戰國時代の府・庫について

Abstract

In bronze vessel inscriptions of the Warring States period frequent mention is made of storehouses under the name of treasury or armoury, fu 府 and ku 庫. Basically a fu is a storage place for valuables and commodities, while a ku is used for arms, in the Warring States period, however, these were no longer mere storehouses, but they also acquired a character of financial organizations managed by bureaucracy. Then the organization of fu became the office where the palacial life of the ruler was administered, as much as it furnished the place where ritual bronze vessels were cast. Moreover it had some function in the process of tax collection. The organization of ku was not only the official arsenal, but as a workshop for arms became the basic unit for military production on grand scale. Most of these fu and ku were found in the military cities in the states of Han 韓, Wei 魏, Zhao 趙, and Qin 秦. This underlines the fact that in the Warring States period cities were military centers, equipped with all the commodities, arms, and provisions necessary to endure a longterm siege. Moreover, the institutions of fu and ku of Warring States period can be appreciated as forerunners of the imperial finance and state finance of Han period.