VNU Journal of Science, S o d al Sciences and H um anities 25, No.5E (2009) 37-45 Japanese village in documents o f Shõens and comparative approach with Vietnamese village Phan Hai Linh* Cơllege o f Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU 336 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi, Vietnam R e c e iv e d 12 M a y 0 A b s tr a c t S in c e 9 s, J a p a n e s e S tu d ie s in V ie tn a m h a ve o b ta in e d m a n y s a lie n t a c h ie v e m e n ts, e sp e c ia lly in th e s tu d ie s o f e c o n o m ic s , p o litic s, c u ltu re , h isto ry a n d the re la tio n s h ip b e tw e e n Ja p a n a n d V ie tn a m etc In a d d itio n , a c o m p a tiv e a p p ro a c h to th e stu d ie s o f J a p a n a n d V ie tn a m is a h ig h ly p o te n tia l d e c tio n T h is p a p e r is đ iv id e d in to tw o p a rts T h e fírst p a rt íb c u s e s o n a n a ly z in g d o c u m e n ts o f the villag es in tw o M e d ie v a l J a p a n e s e s h õ e n s n a m e ly O y a m a a n d H in e , w h ic h w e h a v e s tu d ie d q u ite ca re fu lly T h e o th e r p a r t p ro v id e s so m e in itia l c o m p a tiv e re m a rk s o n J a p a n e s e v illa g e s a n d V ie tn a m e se o n e s u n d e r th e d y n a s tie s o f L y - T n - Le O n th e b a s is o f in itia l a n a ly sis, w e have fo u n d th a t d o c u m e n ta ry c o m p a ris o n (in c lu d in g h isto ric a l, a rc h e o lo g ic a l, g e o lo g ic a l m a te ria ls, e tc ) o n the h is to ry o f th e tw o c o u n tr ie s ’ v illa g e s is a p o te n tia l s tu d y d e c tio n , p a rtic u la rly the issu e s o n v illa g e ’s re g u la tio n s, o rg a n iz a tio n s a n d th e ro le o f m a n a g e m e n t a p p a tu s , th e ĩu n c tio n o f the v illa g e ’s a g ric u ltu re , h a n d ic r a ữ a n d c o m m e rc e , th e ro le o f a u to n o m o u s v illa g e s a n d c o m b a t v illa g e s in th e w a rs, a n d th e v illa g e s ’ s p iritu a l ỉives H ovvever, w h a t m a tte rs n o w is th e m e th o d o f c h o o s in g m a te ria l s o u rc e s , o b je c ts o f c o m p a ris o n a n d stu d y , c rite ria o f sp a c e , tim e , a n d ty p e s W e are in th e h o p e o f g o in g o n th e d e ta ils o f th is m a tte r in th e C orning tim e Since 1990, Japanese Studies in Vietnam have recorded salient achievem ents, especially in the studies o f econom ics, politics, culture, history and the relationship betvveen Japan and Vietnam ctc In addition, com parative study is :onsidered to be a prospective approach By analyzing som e m aterials on villages in lapanese shõens in the m edieval history and ;om paring them with som e m aterials on villages o f Vietnam under the dynasties o f Ly ĩra n - Le, this paper proposes som e suggestions Tel.: 84-4-62510658 E-maiỉ: linh_ph@ yahoo.com for the study o f V ietnam ese and Japanese villages from a com parative approach Ja p a n e se villages in m a te ria ls o n shỗens The m aterials used in this paper to study Japanese villages in the m eđieval history (12* C entury - 16lhC entury) were mainly documents o f proprietors and stew ards o f lwo shõens: Oyama(1) and H ine(2) These w ere two shõens (I) O yam a b e lo n g c đ to th e Toji in th e S ou th ern v a lle y o f the O yam a m ountain in the province o f Hyogo Oyama had existed for about 700 years (845-1508), including 38 P.H Linh / VN U Ịoum aỉ o f Science, Soáal Sciences and Humanities 25, No.5E (2009) 37-45 th a t had ric h m a teria ls stru ctu re s c h a n g e d and th e ir v illag e slig h tly f r o m th e m e d ie v a l 1960s h is to ry u n til o f B u n p o ( ) d o c u m e n t e d a r e a s a n d t a x e s ir d etail o f each n am eh o ld e r The casc o f th t n a m e h o l d e r U m a n ọ j o I e y a s u o f t h e I c h i i t a m v illa g e ( in O y a m a s h ỏ c n ) vvas a g o o d e x a m p le : /./ Village structure B ased on h isto rio g p h ica l a rc h e o lo g ic a l an a ly se s, m ost of and Japanese rcse arch crs ag re c th at J a p a n e s e v illa g e s w ere c l o s e l y o r g a n i z e d in t h e m i d t i m e o f K a m a k u r a ( th C e n t u r y ) w ere lo cal C u ltiv a to rs p ca sa n ts ( Hotiiciike) and or in th ese resid e n t v illag e s p easan ts “outcast peasants” som c O u tc a st p e a sa n ts w e re th o se w ho cam e fro m o n e v ill a g e to r e s i d e in a n o t h e r v i l l a g e T h e y h a d a lo v v e r s t a t u s t h a n lo c a l p c a s a n t s ; t h e y h a d t o l i v e i n t h e o u t s k i r t o f t h e v i l l a g e a n d v v ere a tta c h c d w ith b a d la b le s s u c h a s other side o f the s l o p e d isc rim in a tc d so m e tim cs th e y and bum cd co u ld be “person otì the They d islo c a tc d by th c k illed at w ere u su a lly T h eir houscs shõen v v o r s t ste w a rd s T hese or w ere Report o f Shõen Steward Minamoto Kannesada ( H i n e n o v i l l a g e , H i n e s h d escrib ed in th e õ e n ) o n J u n e th i n t h e fo u rth y e a r o f S h o w a (1315): “ there w ere house burnings and kilỉings; therefore, we had to stop recỉaimation [Ieyasu was given] tan 20 s h ir o (about 0.9 h e c t a r e ) , i n w h i c h tan shiro v v a s i n t h e upper íield with tax o f koku to, tan and 30 shiro v v a s i n t h e m i d d l e - l e v e l í ì c l d w i t h t h c t a x o f koku slìO go, tan and 10 shiro was in the low er field w ith thc tax o f koku /o sho A fter the paym ent to provincial salary b u d g e t w a s s u b tra c te d , th e ta x a m o u n t w a s koku to and go N a m e h o ld e rs [2, D o c u m e n t N o 152] in th e tra d itio n a l fam ilics w hose had a lot o f land ficlds and the Otona (e ld e rly p e o p le ) w e r e n o m in a te d to th e C o u n c il o f Village (satanin - executivcs) The Council p la y e d an v illag e ^s im p o rta n t ac tiv itie s ro lc in such o rg a n iz in g as Ihc re c la im a tio n , production and irrigation systcm im provem ent It w a s w ritte n v illag e (O y am a in th e d o cu m en ts shõen) th a t th e o f N ish itai C o u n c il of V illa g e n e g o tia te d w ith its n c i g h b o r i n g v illa g e o f M iy a d a lo m a k e a c o n tr a c t f o r w o o d -w a tc r a n d la n d -w a te r e x c h a n g e in o r d e r to m a in ta in th e ir a g ric u ltu l a c tiv itie s “Copy c f the coníract fo r xvatcr rcsource On land fo r water exchaiỉge At th a t tim e , o n ly lo c al p e a sa n ts w ere p c r m i t t e d to r e n t a g r i c u l t u r a l l a n d a n d p a y ta x to th e la n d lo rd s T hey w ere ca lle d Including I cho and tan o f ỉand fie ld m th a deíailed draxvings atíached nameholders^ An Enumeration on Cultivatiotì in Oyama Slìõen o n J u n e 2 nd i n t h e s e c o n d y e a r The above mentioìied land fìe ld in the N ishitai village o f Oy ama shõen belonged ío the thrcc m ain divisions nam cly lchiitani, Nishitai and Kamoguki ama shỏetì Yukioka N yudo in íhe N ishitai village and fellow s took the fa c t thai they d id not have money as a pretext not to p a y the tax to the C e n t r a l Emperor They b a sed on the ịitoseido, d id n o t obe\ the ru les a n d fo Ilo w ed the evil g a n g (6} G enzo v [2, D ocum cnt N o 137] If nccded, N otables vvere w illing to go to the Central govem m ent o r to thc neighboring villages to negotiate for their villages’ benefits D ocum ents o f H ineno villagc rccordcd an event on Septcm bcr 3rd in the ycar o f Bunki (1501) On h can n g that the vvarriors from the N egoroji (belonged to the tcm to ry headed by H atakeyam a) prepared to attack H ineno village, its N olables discussed that “this is a m om ent o f deciding o u r survival It is necessary to negotiate (w ith thc N egoroji) and m ake a concession (to avoid w ar) ” [3, p.149] O n the day follow cd, rcpresentativcs o f H ineno subm itted to thc N egorọịi m ore than 200 katì [3, p 154] w hich vvas equivalcnt to their annual tax payment 1.3 C om baí Village T he villagc m ilitia was vcry important in autonom ous villages in Japan T h e militia was responsible for thc night patrols, fire and criminal prevcntion The docum ents o f Hine shõen show ed that the villagc militia vvas about 20 strong men, know n as m ura no bushi Notables in the villages “ chosc the elderly to lead the strong youths " [3, p.258] rc s p o n s ib le fo r th e d o c u m c n ts a s w c s ig n OUI d o tu m e n is D uring the w ar tim e, the m ilitias were main íorces to protcct their villages They set up guarding posts, send alarm s o f enemy to the villages T hey helped villagers to evacuate properties and cattle, im plem ent the plan o f “empty garden and deserted house” On 26ưi June in the second ycar o f Bunki (1502), having heard that their village vvould be attacked, villagers o f the H ine shỏen dccided to take novvadays It was common that docum cnts w ere sealed by the stamps but ihc mcdicval Japancsc uscd to sign with the quill pens Thcsc signalurcs wcrc knovvn as kao Those who could not vvritc w ould makc a circle instead o f signing thc documcnts Thcsc circlcs w ere known as ryakuo , translatcd as thc initial (6) This term used b y thc ccntral govcmmcnt and the Bakufu to reĩer to local sclf-arm ed gangs who did not obey the adm inistration The villagers requested lo use m oney to p a y the tax o f rice - 'I ran - Le dynasties were prcservcd, othei m atenals such as historical books, cpitaphs and researchcs shovv that V ietnam esc villages had many sim ilarities vvith those o f Japan Some rescarchers have com pared village’s regulations and bclicís bctw ccn Vietnam and Japar« [4,5] The tbllovving section is to provide some comparisons betw een Japanese villages in thc medieval history and those o f V ietnam under the dynastics o f Ly - T ran - Le As above analyzed, Japanesc villagc structurc was rellected in docum ents o f which serv'ed as a íorcrunner o f village lcgal regulations V ietnam ese village structure vvas partly rcílcctcd in the village rcgulations and conventions which startcd in the 14th and 15lh C enturics and well dcvelopcd in the 16^ - 19lh Ccnturics Inhabitant struclurc was also dividcd into original o r local villagcrs and outcast villagers O utcast villagers had a low cr stalus Ihan that o f local villagcrs The villagc was m anagcd by the village officialdom which included a village c h ief {Xa truong) and some other posts (Xa tu, X a giam) Thesc positions were selected by the villagers and thcy vvere prestigious, wealth and literacy like satanin in Japan In the 15th - ló lh Centuries, in Japan one bordcr territory w as establishcd by some nameholđcrs whose lanđs wcre close to each other This border territory was lcd by a chief w ho was elderly and had a lot o f land Pcoplc in p ll Linh / VN U /ounial o f Science, Social Sciences and Humanities 25, No.5E (2009) 37-45 this tcrntory coopcratcd in cultivation, tax collection and controlled each othcr A t thc tìrst glance, this tcrntory seem cd to sim ilar to the Giap in Vietnam with male m em bers and its activity vvcnt beyond the village adm inistrative boundary H ow ever, G iap w as a community based on family lincage and its main activity vvas to cooperate in vveddings and ĩunerals; whereas the bordcr tcrritory in Japan w as more inclincd to coopcrating in productivc activities It is hoped that thcrc w ould bc more materials on the bordcr territory o f Japan to comparc it vvith Giap in Vietnam The cconom ics o f the m edieval shõens in Japan mainly bascd on valley agriculture while Vietnamese agriculture at that timc bascd on the largc river delta but the function o f agricultural villagcs in both V ictnam and Japan was quite similar T he village w as to mangc its cultivation, tax collcction, rcclainiation, irrigation, and to overcom e natural disasters and to íìght against the enem ies In addition, it vvas also to com binc agricultural activities with handicrart and trading activities The m ilitia in Japan w as m u no bushi (young and strong m cn) led by thc taishu The militia in V ietnam w as Tuan dinh, tuan trang (village guard men), w ho w ere at the age o f 18 and 45 and formed the Tuan phien (village night patrol group) The group was hcadcd by X a giam K han phu or Truông luan [4, p.282283) The m ilitias’ duties on both V ielnam and Japan were sim ilar T hcy had to patrol, secure the village and prcvcnt crim inals at the peaceful time At the war tim c, thcy w ere the armed íorces to protect their villages A utonom ous and com bat villages were clearly reílectcd in the docum ents o f both Oyama and H ine shõens and ihey w ere also the images o f villages in V ictnam The term "evil gang", existed in the docum cnts o f the Oyama shõen in the 14"' - 15,h C entunes, referred to the 43 local self-arm cd group who did nol obey the rules and the adm im stration The Ming also uscd the samc tcrm to refer to the village sclfarmeci groups in Victnam in thc 15lh Centuries It was recorded in Binh dinh Giao nam luc o f Khau Tuan that "evil gangs em erged like the m ushroom after the rain, only Giao Clmu was p a c ifìe đ ' [6, p.282] T he docum cnis o f Hine shõen also recorded the íights between the villagers and the w arriors by cvacuating people and cattle in the H ineno villagc They implementcd thc plan o f “cm pty garden, desertcd house" and cnticcd thc cncmy into the m ountain o f Iriymada to attack ihe encmy These pictures o f com bat villages rem inded o f com bat villages in V ictnam during the Lam Son Uprising such as M ac V illage (Loe village, Dong N inh C om m unc, Dong Son Dist., Thanh Hoa Province), thc hom e o f Nguycn Chich The Mac V illage was thc site for the military exercises o f the insurgent army and it is well know n by the historical relics including Con La co, Con Trai cong, Con Phao, Con Luoi kicm, and the structure o f three íorces and rcarguards that írightened thc M ing enem y to death so m uch th a t “the enem y d id not dare to com e to D ong Son ” [6, p 183-279] The com bat villages vvere found in the epitaphs in thc villages o f Yen So and Dac So (íbrm crly knovvn as Ke G ia or C o So in Hoai Duc, Ha Tay) The epitaphs docum ented rich inform ation about thc com bat villages Sincc the 601 Century, in the uprising o f Ly Bi, Ke Gia was well-known w ith thc G eneral Ly Phuc Man who m ade a great contribution to the national liberalization against the Liang enemy in the year o f 524 and battlcs in Cuu Duc (Nghe Tinh) and D uong Lam (Ba V i, Ha Tay) After his death, the lo"1 o f M arch w as taken to celebrate Hoi Gia festival which dcm onstrated the participation o f villagers in Ly Phuc M an’s battles In the 13lh Century, in the Tran D ynasty's resistances against the M ongols, Ke 44 P.H Linh / VN U loum aỉ of Science, Sociaỉ Sâences and Humanities 25, No 5E (2(X)9) 37-45 Gia bccamc thc írontier T he C om plete Annals o f Dai Viet docum ented th a t à,in the p c rio d o f Nien Phong ( ỉ 1-1258) o f the Tran Dynasty, the Thai Dai (the M ongolians) invad ed the couníry; when entcred this area [K e Gia], their horses could noi m ove and thev w ere defeaíed b y the villưgers In the p e rio d o f Trung H ung (1258-1293), the enem y invaded the country again They destroyed e \’er)’tlĩing and everywhere bui thai area [K e G ia] w as sta íic " [7] lìpitaphs in Q uan G ia also charactcrized the battlc against thc M ongol as such “the enem y \vas surrounded bv the fir e circỉe w hich goí rnore and more closed and destroyed the en em y " [8] Located several dozcns o f kilom ctcrs from the Thang Long Palace and with brilliant tactics, Kc G ia pcople bravely kept thc cncmy out o f the village and defeated thcm V illage fcstivals and agricultural cerem onials w crc popular im agcs to thc people o f thc w atcr rice agriculture T he Sh u sei festival in every January for luckincss and good harvests in Japan was sim ilar to th e K hai fcstival in N orthern villages o f Victnam ; the Shen N o n g íestival and S ekim a i festival in Apnl o f Japan w cre sim ilar to the H a Dien ícstival in Junc o f V iem am The Lunar July full-m oon day for “pardoning hom clcss souls” in V ictnam and Japan arc both C hincse original; thc N eU’ Rice íestival is cclcbratcd in A ugust in Vietnam and in Scptem bcr in Japan; both Hotaki fcstival o f Japan and T huong D ien festival o f V ictnam are celcbratcd in N ovcm bcr For the rccovcr from natural disastcrs, both Victnam and Japan have thcir ow n íestivais such as P raying fo r Raitì íestival in Japan o r N huong thu íestival in V ictnam Documents o f Iline shõcn recorded the associations o f villages know n as kum i no g o in one region The kum i no go w as also founded in Vietnam but it was called the inter-village association In the resistance against the Ming enemy, thcsc intcr-village associations actively participatcd in w capon and food transportation and attacking the cncmy The good cxam ple was the association o f five villagcs nam ely Yen Hoa, Ha Vi, Nam Xuong, D ong N ham and Chau Xuycn (in Bac G iang tow n) These villages participated in surrounding the X uong Gian citadcl o f thc enem y for six m onths and deícatcd it 10 days before their m ilitary aid am vcd [6, p.288] In a nutshell, thc com parison o f villages in V ietnam and Japan shows that villages in both countrics w cre influenced by thc agricultural land possession in the O ricntal systcm including possessions o f the govcm m cnts, villages and individuals T he structurc, function, activity and regulation o f villages in both Victnam and Japan are sim ilar Particularly, thc íunctions o f production, reclaim ation, irrigation system im provem ent and o f fighting the outside enem ies w erc very clearly documented H ow ever, Japanesc villagcs since the 14* C entury had a highcr autonom y and indcpcndcnce and the individualization o f agricultural land possessions sừongly devclopcd as a rcsult o f shỏcn systcm in the m edieval history W hercas, the govcmmental and collcctivc possessions rcm aincd in a long period, thc individual possessions wcre mainly landovvncrs and the rclationship bctwcen the landovvners and thc tenant farmcrs Cultural and spiritual activity in villages o f the Hine shõcn is also an interesting topic and it has similarities with that o f V ictnam ese villages The systcm o f tcm ples o f deities, Buddhist pagodas, and shrines was a special charactcristic o f Japancsc b clicf systcm but it also had many sim ilarities vvith thc system o f village^s lcmples, Buddhist pagodas and shrines o f ancicnt villagcs in Victnam The abovc are somc initial discussions o f the papcr in thc study o f villagcs in Japan’s shõcns in reference with villagcs in Vietnam p 11 Linh / VN U Ịoum al o f Science, Soãnl Sciences and Humanities 25, No 5E (2(K)9) 37-45 The com parativc study o f villagcs in Japan and Vietnam is considcrcd as a highly potcntial approach The papcr w clcom cs com m cnts and discussion from researchers and ihosc w ho are ìnterested in this topic 45 [4] V u D u y M cn & Ilo a n g M inh Loi, V illage K cgulations in N orthern V ictnam and R cgulations o f K anlo V illag c in Japan (17th Ccntury - 19,h Ccntury), Institute of History: H anoi 2001 [5] T rin h C ao T u o n g , Tuteỉary G od o f Viỉlage in Vietnam a n d Shinto in Japan - A Comparative Study, Culturc and Intbmiation and Institute of C u ltu rc P ublishcrs: lla n o i 2005 R cíeren ces 11] K un aich o , K ujoke M onịo , D o c u m c n t N o 64, T okyo 1976 [2] H y o g o k cn sh i h c n sh u H yogokenshi , H y o g o , 1991 [3] C h u sc iin k ai, [7] P han H uy Lc, In search o f Nation 's Origin, Vol II, T h e W orld P ublishing H ousc: Han oi 1999 M asam oỉoko [8] N guycn B a Han, Q uan G ia E pitaphs , T h e VVorld P u b lish in g H o u sc: H anoi 1995 scnm on k u g cn iki k e n k y u k a i, tahibikitsuke , l/u m i sh o in , 1996 [6] Institu tc o f H istory, Vietnam 's Rurtiỉ in H istory , V ol ỉ S ocial S cicncc P u b lish in g H ousc: Hanoi 1977 ... vvas to cooperate in vveddings and ĩunerals; whereas the bordcr tcrritory in Japan w as more inclincd to coopcrating in productivc activities It is hoped that thcrc w ould bc more materials on... house" and cnticcd thc cncmy into the m ountain o f Iriymada to attack ihe encmy These pictures o f com bat villages rem inded o f com bat villages in V ictnam during the Lam Son Uprising such... p.288] In a nutshell, thc com parison o f villages in V ietnam and Japan shows that villages in both countrics w cre influenced by thc agricultural land possession in the O ricntal systcm including