[Article] Study on Ruling Base Formation by Medieval Lords Using the Chiba Clan of Hizen in Ogi District as an Example (Part III : The Theory of Moving Warrior Lords to the West)

Making effective use of field research and using the Chiba clan of Hizen Province as an example, this article explores how, through collaboration and competition with local power holders, eastern warriors were able to develop their control over western or northern territories far from their original base. First, I examine the Chiba clan’s ruling base in Ogi District during the Kamakura Period, by investigating the surrounding condition of locations, conducting interviews, and using medieval sources and cadastral maps from the Meiji Period. Based on this examination, I identify the ruling base to be adjacent to the Buddhist temple Entsūji and reconstruct the base’s spatial organization. Next, in accordance with this hypothesis that the Chiba clan’s residence during the Kamakura Period had been located near Entsūji, I analyze why and how the wooden standing statues of Vaiśravaṇa and Dhṛtarāṣṭra were created, which have been passed down to the temple till today. The intent behind the creation of these two statues included praying for peace in Ogi District. Based on this, I argue that this statue making was not only for the existing power holders but also for local commoners, suggesting that the Chiba clan attempted to please and appease the masses. Lastly, I examine the circumstance in which the Chiba clan developed its base in the Entsūji area, which had the strongest water rights in the district. It was located in the upper reaches of the Hokkō and Hōji wells, which irrigate most of the arable lands divided by the jōri (land subdivision) system in the district. By forming its ruling base in such an advantageous spot, the Chiba clan took control of the water rights of these two waterways and secured its superiority over the existing power holders who had already developed their territories within these jōri-based lands.