「二年律令」研究の射程 : 新出法制史料と前漢文帝期研究の現状 (特集 : 歴史学の現在 2006)

Abstract

Since the publication of the Zhangjiashan bamboo manuscripts in 2001, numerous studies on this new material, especially of Ernian luling (Statutes and ordinances in the second year), have been made. The excavated code, dated to the beginning of the Han dynasty, has given us a lot of information on Han institutions, and cast new light on our understanding of political history. The author takes up the political problems in the Wendi reign (BC 180-BC 157), analyzes prior studies on this matter, and attains a new stand point from which to reassess the institutional reformation made by Wendi, In addition, a discussion of the characteristics of Ernian luling as excavated material is one of the aims of this paper. The most urgent problem facing the Wendi reign was to develop counter- measures against the marquises. In order to reduce their threat, Wendi subdivided their fiefs, Jingdi later reduced them, and Wudi eventually realized direct control over the whole empire. This process gives us the impression that the elimination of marquises was also the goal of Wendi's policy. The broad discretion given to marquises, and the strict limitation on horse exports to marquises, both of which we can see in Ernian luling, seem to support this impression. However, the horse trade limitation was also aimed at prices and purchases within the territory under the direct control of the emperor, therefore, its main purpose was to secure enough horses to confront the Xiongnu as well as the marquises. In 168 BC, Wendi got rid of the checkpoints, probably including those which were set up on the border with the territory of the marquises, which suggests a detente with them in the middle of his reign. One of the most famous reforms is the abolition of mutilation as punishment in 167 BC, and fixed terms of the hard labour were also set at the same time. Although the background has been explained in the context of the penal system reform, the details of the penal system recorded in the Ernian luling suggest another viewpoint. The problem that threatened Wendi in the second half of his reign was the attacks from the Xiongnu, which intensified after 169 BC, and their troops threatened the capital in 166 BC. Defending his empire, Wendi carried out several plans, one of whose ends was to reorganize the system of labour services. As part of this trend, the hard labour system must have been rationalized. Viewed from a different viewpoint, hard labour without any fixed term meant an endless necessity of supplying official food because convicts were issued a certain amount of food, at least in principle. We have to count the abolition of the mutilation as a penalty as a way of economizing.