Geographical Approach to the ‘Gôri-Sei’ or System of Local Administrative Division in the Nara Era, Ancient Japan

Abstract

‘Gori-Sei(_??__??__??_)’is a system of local administrative division, enforced from 715 to 739-40 in the Nara era, and it consisted of two administrative divisions: ‘Go(_??_)’and ‘Ri(_??_)’.Up to the present only historians had pursued after this system on their historical methods. So in this paper I tried to scrutinize it on a geographical method in making reference to following primary historical materials: ‘Daizei-Sinkyu-Rekimei-Cho *in Izumo Province(_??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??_)’, ‘Daizei-Oi-Shibonin-Cho **in Bicchu Province(_??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??_)’(both in A.D. 739), ‘Izumo-no-Kuni-Fudoki ***(_??__??__??__??__??__??_)’(in A.D. 733), etc.Scrutiny is carried out in the below mentioned process:1. Presumption of the Go-areas in consulting documents, present names of places, etc.2. Presumption of the unities of Lebensraume at that time in each Go-areas in availing of materials such as documents, present names of places, topography, river systems, irrigation spheres of each river, remains in the Kofun era, sites of the ‘Shiki-Nai-Sha ****(_??__??__??_)’, etc.3. Comparison between the unities of Lebensraume and Ris in each Go-areas.Treating more than twenty cases on such method, I can clear up the four points.1. In nearly all Go-areas, several unities of Lebensraume are classified into two or three grades for their scales.2. Unities of Lebensraume with nearly same scale to Go-areas are recognized in a certain cases (Type A). On the other hand, there are not a few cases, where each unity of Lebensraum corresponds to the approximately same scale of a Ri (Type B).3. In the case of Type B, especially when the name of place similar to the name of Ri is found in the unity of Lebensraum with approximately same scale to that Ri, (Type B'), there is a fair possibility that the Ri was organized basing on the unity of Lebensraum. Yet even in such cases of Type B and Type B', I can hardly suppose that the Ri was always organized basing on the unity of Lebensraum.4. In such a case as neither in Type B nor Type B', there presents very considerable possibility that the Ri was organized almost indifferently from the unity of Lebensraum in the same Go-area.If the four above-mentioned points constitute nation-wide characteristic of the Gori-Sei at its enforcement, it is possible to develop further inference on the basis of the results which had been already achieved by historians. Although the Gori-Sei came in enforcement so that the government might rule over the ‘Boko(_??__??_)’, it had been unable to meet with the actual state of affairs at that time any more than the prior system, ‘Ri-Sei(_??__??_)’ did. After a quarter of century, on the advent of new political situation, it was simply laid aside and the Go-Sei, a not so complicated system of local administrative division as the Gori-Sei, came close after it and kept on for hundreds of years.* an official document, recorded at each administrative divisions about men, women, and children, who were provided with rice from the provincial government for their old age or some other reasons.** an official document, recorded at each administrative divisions about farmers who borrowed rice from the provincial government and died without repaying.*** ancient topographical document which the Izumo Provincial Government compiled with materials of its own territory after the order of the Central Government.