| Pre-modern Japan |
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Asuka Period • Nara Period • Heian Period • Kamakura period • Kemmu restoration • Muromachi period • Nanboku-chō period • Sengoku period • Azuchi-Momoyama period Edo Period, 1603–1868 Daijō-kan
Meiji Period,1868–1912 1868–1871
1875–1881 1885–1889 Heisei period, 1989–present |
The Daijō daijin (太政大臣 , Ōhmatsurigoto no ōhmaetsukimi) or Chancellor of the Realm was the head of the Daijō-kan(Ōhimatsurigoto no tsukasa), or Department of State in Heian Japan and briefly under the Meiji Constitution.
Emperor Tenji's favorite son, Prince Ōtomo (Ōtomo-shinnō), was the first to have been accorded the title of Daijō-daijin during the reign of his father.[1] The Asuka Kiyomihara Code of 689 marks the initial appearance of the Daijō-daijin in the context of a central administrative body composed of the three ministers -- the Daijō-daijin (Chancellor), the Sadaijin (Minister of the Left) and the Udaijin (Minister of the Right). These positions were consolidated under the Code of Taihō in 702[2]
The Chancellor presided over the Great Council of State, and controlled the officers of the state, in particular the minister of the left (左大臣, Sadaijin, Hidari no ōhmaetsukimi) and minister of the right (右大臣, Udaijin, Migi no ōhmaetsukimi) , as well as four great councillors and three minor councillors. The ministers in turn controlled other elements of the government.
As the Fujiwara clan, which dominated the regency, gained influence, the official government offices diminished in power. By the 10th century, chancellors had no power to speak of unless they were simultaneously regent, or otherwise supported by the Fujiwara. Although the position continued in name until 1885, by the beginning of the 12th century, the office was essentially powerless, and was often vacant, as the regents, who sometimes acted as minister of the left or right, held all the administrative power over the government.
This prominent office was briefly resurrected under the Meiji Constitution with the appointment of Sanjo Sanetomi in 1871, before being abolished completely in 1885.
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A revealing framework
Any exercise of meaningful powers of court officials in the pre-Meiji period reached its nadir during the years of the Tokugawa shogunate, and yet the structure Council of State (Daijō-kan) did manage to persist. It is not possible to evaluate any individual office without assessing its role in the context of a durable yet flexible network and hierarchy of functionaries.[3]
The highest positions in the court hierarchy can be cataloged.[4] A dry list provides a superficial glimpse inside the complexity of the court structure:
- Chancellor of the Realm or Chief Minister (太政大臣 Daijō daijin)[5]
- See also, Acting Great Minister of the Council of State (知太政官事 Chi-daijōkanji)[6]
- Minister of the Left (左大臣 Sadaijin)[5]
- Minister of the Right (右大臣 Udaijin)[5]
- Minister of the Center (内大臣 Naidaijin)[5]
- Major Counselor (大納言 Dainagon). There are commonly three Dainagon;[5] sometimes more.[7]
- Middle Counselor (中納言 Chūnagon).[5]
- Minor Counselor (少納言 Shōnagon). There are commonly three Shōnagon.[5]
- Director of palace affairs (参議 Sanghi). This office functions as a manager of activities within the palace.[8]
- External Secretariat (外記 Geki). These are specifically named men who act at the sole discretion of the emperor.[8]
- Major Controller of the Left (左大弁 Sadaiben)[6] This administrator was charged or tasked with supervising four ministries:
Center ,Civil Services ,Ceremonies , andTaxation .[8] - Major Controller of the Right (右大弁 Udaiben)[6] This administrator was charged or tasked with supervising four ministries: Military,
Justice ,Treasury and Imperial Household.[8]
The Eight Ministries
A mere list of the court titles cannot reveal nearly enough about the actual functioning of the Daijō-kan; but at least the broad hierarchical relationships become more readily identified:
- I.
Ministry of the Center (中務省Nakatsukasa-shō ).[9] - II.
Ministry of Civil Services (式部省Shikibu-shō ); also known as the "Ministry of Legislative Direction and Public Instruction".[9] - III.
Ministry of Ceremonies (治部省Jibu-shō ); also known as the "Ministry of the Interior".[10] - IV.
Ministry of Taxation (民部省Minbu-shō ).[11] - V. Ministry of the Military (兵部省 Hyōbu-shō).[11]
- VI.
Ministry of Justice (刑部省Gyōbu-shō ).[12] - VII.
Ministry of the Treasury (大蔵省Ōkura-shō ).[13] - VIII. Ministry of the Imperial Household (宮内省 Kunai-shō).[14]
See also
Notes
- ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 53.
- ^ Hall, John Whitney et al. (1993). The Cambridge History of Japan, p. 232.
- ^ Ozaki, Yukio. (2001). The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan pp. 10–11.
- ^ Titsingh, pp. 425–426.
- ^ a b c d e f g Titsingh, p. 425.
- ^ a b c Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, p.272.
- ^ Unterstein (in German): Ranks in Ancient and Meiji Japan (in English and French), pp. 6, 27.
- ^ a b c d Titsingh, p. 426.
- ^ a b Titsingh, p. 427.
- ^ Titsingh, p. 429.
- ^ a b Titsingh, p. 430.
- ^ Titsingh, p. 431.
- ^ Titisngh, p. 432.
- ^ Titsingh, p. 433.
References
- (Japanese) Asai, T. (1985). Nyokan Tūkai. Tokyo: Kōdansha.
- Dickenson, Walter G. (1869). Japan: Being a Sketch of the History, Government and Officers of the Empire. London: W. Blackwood and Sons. OCLC 10716445
- Ozaki, Yukio. (2001). The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan. [Translated by Fujiko Hara]. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 10-ISBN 0-691-05095-3 (cloth)
- (Japanese) Ozaki, Yukio. (1955). Ozak Gakudō Zenshū. Tokyo: Kōronsha.
- Hall, John Whitney, Delmer M. Brown and Kozo Yamamura. (1993). The Cambridge History of Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10-ISBN 0-521-22352-0; 13-ISBN 978-0-5212-2352-2
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
- Sansom, George (1958). A History of Japan to 1334. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822. London: Routledge Curzon. ISBN 0-700-71720-X
- (French) Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.
- Varley, H. Paul , ed. (1980). [ Kitabatake Chikafusa, 1359], Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4
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