明初江南の官田について(上) : 蘇州・松江二府におけるその具體像

Abstract

The cultivated fields owned by the Ming Government in south China, especially in the fluvial regions of the Yangtze, were enormous; in 1391 about 63% of all cultivated fields in Suchou (蘇州) Prefecture was government-owned, while approximately 84% in Sungchiang (松江). In Suchou the ratio of crop dues from the government-owned fields against the whole crop dues amounted to 95%, while in Sungchiang 94%. This shows that in the early Ming period agricultural exploitation by the government was largely carried out through government ownership. Though the rate of dues from government-owned fields (on average 4.369 tou (斗) per mou (畝) in Suchou and 3.09 in Sungchiang) was considerably higher than that from privately owned fields, it was much lower than the rate of farm rent which often reached over one shih (石) per mou. There were other favorable conditions for tenant farmers of government-owned fields such as exemption from, or reduction of, covees and facilities for transportation. Taking these into consideration, tenants of government-owned lands enjoyed privileges as compared with those working for landlords who exacted more than one shih per mou as tenancy. Part of the government-owned land was tenanted even by landholding farmers and landlords. The collapse during 1426-1435 of the government ownership system, as seen in the decrease of dues from Suchou and Sungchiang, was due to not only the shifting of political center to north China but the extremely heavy burdens to be born by the peasantry. Considerable influence was exercised down to the early 16th century by the government ownership system over the form and structure of landownership.