Daimyō Part 1: The Ritsuryō System (律令)

 

 

Map of Japan in provinces in time of Tokugawa Ieyasu

Scan of plate in "A History of Japan during the century of early foreign intercourse (1542-1651)", by Murdoch and Yamagata (1903)

 

Daimyō today are still understood to be the lords of a system that Euro-American historians have qualified of 'feudal'. As usual, instead of using concepts for what they are and trying to connect them to west/central European history for 'better understanding' or whatnot, the true complexity of their historical and cultural aspects gets lost to the semantic of their European synonyms. 

To better understand who Daimyō were, it's important to understand the system they emmerged from. 

Daimyō is a denomination coined with the kanji for 'large' and the first kanji of myōden (名田)  meaning 'name'. Unsurprisingly, Daimyō are a bit more than just a 'big name' as myōden is a historical term for 'rice fields in the charge of a nominal holder' part of the Ritsuryō system​.  
This legal system (criminal code and administrative code) was introduced with the Taika reforms (set of doctrines written shortly after the unification of Japan) in 645 and based on Confucianism and the Chinese legal system, becaming the legal system of Japan until 750. 

While the systems themselves changed multiple times throughout history, its administrative division of provinces (令制国, Ryōseikoku) initiated by the Ritsuryō system and the establishement of provincial borders remained until 1868. These provinces which were ruled by military governors called shugo (守護) co-existed with the personal domains of lords of the warrior caste before becoming secondary to them in the late Muromachi period (16th century).

These domains were called han (藩) under the Tokugawa system and this is when it gets interesting...

 

To be continued