オルド(斡魯朶)と藩鎭

Abstract

The problem of whether the prefectures 州縣 attached to the ordo 斡魯朶 should be understood as the private property of the emperor during the Liao dynasty is central to this study. Previous studies of the establishment of the prefectures within the ordos have been flawed by misinterpretations of source materials, and, although, the system of regional government has been the focus of these arguments, they have failed to take a comparative approach and examine closely related regions and ages, e.g. Tang, the Five Dynasties, and Bohai. This study has attempted a re-examination of the prefectures of the ordos and arrived at the following conclusions. The prefectures of the ordo were under the control of three entities, the ordo, the fanzhen 藩鎭, the regional military governor, and the national government 國家. In terms of governmental administration, there were two chains of command, one from the ordo to the subordinate prefectures and one from the Chancellor 樞密院 to the prefectures of the ordo. And, as the fanzhen held the power to appoint and remove personnel in certain cases within his jurisdiction at the local level within the prefectures, the system allowed him to operate almost at win. In terms of financial administration, tax revenues were split between the ordo and the national government on the one hand, and the fanzhen also employed various measures, legal and illegal, to obtain revenues. Thus the existence of the fanzhen, who was able to exercise fixed authority over the prefectures of the ordo served to limit the direct rule of the ordo and the national government over the prefectures of the ordo. Moreover, these three entities maintained their relationships with the prefectures of the ordo throughout the Liao Dynasty. This can be confirmed by the facts that the national government administered personnel matters of the prefectures attached to the ordo, that it has been ascertained that the division of tax revenues between the ordo and the national government continued from the early to the last stage of the dynasty, and that it is thought that the subordinates of the regional military commander 藩帥 were placed under the authority of prefectural offices in the latter half of the dynasty. In conclusion, this study makes clear that prefectures attached to the ordo were influenced by the fanzhen system, and this fact may provide several new perspectives in the study of Liao history and that of the East Asia after the tenth century.