明初の民政 : 官を抑え民をあぐ

Abstract

In the Yuan (元) period over government officials was loosened and in disorder. A similar disorganization was also seen at the beginnig of the Ming dynasty. Against this tendency, the Emperor, Tai-tsu (太祖), set up three counter-plans. The first was to deal severely with the corrupt officials, and often Tai-tsu punished them more strictly than the rule of the penal code (律). In the second place, he prohibited officials from going to agricultural districts. Local officers went out to rural districts officially as a matter of duty, of course, but even in such cases, he took care that they did not wrong the people by laying down detailed regulations. Thirdly, as the two steps mentioned above were not sufficient, he empowered village elders (耆民) to make complaints against the villainy of officials directly to the emperor or even to arrest and send them to the capital. Tai-tsu, as mentioned above, made it the basis of politics to exalt the spirit of the people by guarding against corrupt officials.