The Codes of Chsokabe
Motochika
and the Economy of Buddhist
Temples in His Day (III)
KOzen Tachibana
e. Keiun Temple's Domain
Keiun Temple's domain was as follows): cho tan dai bu
12 7 12 4: HD 4 6 36 3:SD 17 3 49 1: HD+SD
This temple had its main domain in Iyano village, Agawa district. In this village those temple domains other than Nishinaga Hiroshi's2) were as follows
cho tan dai du
2 4 15: HD
9 43 2: SD 3 4 8 2: HD+SD
The most outstanding characteristic was that the domains directly managed by the temple itself were as follows:
cho tan dai bu
5 6 49: HD+SD
of the total amount of the domains cultivated by the temple a great deal was fertile land:
1) CC, Agawa-gun, Jo. 2) Nishinaga Hiroshi's domain:
cho tan dai bu
1 5 12 4: HD
8 39 3: SD
2 4 2 1: HD+SD
-479-The Codes of Chosokabe Motochika (K. Tachibana) (30) cho tan dai bu
1 9: HD+SD (Rich land)
1 3 10: HD+SD (Regular land) 3)
3 2 10: Total
This total amounts to 54.18% of all domains cultivated by the temple itself. Such statistics of the temple's domain were not found in the record of
Mo-tochika's land survey. This shows that Keiun Temple was probably one of the richest of all Buddhist temples in Tosa.
Moreover, the temple had few so-called "modern peasants" with the right to occupy their own land. The "special" peasants, just as in the case of Soan
Temple, engaged in agriculture as did the members of Keiun Temple whose position was much lower than any peasant. They never had any arable land of their own.
Another characteristic of the temple's domain is that the temple lent some of its domains to some samurai or peasants. Actually this temple controlled
people of different classes by means of a strong agrarian policy. I presume that it was possible for Keiun Temple to carry out such a policy thanks to Motochika's patronage, (Motochika had made this temple the family Buddhist
temple of the Chosokabe in deference to the wishes of his father).
Moreover, the temple had a ratio of "Shutsu Den" to "Hon Den" of 1 to 3. This meant presumably that the conference convened among officials for con-sideration of the temples was extremely restrained before Motochika's land survey. This would have been impossible if this temple had not been sup-ported by the lord Motochika, it being certain that Keiun Temple was tacitly endowed with several privileges by Motochika as were the Kyuko, Godaisan and Soan Temples.
L Ashizuri Temple's Domain
Ashizuri Temple's domain was as f of lows4):
3) CCK, pp. 82-84; Jansen, TSC, p. 91. 4) CC, Hata-gun, Jo-2, Chu-2.
-478-cho tan dai bu
148 4 4 5: HD
49 2 21 5: SD
197 6 26 4: HD+SD
The land survey by Motochika explicitly reveals that Ashizuri Temple had a ratio of "Shutsu Den" to "Hon Den" of approximately 1 to 3. The reason was just the same as in the case of Keiun Temple. In the case of the Ashizuri Temple itself, a lot of extremely anomalus phenomena are recorded in CC i. e. that the proportion of all "Shutsu Den" of the temple to that of the village was more than the proportion of all "Hon Den" of the temple to that of the village. Anyway the temple had the most domains of all Buddhist temples
in Tosa. The record of Motochika's land survey says that the temple's domain was increased by contributions5). This record also states that all lands of one,
village belonged to the temple.
All of the following village lands in Hata district belonged to Ashizuri Temple.
Name of village Total amount of domain cho tan dai bu
Sakamoto 1 7 43 4 Kubotsu 2 32 5 Tsuro 4 16 5 Matsuo 7 5 10 Kayo6) 7 6 47 4 Hatsusaki 7 9 3 4
Ashizuri & Isa7) 12 4 14 2
5) There are many items which show the contribution to the temple.
This tendency was particularly marked in Kubotsu, Tsuro and Tsukurabuchi villages.
6) The total of 7 tan 7 dai 5 bu 1 shaku is given in the survey (CC, Hata-gun, Chu). However, this is obviously a mistake.
7) CC, states that the total amount of land is 2 cho 4 tan 14 dai 2 bu (Hata-gun, Ge-2, p. 385). But "2 cho" is a misprint.
-477-The Codes of Chosokabe Motochika (K. Tachibana) (32)
Ku ju
34
1
3
5
Ashizuri Temple completely controlled the above nine villages. Besides a
very few examples (all of the land of Godaisan-no-shima belonged to Kyuko
Temple and also all of the land of both Inoshiri and Ryu villages were
pos-sessed by the Seiryu Temple of the Shingon sect)8) there is no other similar
case in Motochika's land survey. The land of Ku ju village which belonged
to the temple's domain was much larger than the total amount of any other
temple's domain.
Just as with as Kyuko, Godaisan, Soan and Keiun Temples Ashizuri Temple
occupied an entire village as its own domain, had many branch temples9),
had tow kinds of peasants working on the temple's domain (those who
obta-ined the right to occupy their own land and those who had not obtaobta-ined such
a right because they were members of the temple) and had considerable rich
lands to be cultivated by the temple itself. In addition to these it also had
some prominent characteristics which were not observed in the above four
temples.
First, there were some items which described the decrease of the Ashizuri
Temple's domain. The proviso "once the Ashizuri Temple's domain" or
"for-merly the Ashizuri Temple's domain" is found at times in the description of
the temple's domain. These domains belonged to the lord Motochika in some
periods between 1575 when the Ichi jo was ruined by Motochika and 1589
when the land survey in Yama jivillage, Fukaki village etc. of Hata district
was carried out by Motochika10).
The total amount of the domain which
dec-reased was not much more than 10 cho. Most of these domains which consisted
of the richest and regular land became fiefs which were given to a few
8) DNJS, p. 2546a-b.
Name of village cho tan dai bu
Inoshiri 2 7 4
Ryu 6 7 1 3
The temple had its own domain to cultivate by itself just as Soan Temple had. The domain consisted of the residential site and the land to be cultivated
by the peasants. CC, Takaoka-gun, Jo-1, pp. 43-48. 9) NRS, Ge, p. 464.
-476-particular persons". This tendency meant that the temple's domain under the reign of Motochika was gradually cut down12). I think that Motochika who was aware of the weak management of the domain of the temple might have taken away part of its domain and distributed it to his Kashindan as "award lands".
Second, there are many special expressions concerning land-holding rights in connection with Ashizuri Temple. In CC the relationships between the temple and the Kashindan of Motochika, the temple and the so-called Ichiyro-gusoku, the temple and farmer, the temple and the peasant, or the prominent temple and its subordinate temple were sometimes very complicated. I would like to classify these relationships into five types.
I: *between the lord and the temple, *between the temple and the Kashindan,
10) In CC it is stated that the domain which belonged to Motochika was that which Ashizuri Temple formerly possessed (Hata-gun, Ch-G, p. 492).
CC, Hata-gun, Chu, pp. 410-411.
HD Grade SD Kyunin Formerly
tan dai shaku dai bu
30 Rich 8 3 Shimazaki Ashizuri-bun
44 1 Regular Ikeda Ashizuri-bun
1 Regular 13 *Yamamoto Ashizuri-bun
2 Regular 42 *Yamamoto Ashizuri-bun
11) CC, Hata-gun, Chu, pp. 499-500.
HD Grade SD Kyunin Formerly
tan dai bu tan dai bu shaku
1 30 Regular 48 3 1 *Yamamoto Ashizuri-bun
1 Regular 36 2 1 Yamaji Ashizuri-bun
1 Rich 23 2 1 Miyanouchi Ashizuri-bun
4 Rich 4 24 4 1 *Yamamoto Ashizuri-bun
4 Rich 2 12 1 Ichiki Ashizuri-bun
1 Regular 10 4 *Yamamoto Ashizuri-bun
4 Rich 24 Sugimoto Ashizuri-bun
4 42 5 Rich *Yamamoto Ashizuri-bun
In notes 10 & 11 the asterisk indicates that the same person is referred. 12) CC, Hata-gun, Chu, p. 780.
-475-The Codes of 'Chosokabe Motochika (K. Tachibana) (34) *between the Kashindan and the farmer, and
*between the farmer and the peasant.
II: *between the prominent temple and the regular or the comparatively poor temple, and
*between the regular or the comparatively poor temple and the farmer or the peasant.
III: *between the temple and the farmer-like samurai (the Ichiryo-gu-soku) who sometimes engaged in agriculture, and
*between the Ichiryo -gusoku and the peasant.
IV: *between the temple and the peasant who obtained the right to occupy his own land.
V: *between the temple and the peasant who did not have any land to plough individually and might be a member of the temple. This analysis may be rather rough, but it will have served its purpose if it helps to clarify the complicated relationships which emerge in the study of the Buddhist temple's domain.
Finally I shall discuss the Ashizuri Temple's domain in Ku ju village. Under the patronage of Motochika the village which was totally the temple's domain was well preserved and remained intact despite the contributed wars of the time13). When the Ichijo was destroyed by Motochika in the third year of Tensho (1575) and he took away the Ichijo's domain, most of the domains were given to his subordinates. However Motochika still left the individual management of the domain in Kuju village to the Ashizuri Temple. This means that Motochika gave careful consideration to the traditional status of Kuju village as the Ashizuri Temple's domain14). Namely it would be a great advantage for Motochika who longed for the culture and learning of the court nobles to become a patron of the temple which had been much influenced in the cultural matters by the Ichijo. And as the temple permitted the right to cultivate its domain to the peasants, Motochika who patronized the temple
13) KKS, p. 473.
14) CC, Hata-gun, Chu, p. 780; TJS, pp. 223-225.
-474-could not help but reserve the peasants the right of landownship.
g. Hachiman Shrine's Domain
Hachiman Shrine, which was situated in Nagaoka district, had features of both a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine15). It did not have the characte-ristics of the pure Shinto shrine like Wakamiya Hachiman Shrine (which offered a fervent prayer for victory before Motochika went to the battle field)16), or Itsuku Tosa Shrine which was also strongly supported by Moto-chika17). In those days most of the Shinto shrines were managed by the
15) CC, Nagaoka-gun, Ge, p. 800
16) CC, Agawa-gun, Jo, p. 688; CM, p. 234.
The total amount of the Wakamiya Hachiman Shrine's domain was as follows: cho tan dai bu
1 3 5 4: HD 3 12: SD 1 6 17 4: HD+SD
All these domains were given to a shrine priest Hayato as award lands. CC, Agawa-gun, Jo, pp. 22-24, 73, 109-110.
17) TM, vol. 7, pp. 237-244; KKS, pp. 448-450; CM, pp. 37, 44-45, 234. The total amount of the Itsuku Tosa Shrine's domain was as follows:
cho tan dai bu 8 48 5: HD
9 42 4: SD 9 41 9: HD+SD
All these domains were given to a shrine priest Ukon Dayu as award lands. Most of these domains were lent to many peasants by him (CC) Nagaoka-gun, Ge).
According to the Geography of Itsuku-sho, Tosa district, in TKGR, the shrine had a very complicated character: "The festival of the Itsuku Tosa Shrine is held in the third day of July...At the shrine many monks who belong to the Shingon sect in Tosa enthusiastically chant one thousand volumes of Myoho-renge-kyo (Saddharma pundarika-sutra) one after another from the sixth day to the twelfth day of October every year".
The above statement requires some comment. The fact that Myoho-renge-kyo was chanted by Shingon monks at the shrine was extremely abnormal. The sutra was usually chanted by Tendai or Shingon monks. The fact that a very religious service several days long was held by Shingon monks at a shrine
-473-The Codes of Chosokabe Motochika (K. Tachibana) (36)
monks of Buddhist temples since the Buddhist temple was always more prominent than the Shinto shrine18).
Hachiman Shrine's domain was as follows: cho tan dia bu
10 2 22 4: HD
3 4 2 5:SD
13 6 25 3: HD+SD
The total amount included the domain of Hachiman Shrine and also the do-main which was given to a Shinto priest To Dayfl.
The domains which were given to To Dayu by Motochika were as f of lows19): cho tan dai bu
2 7 34 4: HD
7 8 2: SD
3 4 43: HD+SD
Of his own domains To Dayu cultivated 1 cho 2 tan 16 dai 4 bu (35. 61%)
which was regarded as an exclusively Shinto shrine was a remarkable event. Such a service would normally have been held at the head temple of the Shin-gon sect in Tosa at least.The explanation is probably that in those days when Motochika reigned over Tosa the Shingon sect was one of the most prominent Buddhist sects. For example Ashizuri and Chikurin Temples belonged to the Shingon sect. Moreover Hiu, who was one of the most learned monks in Japan and who probably drew up most of Motochika's codes and important documents, also from the Shingon sect (TJS, pp. 27-28). The sutra Myoho-renge-kyo includes magic factors,the thought of peace, prosperity, and security of the realm. From this it may be seen that the chanting of the sutra by many monks of the Shingon sect at the shrine before Motochika went to battle expressed the devout desire that he would win and return safely, thus ensuring the peace and pros-perity of Tosa. I think that the religious service at the shrine was held every year for political motives.
18) Takaoka-gun, Jo-2, pp. 722-724, 727; Ibid., Kami-gun, Ge, p. 500; NRS, Ge, p. 464.
According to NRS Ashizuri Temple managed such shrines as Ichinoo ji Shrine in Kubotsu village, Matsuo-Tenjin in Matsuo village, Otani-Gongen Shrine in Otani village and so forth.
19) CC, Nagaoka-gun, Ge.
-472-by himself and the others 2 cho 2 tan 26 dai 2 bu (64. 39%) were lent to many peasants who were registered as owning lands. Such a practice had a very close resemblance to the land-holding system of the samurai. I think that To Dayu was of the same status as the middle samurai in one of the religious divisions under Motochika's government.
In the Hachiman Shrine domain there were 9 tan 20 dai of land which was lent to some Buddhist monks. It is a fact, found only in the description concerning the Shinto-Buddhist shrine, that there were some minor Buddhist landlords. In the record of Motochika's land survey the Shinto-Buddhist shrine of this type appears very often. Certainly most of the Buddhist temples had Shinto-Buddhist shrines20). Apparently the existence of a Shinto-Buddhist shrine
20) CC, Takaoka-gun, Jo-2, pp. 722-724, 726-727; KS, pp. 335-438; CM, vol. 1, p. 54.
It was a remarkable characteristic of Japanese religion before the Meiji period that a large number of Hachiman Shrines belonged to the Buddhist temples.
Originally Hachiman Shrine deified Hachiman Daibosatsu (Great Bodhisattva Hachiman) who was sometimes called Hachiman Daimyo jin, a deification of the Emperor O jin. The title Daibosatsu was conferred on him sometime between
the years 765 and 781 by the Imperial Court. Commonly he is called the God of war. He is sometimes said to be the deification of the son of the warlike Empress Jingu who invaded Korea in the third century (J-EBD, p. 96a-b). But this is not the whole interpretation of Hachiman. We may read a detailed account of Hachiman in another book. According to this book Hachiman is a God which is enshrined in the Hachiman Shrine. After the period of Tempyo (729) Usa Hachiman was devoutly worshipped by people of all classes. In the chapter "Hon ji gyoji" in the Hachiman Gudokun vol. 1, there is an interesting statement concerning Hachiman: "There are two theories on the Hon ji of Hachiman. The word Honji is in opposition to the word Suijaku. The one theory is that the original deity of the Hachiman Daibosatsu is Amida (Amitabha). The other is that that is Shaka (Shakamuni)". However, in the Todaiji Hachiman Kenki the theory is synthesized as the follows: "Daibosatsu originally appears as the ma-nifestation of Shaka and then he is treated as the manifestation of Amida". In any case, it is certain that Hachiman has a very close relationship to Buddhism. In Nagaoka district (Tosa) Zenjiho Temple, which was established by Kukai during the years of Daido (806-809) had a shrine which was called Sanno Ha-chiman, guardian god of the temple (TKGR, vol. 87, Ch-d-2). And we may also
-471-The Codes of Chosokabe Motochika (K. Tachibana) (38)
like this not only enriched the Buddhist monk financially but also interested the Buddhist monk in worldly matters.
It was one of the characteristics of the Buddhist temple's economy in the Sengoku period that it is impossible to discover any shrine that was not managed by a Buddhist monk. The Shinto-Buddhist shrine would be an ex-cellent focus for a study of the secular activity of Buddhist monks.
Even in the age of Motochika's land survey the Buddhist temple had many domains in comparison to other land holders. Most of the Buddhist temple's domain were for the monopolistic occupancy by the temple itself. There were some Buddhist temples which were exempted from all kinds of taxation by Motochika21). When the land survey was carried out any person who had 3
cho as the total amount of his own domain or was lent lands amounting to 3 cho or more by his lord, as well as Buddhist temples, qualified for certain privileges as was indicated in C022). For example, Toyonaga Togoro who was granted 24 cho 5 tan of lands as his official salary was the richest of all the official Kumigashira23). However his official salary was exceptional. The average size of land holdings given to the Kumigashira was from 1 cho to 4 cho24). Moreover even Hisatake and Kuwana who occupied the most
im-find a lot of examples concerning the guardian god of the temple. For example, the Hachiman Temple had a shrine called Ku jirasaka Hachiman (CC, Takaoka-gun, Jo-2, p. 557). The Yokokura Temple also had a shrine called Yokokura Gongen (CC, Takaoka-gun, Jo-2, p. 454). The Tenjin Shrine which belonged to the Yogaku Temple was also that of a guardian god of the temple (CC, Kami-gun, Ge, p. 500).
21) NRS, Ge, p. 466; KKS, p. 478.
22) NKT, vol. 1, p. 663. The twenty-fourth article. Jansen, TSC, p. 99.
"As to houses: Anyone with three cho should keep (his mount), saddle and other equipment in a state of readiness. Naturally those with more land should perfect themselves in military arts, and those with less than three cho also will, if they keep up their military training, receive reward". (Translated by Prof. M. B. Jansen)
23) CCK, p. 127; CM, p. 178; TM, vol. 4, p. 125. 24) CM, p. 178.
-470-portant positions as ministers were only registered as land holders of 170 cho25). On the other hand, most of the powerful families in all Tosa were confirmed and reendowed with the domain which they had before Motochika unified all Tosa.
I agree with the idea that after Motochika achieved unification of Tosa in 157526), he treated the powerful families in this manner because he realized that it would be advantageous for him to keep them on his side to help to manage his own domain smoothly27). It was obvious that the prominent Bud-dhist temples were treated in the same manner as the powerful clans by their lord. Consequently they held their domains as sole owners as in the cases of the temples examined in this paper. In those days some of the Bud-dhist temples had the status of the local lord. Mr. Yokogawa Suekichi has pointed out that in the record of Motochika's land survey there is some evi-dence that even a Buddhist monk who Jived in a comparatively small temple took an active part as a village headman (Shoya)28). In fact even most of the Buddhist monks who lived as head in the small sized temples might act not merely as the local official but also as the Shoya.
From the above discussion it will be seen that the actual policy toward the Buddhist temples and the Buddhist community which was carried out by Motochika was probably not as severe as some of the articles concerning the
temples and monks in CO. (to be continued)
25) CM, p. 197; Chogen Monogatari (ChM), p. 15a-b; CCK, pp. 165-199. On the other hand the amount of Ashizuri Temple's domain was approximately 197 cho. The temple itself was in fact economically more powerful than senior ministers such as Kuwana, Hisatake etc.
26) CCK, p. 197.
27) CC, Takaoka-gun, Jo-2, p. 762; CCK, p. 228.
28) See The Codes of Chosokabe Motochika and the Economy of Buddhist Temples in His Day (II), foot note 13 (IBK, XX-2, 1972, p. 948).
