as well as armed bandit groups whose main business was to plunder tributes and government property, and homeless people who traveled from country to country. It is thought that Yokounin has the same basic characteristics as the villains who were active in the middle and late Kamakura period and the outcasts who were prominent during the Nanboku-chō civil war.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

〈おうこうにん〉ともいう。横行とは，もともとは漢語であり，横向きに進行すること，勝手気ままにのし歩くことを意味する語として，日本でも古くから用いられていたが，10世紀以降，とくに傍若無人のふるまいを常とするような人々を朝廷や荘園領主たちが非難する場合にしきりに用いられるようになり，やがて横行人という語が派生し流布した。横行人といわれるものの内容は，厳密には規定しがたいが，荘園や公領において，上の命令･指示に服従せず，ややもすると反逆的行動に走りがちであった現地の荘官や有力農民，ならびに貢納物，官物等の略奪をこととした武装の盗賊集団，さらには諸国をわたり歩いた浮浪の民などがあげられ，鎌倉中･末期に活動した悪党，南北朝内乱期にめだった溢れ者（あぶれもの）と，その基本性格をひとしくするものとみられる。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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