Dainagon (大納言), often translated as "Major Counselor" or "Great Councillor," was a government post of the Japanese ritsuryo governmental system, which was in place for much of the classical and feudal periods. The title is a composite created from dai- (meaning "great" or "first") and -nagon (meaning "counselor").[1]
The post was created in 702 by the Taihō Code, and evolved out of the earlier post Oimonomōsu-tsukasa. Holders of the office were of the Senior Third Rank. They assisted the Minister of the Left (the Sadaijin) and the Minister of the Right (the Udaijin).[2]
By the mid-17th century, the Dainagon counselor or state, was expected to work closely the Minister of the Center (the Naidaijin), whose position ranked just below the Udaijin and the Sadaijin. This court position evolved to ensure that someone will be always prepared to replace or assist the main court officials if, for any reason, it should be impossible for one of the two senior counselors to devote himself to his duties and responsibilities in all matters. Thus, the Dainagon ranked just above all other kuge in the kugyō except the Daijō-daijin, Udaijin, Sadaijin, and Naidaijin.[3]
This ancient office would have been roughly equivalent to that of vice-minister in the modern cabinet system. It was abolished in 1871.[4]
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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.[5]
The highest positions in the court hierarchy can be cataloged.[6] 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)[1]
- See also, Acting Great Minister of the Council of State (知太政官事 Chi-daijōkanji)[7]
- Minister of the Left (左大臣 Sadaijin)[1]
- Minister of the Right (右大臣 Udaijin)[1]
- Minister of the Center (内大臣 Naidaijin)[1]
- Major Counselor (大納言 Dainagon). There are commonly three Dainagon;[1] sometimes more.[8]
- Middle Counselor (中納言 Chūnagon).[1]
- Minor Counselor (少納言 Shōnagon). There are commonly three Shōnagon.[1]
- Director of palace affairs (参議 Sanghi). This office functions as a manager of activities within the palace.[9]
- External Secretariat (外記 Geki). These are specifically named men who act at the sole discretion of the emperor.[9]
- Major Controller of the Left (左大弁 Sadaiben)[7] This administrator was charged or tasked with supervising four ministries: Center, Civil Services, Ceremonies, and Taxation.[9]
- Major Controller of the Right (右大弁 Udaiben)[7] This administrator was charged or tasked with supervising four ministries: Military,
Justice ,Treasury and Imperial Household.[9]
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).[10]
- II. Ministry of Civil Services (式部省 Shikibu-shō); also known as the "Ministry of Legislative Direction and Public Instruction".[10]
- III. Ministry of Ceremonies (治部省 Jibu-shō); also known as the "Ministry of the Interior".[11]
- IV. Ministry of Taxation (民部省 Minbu-shō).[12]
- V. Ministry of the Military (兵部省 Hyōbu-shō).[12]
- VI.
Ministry of Justice (刑部省Gyōbu-shō ).[13] - VII.
Ministry of the Treasury (大蔵省Ōkura-shō ).[14] - VIII. Ministry of the Imperial Household (宮内省 Kunai-shō).[15]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Titsingh, I. (1834). Annales des emperors du Japon, p. 425.
- ^ Screech, T. Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822, p. 157.
- ^ Titsingh, p. 426
- ^ Unterstein (in German): Ranks in Ancient and Meiji Japan (in English and French), pp. 6, 27.
- ^ 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 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.
- Sansom, George (1958). A History of Japan to 1334. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- Dus, Peter. (1988). The Cambridge History of Japan: the Twentieth Century, Vol. 6. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-5212-2357-1
- 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. (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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