均田均役の實施をめぐって

Abstract

The jun-tian jun-yi fa 均田均役法 went into effect in the prefectures of Jia-xing 嘉興 and Fu-zhou 福州 in the late Ming period as a reform of the li-jia zheng-yi 里甲正役 system. The imposition of zheng-yi was based on acreage, and the privilege from labor service (you-mian 優免) accorded to the gentry was reduced. On account of the latter provision the gentry objected to the enforcement (of the law and obstructed it in many ways, sometimes by violence. 0n the other hand, those who welcomed the enforcement of the reform most warmly were small landowners who had no such pfivileges, including the class of sheng-yuan 生員. Many of the reforms stemmed from proposals made by this class. At times they mobilized large numbers of people in demonstrations. These movements on the part of the class of small landowners are associated with the intensification of class confrontation, the existence of which in this period has already been pointed out. In the face of this crisis of authority on the part of the gentry and the imperial state, "righteous" gentry, led by the Dong-lin clique 東林黨 and others, attempted to liquidate the crisis by co-opting small landowners into the establishment on the basis of certain concessions. One can observe such a political manoeuvre in the enforcement of Jun-tian jun-yi.