<Articles>The Use of Horses and the Transition of the Maki (牧)-system in the Ancient State

YOSHIKAWA Toshiko

doi:10.14989/shirin_74_484

In order to better understand the reasons for the transition of the maki-system from the ryo(令)-regime to the engishiki (延喜式)-regime, I consider the following question : "What was the national demand for government horses in those days?" It is a well-known fact that horses in ancient Japan played various roles in contributing to military affairs, transportation, and religious service. But, it was the labor of the packhorses, easily overlooked, that was most needed. The frequent moving of the capital in ancient Japan was unique and not seen in other ages, and horses supplied considerable labor as packhorses. This has been proven by inquiring closely into the transitions of the government offices in charge of horse administration in the ancient central government -- saumeryo (左右馬寮), naikyu-ryo (内厩寮)and shume-ryo (主馬寮). The establishment and abolition of these government offices were closely connected not only with military affairs, which has already been pointed out, but also with the demand for packhorses for the moving of the capital. The start and suspension of the great construction work which resulted from the moving of the capital radically increased and decreased the demand for packhorses. This not only changed the central government in charge of horse administration, but also had great influence on the maki that supplied many horses. In the engi-shiki regime, the government maki was divided into the shokoku-maki (諸国牧)and the mimaki (御牧). While the former was directly connected with the ryo-regime official maki, the latter was established anew in the second half of the eighth century. After the ninth century, mimaki gained more importance than shokoku-maki. And in the engi-shiki-regime, it supplied many more horses to the central government. This has been discussed chiefly under the accepted idea of "the decline of the ryo-regime" in former studies. Because this idea does not take into account the fact that the demand for horses changed with the age, I cannot agree with it. The transition of the maki-system in the eighth and ninth centuries corresponded with the demand for horses as stated above. In this thesis, I consider the transition of the national demand for horses in the first chapter and think about the influence which the transition had on the maki-system in the second chapter. Finally, I mention the significance of the transition of the maki-system in the formation of the engi-shiki-regime.

<Articles>The Use of Horses and the Transition of the Maki (牧)-system in the Ancient State

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