The Codes of Chosokabe Motochika
and the Economy of Buddhist
Temples in His Day (II)
Kozen
Tachibana
II. The Buddhist Temple's Domain in the Chosokabe Land Survey
1. The Domains of Five Temples
a. Brief History of the Temples
Most of the pages of the record of Motochika's land survey contain re-ferences to Buddhist temple domains indicating the extremely important role which the temple domains played in society. I have picked out the promi-nent five Buddhist temples from the record of Motochika's land survey and looked over their domains in order to discuss the social, political or eco-nomic relationships between each Buddhist temple and peasant or lord. This discussion is preceded by a brief history of the five temples.
Kyuko Temple was located in ' Godaisan no shima, Nagaoka district, Tosa. In the early years, Gido and Zekkai stayed there for a fairly long time, and in the later years Ninsho who became a tutor of Motochika also stayed there. It was certain that the seeds of culture in Tosa were planted and cultivated by them. Moreover, the Chosokabes, who had for a time held the office of Temple Bugyo in this temple, exerted themselves to protect, restore and regulate the Buddhist establishments under their strong control. Kyuko Temple was a center of the administrative office for Buddhism in all Tosa. The temple which was established by Muso Kokushi in the second year of Bumpo (1318) belonged to the Rinzai sect which was a branch of Myoshin Temple in Kyoto.
Godaisan Temple (collective name for Chikurin Temple and its branch temples)
-955-was located in Godaisan no shima, Nagaoka district, Tosa. In the time of Motochika there was a famous monk Kukyo Shonin at Chikurin Temple which was the head-temple of all Godaisan Temples. (In the record of Mo-tochika's land survey the name Chikurin is not used.) The temple (including branch temple) was one of the largest in Tosa, at the time of Motochika's land survey at least. In the first year of Shinki (724) Gyoki who was one of the most eminent monks of the Iosso sect established this temple by the edict of Emperor Shomu. But afterward this temple belonged to the Shingon sect.
Soan Temple was located in Tosa district and was the cultural, economic and politcal center in Tosa in the reign of Motochika and his son Morichika. Nyoen who was a tutor of Motochika stayed there. This temple belonged to the Rinzai sect.
Keiun Temple was located in Agawa district. This was appointed the family temple of the Chosokabe by Motochika. First it was called Kofuku Temple which was established by Kob Daishi sometime during the year of Enryaku (782-805), and in the time of Motochika it was named Keiun Temple. It belonged to the Shingon sect until it became Sekkei Temple. When Motochika died he was granted the Buddhist name of Sekkei. At this time Keiun Temple was named Sekkei Temple after the Buddhist name of Motochika and it belonged to the Rinzai sect from that time. In the land survey, the name Sekkei is not used because the land survey was carried out when Motochika still reigned all Tosa.
Ashizuri Temple was sited in Hata district, which was on the border in
the south-west of Tosa. The formal name of this temple was Kongofuku
Temple, but it was called, generally speaking, Ashizuri Temple because it
was situated in Ashizuri. In the land survey the temple was referred to
as Ashizuri Temple or only Ashizuri. This area which was governed by
the Ichijo for 325 years until the Ichijo were destroyed in 1575 by
Moto-chika was really the center of aristocratic culture in Tosa. The Ichijo
spon-sored and worshipped at this temple throughout this period. In the thirteenth
year of Konin (822) Kobo Daishi had established the temple of the Shingon
sect by the edict of Emperor Saga.
b. Kyuko Temple's Domain
Kyuko Temple's domain was as follows1): cho tan dai bu
6 6 1 5: Hon Den (HD) 1 3 32 2: Shutsu Den (SD) 7 9 34 1: Total amount (HD+SD)
The Hon Den was the domain which was reported to the office only optionally before Motochika's land survey. Without doubt this affected the accuracy of previous surveys. The Shutsu Den was the domain which was investigated by means of the accurate land survey by Motochika2). The total amount of domain in Tosa increased quite a bit. All land of Godaisan no shima belonged to the Kyuko Temple.
cho tan dai bu
6 36: HD
5 8 2: SD 1 1 44 2: HD+SD
This is the most intersting record because there were a lot of Shutsu Den. It is said that the record states that this temple might not be interferred with in any matters by any official since the temple had received its pri-vileges concerning the domain before the accurate land survey by
Moto-1) Chosokabe Chikencho (CC), Nagaoka-gun, Jo.
2) The word "Shutsu Den" was used in the record of Motochika's land survey has the same meaning as the word "Uchidashi" or "Saoamari" which is a technical expression in Hideyoshi's record. Therefore "Shutsu Den" did not include the meaning of the extra domain, i. e. "Tobichi," which was in a district where the owner did not live.
Takayanagi Ko ju, "Toyotomi Hideyoshi no Kenchi" (THK) in Rekishi Koron, vol. 5, no. 10, p. 120; Hirao Michio, Tosahan Nogyo Keizaishi (T NK), p. 97; M. B. Jansen, "Tosa in the Seventeenth Century: The Establishment of Ya-mauchi Rule," in Studies in the Institutional History of Early Modern Japan (SIHEMJ), p. 119.
-953-chika3). Much of Kyuko Temple's domain was also in Shimoda village, Nagaoka district. I could not be certain about a number of the items because there were many blanks in some pages of the record of Motochika's land survey. Forty-seven items are unreadable because of decayed pages. If some perfect pages to supply these blanks appear in the future, without doubt the Kyuko Temple's domain will be found to have been much larger.
The most outstanding characteristic of this temple is that most of the peasants were registered in the same way as peasants who had obtained the right to occupy their own land. Such a case as this is seldom found in the other records of Motochika's land survey. I presume that as this temple was given the most beneficial privileges, i. e. freedom from all cor-vees, by Emperor Gokomatsu in the fourth year of Oei (1397) and some special privileges by Chosokabe who held the office of Temple Bugyo, it might be possible to manage the administration independently. Therefore,
all Kyuko Temple's domains were not endowed to the Kunizamurai, the Ichiryo gusoku etc. as award lands. All these lands were still preserved
as the Kyuko Temle's domain. This shows the richness of the temple.
c. Godaisan Temple's Domain
Godaisan Temple's domain was as follows: cho tan dai bu
19 9 5: HD
3 4 1 2: SD
22 3 6 2: HD+SD
The temple's domain was three times as great as the domain of Kyuko Temple. This is accounted for by the fact that there were nine temples in all (Chikurin Temple, Myoko Temple etc.). For example, the Chikurin Temple's domain was as follows4):
cho tan dai bu
8 9 5: HD
2 4 1 2: SD
And Myoko Temple's domain was as follows5): cho tan dai bu
1 6 9 3: HD
2 38 3: SD
1 8 48: HD+SD
There is a very interesting problem in these statistics; namely the Myoko Temple's domain in Shimoda village, Nagaoka district, has a decrease of 33 dai as revealed in Motochika's land survey6). Other similar cases of decrease are not found in any other pages of the survey. I do not think that this was part of the suppression movement toward the Buddhist temples by Motochika. For the total amount of the decrease was extremely small. I suppose that this might be accounted for voluntarily reporting to the office, that is to say "Sashidashi," before Motochika carried out the land survey between 1587-15987). In any case the special features of the Godaisan
3) CC, Nagaoka-gun, Jo.
4) CC, Nagaoka-gun, Jo & Ge; CC, Tosa-gun, Jo. 5) CC, Nagaoka-gun, Jo.
6) Name of village Decrease of domain dai bu Page of the record
Otsu-go 1 4 407
Shimoda 32 2 123, 132, 157
7) If we want to give as satisfactory an answer to this matter as possible, we shall first have to discuss it in comparison with Hideyoshi's land survey. Prof. Takayanagi gave a very suggestive opinion based upon his fundamental work. His main idea throws light on my discussion of Motochika's land survey in relation to the Bubbhist temples. The following is a summary of Prof. Takayanagi's study:
When Hideyoshi wanted to carry out the land survey he first forced the Bubbhist temples and the Shinto shrines, daimyo and their eminent retainers, and so forth to report exactly about their domain, e. g. its size and total productivity. This was called "Sashidashi." After their "Sashidashi" officials (Bugyo) carried out an exact land survey, decided on the grade of the soil (rich, regular, and poor) and the total productivity of the domain's. The Bubbhist temples, the Shinto shrines, the daimyo and their retainers, and some persons who held a great deal of land wanted in fact to report less than what they actually harvested to Hideyoshi or the reigning daimyo. However, when
-951-Temple's domain were almost the same as that of the Kyuko Temple. Most of the peasants were registered as workers with the right to occupy their own land. Like the peasants they were often called those working on the temple's domain. The temple like Kyuko Temple was patronized by Chosokabe8). Therefore the temple's fief was saved from being given again to the Kumigashira, the Ichiryo gusoku etc. as award lands. Consequently many peasants were born on the temple's domain. Most of the peasants associated with the influential temples were pioneers like the modern peasant with the rights to cultivate their own field eternally.
d. Soan Temple's Domain
Soan Temple's domain was as f ollows9): cho tan dai bu
23 7 30 4: HD 3 8 11 4: SD 27 5 42 2: HD+SD
they chose their unfair way of reporting (Uchidashi), the strict land survey revealed it. It was true that many of these temples, shrines, daimyo and so forth had a part of or sometimes all of their domains confiscated by Hide-yoshi. Therefore, most of them unwillingly gave accurate reports of their domain to Hideyoshi.
As for the temples and shrines, they, in fact, had some privileges or an excuse to escape from the land survey. That is to say, (1) their domain was not surveyed by any authorities since ancient times, (2) the court or some powerful clans or nobles supported them or worshipped there, or (3) they were sacred places and different from the worldly community. Hideyoshi al-most always allowed claims like the above. Moreover, Hideyoshi only ordered them to give the reports on their domain to him.
But later Hideyoshi's relaxed attitude toward them changed. He seemed to carry out a severe land survey without permitting any privileges or excuses. Its influence on them was extraordinary. Consequently, in the tenth and the following years of Tensho (1582 & 1583) when Hideyoshi's land survey as a form of "Sashidashi" was carried out in Yamashiro and Omi, he could get very satisfactory results. In those days "Sashidashi" might produce almost as accurate a result as the practical land survey. (THK, pp. 120-121.)
The Codes of Chosokabe Motochika (K. Tachibana) (82) This temple also had many domains and peasants included within the temple's domain which leads to the following two problems.
First, Soan Temple was sited in Soan village which was named after the temple10). Therefore most of the lands of the village belonged to the temple. In this village Soan Temple's domain was as follows:
cho tan dai bu
18 1 15 5: HD
1 8 48 1: SD
20 14: HD+SD
Whereas in this village the whole domains of Dairi Inosuke, Inage11), Ren-dai12), Daio Temple and Ganjo Temple were as follows:
cho tan dai bu
2 6 21 3: HD
49 1: SD
2 7 20 4: HD+SD
8) Nanroshi (NRS), JoX p. 279. 9) CC, Tosa-gun, Ge.
10) Tosa no Kuni Gunsho Rui ju (TKGR), vol. 87, Jo-2.
This volume refers to Soanji-sho in Tosa district. We can also show another similar example as follows: Tengyoji village was named after the Tengyo Temple. This temple as well as Soan Temple had many lands and peasants included within the temple's domain.
cho tan dai bu shaku
13 3 32: Tengyo Temple's domain (A)
7 18 5 1: Takase's and Mitsuru's domain (B) 14 1 5 1: Total land of Tengyoji village (C) The percentage of (A/C): 94.71%. Therefore the Tengyo Temple had
comp-lete power in village Tengyoji as did Soan Temple in the village Soanjji. Chosokabe Chikencho no Kenkyu (CCK) represents a detailed explanation and analysis concerning the Tengyo Temple's domain (pp. 270-277). In this book the author Yokogawa has made the obvious mistake of not taking into account Takase's domain (1 tan 47 dai 4.5 bu).
11) The given name of Inage may be found on page ninth, CC, Tosa-gun. Ge-2. According to this record his full name was Inage Ukon. However in many cases his name was written only Inage-dono or sometimes Inage.
-949-(83) The Codes of Chosokabe Motochika (K. Tachibana)
The total amount of Soan Temple's domain in this village would be the second largest of the temples domains in any one village in the survey. I suppose that Soan Temple in Soanji village might have had not merely the function of Shoya but also that of local office13). The temple possessed 87.9% of the whole of Soanji village's lands at the time when the land survey was carried out. Possibly Soan Temple as well as most of the pro-minent local temples might have functioned as the local office.
Secendly, the temple had some peasants of its own on its domain. On the other hand the temple's domain was given to the samurai or the peasants as their own holding. This was a very marked difference between the Kyuko and Godaisan Temples. It is extremely interesting that this temple had its own domain to cultivate by itself14). The total amount of this kind of domain was as follows:
12) The name Rendai occurs in the description of Rendai village in the Jitobun no Go, Tosa district in TKGR, vol. 87, Jo-2. According to this description there was a big temple called Rendai Temple that consisted of twdlve
buil-dings of various kinds in Rendai village. Therefore, it is certain that the word Rendai used in CC was the same as Rendai Temple. There is an identi-fical relation between Ashizuri and Ashizuri Temple ; both were in fact the same.
13) Most of the prominent Buddhist temples in the modern age, generally speaking, functioned in part as local office. Soan Temple might also have played a similar part. Indeed it appears to have played a more important part than the village head, Shoya, for according to CC it lent its domain to samurai. Mr. Yokogawa said that the Soan Temple had the same function as Shoya in CC. This is certainly one view of the function of Soan Temple. However the temple had not only the function of Shoya but also that of local office which was in fact one of the most important of the social activities of the temple.
Moreover there is an interesting description in TKGR. "Soanji-sho occupied land about four kilometers north-west of Motochika's castle and it belonged to Asakura-sho. The eastern border adjoined Hiji village, the western border Edakawa village, the southern border Asakura village, and the nothern border Ryoke village. The land was twenty square cho and there were approximately fifty-two houses." (TKGR, vol. 87, Jo-2)
cho tan dai bu
3 2 37 5: HD+SD
As a matter of fact the temple directly engaged in agricultural manage-ment. This was a common tendency amongst most of the Buddhist temples of all sects which were entered in the record of Motochika's land survey15). This means that Man Temle wanted to support its minimum econmic power by itself and that on the other hand the temple had a lot of "special" peasants to its domain who lived in the houses which were located near the temple and engaged in agriculture at all times. Such "special" peasants never had the right to occupy their own land. They actually consisted of the members of the temple whose status was extremely low.
Without doubt Man Temple which was situated in the central part of Tosa had a more dominant power at the end of Tensho by means of
emp-loying an active agricultural policy and also by means of its connections with the political authority of Motochika.
(to be continued) 15) M. B. Jansen, "Tosa in the Sixteenth Century" (TSC) in Oriens Extremus,
