Central Government Fiscal Administration during the Ritsuryo Period

Furuoya Tomohiro

doi:10.24471/shigaku.104.2_151

The purpose of the present paper is to examine the financial organization of the ritsuryo central government and the Emperor's involvement in and control of the administration of bureaucratic organization. During the 8th and 9th centuries, the regulations of Sokoryo (倉庫令) stipulated that orders for disbursement should be issued to the Okurasho (大蔵省), the Ministry of the Treasury, and the other ministries in the diplomatic form called Daijokan-pu (太政官符), while in reality these Daijokan-pu were delivered to Okurasho via Nakatsukasasho (中務省), the Ministry of Central Affairs, which transmitted the received orders to the Okurasho in the diplomatic form of Nakatsukasasho-i (中務省移). Being a body of very close attendants to the Emperor, the Ministry of Central Affairs was authorized to command the offices responsible for storing collected tribute. As an extension of this function, the officials of the Ministry were required to present themselves at the warehouses for inspecting receipts and disbursements. The ideal method of the Emperor's control over fiscal administration was that he should supervise in person the process of transforming collected tribute into central government revenue and paying expenditure from this revenue. It seems that the above-mentioned fiscal function of the Nakatsukasasho realized this ideal through the Emperor's indirect presence. However by the middle of the 10th century the system had changed considerably. It became possible for the central government to issue receipts for collected tribute without inspection and spend the tribute under certain administrative directions before it was delivered to the warehouse. Under this system financial affairs could be settled through the transfer of documents without transferring the tribute itself. Along with this change, the Nakatsukasasho was no longer involved in fiscal administration. The bureaucratic organization had obtained the capacity to perform its duties through the transfer of documents, independent of the Emperor's presence, whether it be direct or indirect through the Nakatsukasasho.

Central Government Fiscal Administration during the Ritsuryo Period

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