<論説>唐代河東池塩の生産と流通 : 河東塩税機関の立地と機能

Abstract

中国山西省西南部に位置する河東(河中) 塩池が、豊富な産塩量に恵まれ、周囲に大消費市場を擁する内陸塩池として、民衆の生活や国家財政上、重要な役割を果してきたことは、よく知られている。しかし、製塩技術・製塩条件の整備が進み、後代の池塩専売組織の基礎の形成された唐代の河東塩池に関しては、従来専論はなく不明な点も多く残されている。本稿は、まず、唐代河東池塩の製塩過程、専売施行後の政府塩税機関の経営形態を論じる。次に、唐代後半期の池塩流通圏、主要流通路の復原を基礎として、流通圏と自然地形との相関性、河東塩池の経済立地上の特徴を逐次指摘し、安邑盆地に立地する塩池が、隣接する首都長安を核とする渭水盆地の諸州府と、政治・経済地理的に密接に繋っていたことに論及する。まとまった史料の残存する河東塩税機関の製塩・販塩組織を究明することで、唐代地方塩税機関の一モデルを提供し得ると思われる。

It is well known that the Hedong salt pool in the south-west of Shanxi 山西 province in China, which yielded abundantly and had the great consuming areas nearby, played an important part in the popular life and for the government finance. But we have hardly known about the Hedong salt pool in the Tang period, when the techniques and the conditions of salt production were prepared and the salt monopolism was formed. So in this article, I dealt with the process of salt production and the management of the monopolizing government salt agency. Then I restored the circulation of salt and its main routes in the latter half of the Tang period. Consequently, I could find out the relations between the circulation areas and the natural location, and the features of the Hedong salt pool as to the economic location. Politically, economically and geographically, this salt pool in Anyi 安邑 basin was closely related to the prefectures and the superior prefectures in Weishui 渭水 basin whose center was Changan. 長安. The Hedong government salt agency, which was the typical institution for the production and salt, leaves us many documents. So our research on it may offer one model of the government salt agencies organized in each region in the Tang period.