Hansystem

Han(Japanese:Phiên,"domain" ) is a Japanese historical term for theestateof adaimyoin theEdo period(1603–1868) and earlyMeiji period(1868–1912).^[1]HanorBakufu-han(daimyo domain)^[2]served as a system ofde factoadministrative divisionsof Japan alongside thede jureprovincesuntil they were abolished in the 1870s.

History

Pre-Edo period

The concept ofhanoriginated as the personalestatesof prominent warriors after the rise of theKamakura Shogunatein 1185, which also saw the rise offeudalismand thesamurainoble warrior class in Japan. This situation existed for 400 years during the Kamakura Shogunate (1185–1333), the briefKenmu Restoration(1333–1336), and theAshikaga Shogunate(1336–1573).Hanbecame increasingly important asde factoadministrative divisionsas subsequent Shoguns stripped the Imperialprovinces(kuni) and their officials of their legal powers.

Edo period

A map of the territories of theSengokudaimyōaround the first year of theGenki era(1570 AD).

Toyotomi Hideyoshi,the preeminent warlord of the lateSengoku period(1467–1603), caused a transformation of thehansystem during his reforms of the feudal structure of Japan. Hideyoshi's system saw thehanbecome anabstractionbased on periodiccadastralsurveys and projectedagriculturalyields, rather than delineated territory.^[3]Hideyoshi died in 1598 and his young sonToyotomi Hideyoriwas displaced byTokugawa Ieyasuafter theBattle of Sekigaharain October 1600, but his new feudal system was maintained after Ieyasu established theTokugawa Shogunatein 1603. Thehanbelonged todaimyo,the powerful samurai feudal lords, who governed them as personal property with autonomy as avassalof the TokugawaShogun.Ieyasu's successors further refined the system by introducing methods that ensured control of the daimyo and the imperial court. For instance, relatives and retainers were placed in politically and militarily strategic districts while potentially hostile daimyo were transferred to unimportant geographic locations or their estates confiscated.^[4]They were also occupied with public works that kept them financially drained as the daimyo paid for the bakufu projects.^[4]

UnlikeWesternfeudalism, the value of a Japanese feudal domain was now defined in terms of projected annual income rather than geographic size.Hanwere valued fortaxationusing theKokudakasystem which determined value based on output ofriceinkoku,aJapanese unitof volume considered enough rice to feed one person for one year.^[5]A daimyo was determined by the Tokugawa as a lord heading ahanassessed at 10,000koku(50,000bushels) or more, and the output of theirhancontributed to their prestige or how their wealth were assessed.^[6]^[7]EarlyJapanologistssuch asGeorges AppertandEdmond Papinotmade a point of highlighting the annualkokuyields which were allocated for theShimazu clanatSatsuma Domainsince the 12th century.^[8]The Shogunalhanand the Imperial provinces served as complementary systems which often worked in tandem for administration. When the Shogun ordered the daimyos to make acensusof their people or to makemaps,the work was organized along the borders of the provinces.^[9]As a result, ahancould overlap multiple provinces which themselves contained sections of multiplehan.In 1690, the richesthanwas theKaga Domain,located in the provinces ofKaga,EtchūandNoto,with slightly over 1 millionkoku.^[10]

Meiji period

In 1868, the Tokugawa Shogunate was overthrown in theMeiji Restorationby a coalition of pro-Imperialsamurai in reaction to theBakumatsu.One of the main driving forces of the anti-Tokugawa movement was support formodernizationandWesternizationin Japan. From 1869 to 1871, the newMeiji governmentsought to abolish feudalism in Japan, and the title of daimyo in thehansystem was altered tohan-chiji(Phiên biết sự)orchihanji(Biết phiên sự).^[11]In 1871, almost all of thedomains were disbandedand replaced with a new Meiji system ofprefectureswhich were directly subordinate to thenational governmentinTokyo.^[1]

However, in 1872, the Meiji government created theRyukyu Domainafter Japan formallyannexedtheRyukyu Kingdom,avassal stateof theShimazu clanofSatsumasince 1609.^[12]The Ryūkyū Domain was governed as ahanheaded by theRyukyuan monarchyuntil it was finally abolished and becameOkinawa Prefecturein March 1879.

Notes

^^a ^bNussbaum, Louis-Frédéric.(2005)."Han"inJapan Encyclopedia,p. 283.
^Hunter, Janet (2014).The Emergence of Modern Japan: An Introductory History Since 1853.Oxon: Routledge.ISBN 978-1-317-87085-2.
^Mass, Jeffrey P.and William B. Hauser. (1987).The Bakufu in Japanese History,p. 150.
^^a ^bDeal, William E. (2006).Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan.New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 13.ISBN 978-0-19-533126-4.
^Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987).Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century,p. 17.
^Howell, David Luke (1995).Capitalism from Within: Economy, Society, and the State in a Japanese Fishery.Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 191.ISBN 978-0-520-08629-6.
^Lucassen, Jan (2007).Wages and Currency: Global Comparisons from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century.Peter Lang. p. 125.ISBN 978-3-03910-782-7.
^Appert, Georges.(1888)."Shimazu"inAncien Japon,pp. 77;comparePapinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph.(1906).Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon;Papinot, (2003).Nobiliare du Japon,p. 55; retrieved 23 March 2013.
^Roberts, Luke S. (2002).Mercantilism in a Japanese Domain: the merchant origins of economic nationalism in 18th-century Tosa,p. 6
^Totman, Conrad(1993).Early Modern Japan,p. 119.
^Lebra, Takie S. (1995).Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility,p. 29
^Matsumura, Wendy. (2007).Becoming Okinawan: Japanese Capitalism and Changing Representations of Okinawa,p. 38^{[permanent dead link‍]}.

References

Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéricand Käthe Roth. (2005).Japan encyclopedia.Cambridge:Harvard University Press.ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5;OCLC 58053128
Totman, Conrad.(1993).Early Modern Japan.Berkeley: University of California Press.ISBN 9780520080263;OCLC 246872663

[nussbaum283-1] Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric.(2005)."Han"inJapan Encyclopedia,p. 283.

[2] Hunter, Janet (2014).The Emergence of Modern Japan: An Introductory History Since 1853.Oxon: Routledge.ISBN 978-1-317-87085-2.

[3] Mass, Jeffrey P.and William B. Hauser. (1987).The Bakufu in Japanese History,p. 150.

[:0-4] Deal, William E. (2006).Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan.New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 13.ISBN 978-0-19-533126-4.

[5] Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987).Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century,p. 17.

[6] Howell, David Luke (1995).Capitalism from Within: Economy, Society, and the State in a Japanese Fishery.Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 191.ISBN 978-0-520-08629-6.

[7] Lucassen, Jan (2007).Wages and Currency: Global Comparisons from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century.Peter Lang. p. 125.ISBN 978-3-03910-782-7.

[8] Appert, Georges.(1888)."Shimazu"inAncien Japon,pp. 77;comparePapinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph.(1906).Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon;Papinot, (2003).Nobiliare du Japon,p. 55; retrieved 23 March 2013.

[9] Roberts, Luke S. (2002).Mercantilism in a Japanese Domain: the merchant origins of economic nationalism in 18th-century Tosa,p. 6

[totman119-10] Totman, Conrad(1993).Early Modern Japan,p. 119.

[11] Lebra, Takie S. (1995).Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility,p. 29

[12] Matsumura, Wendy. (2007).Becoming Okinawan: Japanese Capitalism and Changing Representations of Okinawa,p. 38^{[permanent dead link‍]}.

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