<Articles>A Study of the Buke Shohatto and Shoshi Hatto, Based on a Reexamination of the Relaxation of the Prohibition on Deathbed Adoption

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  • <論説>武家諸法度と諸士法度 --末期養子の禁緩和の再検討を手がかりに--
  • 武家諸法度と諸士法度 : 末期養子の禁緩和の再検討を手がかりに
  • ブケ ショ ハット ト ショ シ ハット : マッキ ヨウシ ノ キンカンワ ノ サイケントウ オ テガカリ ニ

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Abstract

The buke shohatto 武家諸法度(regulations governing military houses), issued by the Edo shogunate, were aimed at the daimyō, lords of local domains. In contrast, the shoshi hatto 諸士法度(regulations governing warriors) that were directed at the hatamoto, who were direct retainers of the shogun. The shoshi hatto were promulagated by the third and fourth Tokugawa shoguns, Iemitsu and Ietsuna, in the same manner as the buke shohatto. Thus, the prohibition on the adoption of an heir on one's deathbed (matsugo yōshi 末期養子), which has heretofore been understood as a policy directed at the daimyō, was in fact only stipulated in the shoshi hatto. The relaxation of the prohibition on matsugo yōshi in 1651 (Keian 4) differs from the general understanding, and it was, in fact, a revision of the shoshi hatto. In other words, the usual explanation that the relaxation was influenced by the Keian Incident cannot be maintained. However, the scope of the buke shohatto and the shoshi hatto exceeded the specific legal boundaries over which they were meant to apply, and they widely influenced contemporary warrior society in general. It can be surmised that the prohibition of matsugo yōshi as well as its relaxation also influenced the daimyō. The fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, issued the Tenna-era regulations (Tenna rei 天和令) revising the buke shohatto with the intention of integrating the existing buke shohatto and shoshi hatto. Because the Tenna-era regulations simply maintained the buke shohatto and shoshi hatto, there was nothing unique in the content of the regulations. The historical significance of the Tenna-era regulations was that they treated the daimyō and the hatamoto equally. The first article of the Tenna-era regulations that spoke of the promotion of “literary and martial arts as well as loyalty and filiality” (bunbu chūkō 文武忠孝) was established by incorporating the same wording from the first article of the shoshi hatto. Therefore, the first article of the Tenna-era regulations should not be interpreted as displaying a preference for civilian government (文治政治 bunchi seiji).

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  • 史林

    史林 105 (2), 259-293, 2022-03-31

    THE SHIGAKU KENKYUKAI (The Society of Historical Research), Kyoto University

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