北朝末期の鄕兵について

Abstract

The fu-ping 府兵 or provincial guards created in the middle of the sixth century by Western Wei constitute a good material for studying the nature of the Sui and T'ang Dynasties. There are not a few studies on the origin of the fu-ping system. One of the theories is that the fu-ping system sprang up from the provincial guards or militia organized under the leadership of the gentry, i.e., hsiang-ping, and this theory has been causing controversy. The present author, who is inclined to support the hsiang-ping origin of the fu-ping system, discusses the structure of hsiang-ping bands in their historical development. In the critical period of the Northern Wei Dynasty the gentry of north China, who were facing a crisis as a social class, picked up strong people from among the fellow-provincials, and organized them into military organization. Consequently, the relations between the leader and the soldiers were rather free as compared with those in the older ping-hu 兵戸 (military household) system. The hsiang-ping were given certain official ranks according to their capabilities as prescribed by the Northen Wei Government, and this principle was also applied to the lowly who were under the rule of the gentry, leading to a change in a status-bound society where lineage predominated. The gentry who came largely from the clans of noble lineage conceded the increasing demand of the people for lifting social discrimination. This concession on the part of the genntry in turn, resulted in consolidating their own power and paved the way to the birth of the Sui and T'ang aristocracy.