元末一地方政治改革案 : 明初地方政治改革の先驅

Abstract

Around the middle of the Zhizheng 至正 era at the end of the Yuan dynasty, Zhao Jie 趙偕, a non-career literatus in Cixi county 慈渓縣 in Qingyuan route 慶元路, put forward two plans for the reformation of local county administration. Zhao presented one plan to Zhen Lin 陳麟, a magistrate in his own county, and the other to Xu Guangda 許廣大, a magistrate in the neighbouring Yin county 鄞縣. In this paper, I show that Zhao's plans may be considered to contain important precedents for the local political and administrative reform later carried out by Ming 明 authorities during the Hongwu 洪武 era following the establishment of the Lijia institution 里甲制. Common to Zhao's proposals and to early Ming reforms were practical aspects of administrative reform, such as the appointment of a civilian literatus and scholar to be the official counselor of the local governor, and the direct superintendence of administrative clerks via uniting central and local affairs. In addition to parallels within such practical reforms, a common ideological thread runs through Zhao's reform plans and those reforms instigated by the Ming. In order to assert that Zhao's reform plans were in fact precursors of early Ming reform, it is essential to confirm that his suggestions were actually executed in practical administrative reforms. In general, the basis of Zhao's reform program lay in a consideration of the Gonglun 公論 in the process of the formation of local politics. This article attempts first, to clarify this characteristic of Zhao's thought, and second, to indicate the historical background of this concept.