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Sadaijin (左大臣), most commonly translated as "Minister of the Left", was a government position in Japan in the late Nara and Heian periods. The position was created in 702 as part of the Daijō-kan (State Department) structure, by the Taihō Code.
The sadaijin was the Senior Minister of State, overseeing all branches of the Department of State (Daijō-kan) with the Udaijin (the Minister of the Right) as his deputy.
Within the Daijō-kan, the sadaijin was second only to the Daijō Daijin (the Great Minister, or Chancellor of the Realm) in power and influence. Frequently, a member of the Fujiwara family would take the position in order to help justify and exercise the power and influence the family held.
The post of sadaijin, along with the rest of the Daijō-kan structure, gradually lost power over the 10th and 11th centuries, as the Fujiwara came to dominate politics more and more. The system was essentially powerless by the end of the 12th century, when the Minamoto, a warrior clan, seized control of the country from the court aristocracy (kuge). However, it is not entirely clear when the Daijō-kan system was formally dismantled prior to the Meiji era.
[edit] A revealing framework
Any exercise of meaningful powers of court officials in the pre-Meiji period reached its nadir during the years of the Tokugawa shogunate, and yet the structure Council of State (Daijō-kan) did manage to persist. It is not possible to evaluate any individual office without assessing its role in the context of a durable yet flexible network and hierarchy of functionaries.[1]
The highest positions in the court hierarchy can be cataloged.[2] A dry list provides a superficial glimpse inside the complexity of the court structure:[3]
- 1. Chancellor of the Realm or Chief Minister (太政大臣, Daijō daijin?)[4]
- See also, Acting Great Minister of the Council of State (知太政官事, Chi-daijōkanji?).[5]
- 2. Minister of the Left (左大臣, Sadaijin?).[4]
- 3. Minister of the Right (右大臣, Udaijin?).[4]
- 4. Minister of the Center (内大臣, Naidaijin?).[4]
- 5. Major Counselor (大納言, Dainagon?). There are commonly three Dainagon;[4] sometimes more.[6]
- 6. Middle Counselor (中納言, Chūnagon?).[4]
- 7. Minor Counselor (少納言, Shōnagon?). There are commonly three Shōnagon.[4]
- 8. Director of palace affairs (参議,, Sanghi?). This office functions as a manager of activities within the palace.[7]
- 9. External Secretariat (外記, Geki?). These are specifically named men who act at the sole discretion of the emperor.[7]
- 10. Major Controller of the Left (左大弁, Sadaiben,?)[5] This administrator was charged or tasked with supervising four ministries: Center, Civil Services, Ceremonies, and Taxation.[7]
- 11. Major Controller of the Right (右大弁, Udaiben?)[5] This administrator was charged or tasked with supervising four ministries: Military, Justice, Treasury and Imperial Household.[7]
- 12. First Assistant Controller of the Left (左中弁,, Satchūben?).[7]
- 13. First Assistant Controller of the Right (右中弁,, Utchūben?).[7]
- 14. Second Assistant Controller of the Left (左少弁,, Sashōben?).[7]
- 15. Second Assistant Controller of the Right (右少弁,, Ushōben?).[7]
- 16. First Secretary of the Left (左大史,, Sadaishi?).[7]
- 17. First Secretary of the Right (右大史,, Udaishi?).[7]
- 18. Assistant Secretaries of the Left or Right (史少丞,, Shi shō-Sio?). There are twenty officials with this title.[7]
[edit] The Eight Ministries
A mere list of the court titles cannot reveal nearly enough about the actual functioning of the Daijō-kan; but at least the broad hierarchical relationships become more readily identified:
- I. Ministry of the Center (中務省,, Nakatsukasa-shō?).[8]
- II. Ministry of the Civil Services (式部省,, Shikibu-shō?); also known as the "Ministry of Legislative Direction and Public Instruction".[8]
- III. Ministry of the Ceremonies (治部省,, Jibu-shō?); also known as the "Ministry of the Interior".[9]
- IV. Ministry of Taxation (民部省,, Minbu-shō?).[10]
- V. Ministry of Military (兵部省,, "Hyōbu-shō"?).[10]
- VI. Ministry of Justice (刑部省,, Gyōbu-shō?).[11]
- VII. Ministry of the Treasury (大蔵省,, Ōkura-shō?).[12]
- VIII. Ministry of the Imperial Household (宮内省,, Kunai-shō?).[13]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Ozaki, Yukio. (2001). The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan pp. 10–11.
- ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 425–426.
- ^ NOTE: In this terse listing, the numbers are an arbitrary addition, intended only to assist in grasping the relative relationships. If these ordinals are perceived as unhelpful, they can be disregarded.
- ^ a b c d e f g Titsingh, p. 425.
- ^ a b c Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, p.272.
- ^ Unterstein (in German): Ranks in Ancient and Meiji Japan (in English and French), pp. 6, 27.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Titsingh, p. 426.
- ^ a b Titsingh, p. 427.
- ^ Titsingh, p. 429.
- ^ a b Titsingh, p. 430.
- ^ Titsingh, p. 431.
- ^ Titisngh, p. 432.
- ^ Titsingh, p. 433.
- (Japanese) Asai, T. (1985). Nyokan Tūkai. Tokyo: Kōdansha.
- Ozaki, Yukio. (2001). The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan. [Translated by Fujiko Hara]. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 10-ISBN 0-691-05095-3 (cloth)
- (Japanese) Ozaki, Yukio. (1955). Ozak Gakudō Zenshū. Tokyo: Kōronsha.
- Sansom, George (1958). A History of Japan to 1334. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-700-71720-X
- (French) Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. ...Click link for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)
- Varley, H. Paul, ed. (1980). [ Kitabatake Chikafusa, 1359], Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4
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