Farmers' Lives and Nara-Period Society

Behind the splendid Tenpyo culture were farmers suffering under severe taxes and forced labor. Using Yamanoue no Okura's Hinkyu Mondoka as a clue, let us examine Nara-period society.

Basic Knowledge

Under the ritsuryo system, farmers in the Nara period bore the following heavy burdens:
・So: About 3% of the harvest paid in rice（local revenue）
・Yo: Ten days of labor in the capital, or payment in cloth instead
・Cho: Local specialty products（central revenue）
・Zo-yō: Local labor ordered by provincial governors, up to 60 days per year
・Military service: One-third of adult men served for three years
・Sakimori: A form of military service in which farmers from eastern Japan guarded Kyushu for three years
・Unkyaku: Transporting so and yo to the capital at one's own expense
Unable to endure these burdens, increasing numbers of farmers fled. Yamanoue no Okura's Hinkyu Mondoka vividly depicts the lives of extremely poor farmers and is included in Manyoshu.

Further Study (Background and Influence)

Yamanoue no Okura was an educated person who had traveled to Tang China as an envoy and had also served as a provincial governor. His Hinkyu Mondoka depicted realistic poverty in the form of a dialogue representing the voices of poor farmers. Part of the poem:
“In the stove, no fire is blown up; in the rice steamer, a spider's web is spread; I have even forgotten to cook rice.”
“My parents are gathered by the pillow, my wife and children by the feet; surrounded by sorrow, they wander in grief, while in the stove no fire is blown up.”
The ritsuryo system, which was supposed to save such farmers, actually ended up causing them hardship.
To prevent farmers from fleeing, the government compiled household registers every six years and strengthened its control over the population. However, “fake registers” used to evade taxes also became widespread. For example, because taxes increased when a household had more men, many people falsely reported men as women.
Sakimori was a harsh duty in which farmers from eastern Japan（the Kanto region）were selected and sent to guard northern Kyushu for three years. Many Sakimori left poems mourning their separation from their homes; these were included in Volume 20 of Manyoshu as “Sakimori poems.”
These farmers' hardships and the government's financial difficulties led to acceptance of private land ownership through measures such as the Konden Einen Shizai Law, ultimately weakening the ritsuryo system. The gap between the ideals and reality of the ritsuryo state was one of the major contradictions of the Nara period.

Points to Note (Easily Confused)

① Yamanoue no Okura's representative work, Hinkyu Mondoka, is included in Manyoshu. The first character of “poverty” is pronounced “hin.” ② So was local revenue, while yo and cho were central revenue. Remember the difference. ③ Sakimori were recruited from eastern Japan（Kanto）to guard Kyushu. The direction was not the reverse. ④ Unkyaku was labor for transporting taxes. Workers had no allowance or food expenses and paid their own costs; many collapsed along the way. ⑤ Fake registers were a form of tax evasion, including falsifying family members and ages. ⑥ Hinkyu Mondoka, Azuma uta, and Sakimori uta are all included in Manyoshu, demonstrating the anthology's breadth.

Practice

1. Briefly state the contents of the three main taxes（so, yo, and cho）borne by Nara-period farmers.
2. State the name of the poet who left Hinkyu Mondoka in Manyoshu.
3. Explain what Sakimori were, including who guarded whom and where.