Comparative Study of the Landed-Fief-System of Japan, during the Edo Period.

德川幕府发现自己在近代早期处于封建和所有权的顶峰。大名的领地由幕府分封，大名封臣的封地由大名自己从自己的领地中分配。大名是幕府批准的在其管辖范围内拥有刑罚、行政和征税等独立权利的机构。然而，对于大名的封臣或家臣，一般认为，在大名权力的形成和中央化过程中，曾经对封地行使的各种权利被削减或私有化，最终仅限于征税。但也有一些家臣仍然拥有并行使行政和处罚权的情况。应该研究为什么会有这样的家臣群体（我暂时称之为ky-nin-ryoshu，或封臣selineurs），以及他们如何看待自己的分封土地，特别是在大名权力集中和大名藩权减少的过程中。诸侯对封邑土地的权利当然得到了领主的认可，从某种意义上说，诸侯对封邑土地的使用可以看作是国家对代理统治的执行。如果是这样的话，诸侯应该像封建官僚那样支配封地。但是这种统治权应该是管理领主领地的执吏和县官的特权，而不是被分封的封臣的特权。然而，对于分封或赐封的土地及其社会，应该从诸侯对土地政策的看法和统治集团的意识来考察，这是解读德川时代上层（大名）和下层（贵族）封地特征的线索。

The Tokugawa shogun found himself at the apex of feudalland own-ership during early modern times. The daimyo's domains were en-feoffed by the shogun and the fief of a daimyo vassal was apportioned by the daimyo himself from among his domain. The daimyo was approved by the shogunate to hold such independent rights as punishing, administering and taxing within his domain. As for the daimyo's vassals or retainers, however, it has been a popular view that various rights once exercised over their fief had been reduced or skeletonized in the process of the formation and centralization of daimyo power and eventually became restricted to taxation.But some cases in which the retainers still held and exercised administrative and punishment rights have been reported. It should be examind why there existed groups of such retainers (whom I tentatively call ky-nin-ryoshu, or vassal-selineurs) and how they perceived their own enfeoffed land, especially in the process of the centralization of daimyo power and the reduction of the rights of the daimyo vasals as a result. The vassals'rights over the enfeofied land were certainly approved by the overlord and in a sense the use of them can be taken as an execution of proxy rule by the state. If so, the vassals should have dominated the fief as if they were feudal bureaucrats. But such domination ought to have been substantially the perquisite of the bailiffs (daikan) and county magistrates (koribugyo) who were administering the lord's demesne, and not of the enfeoffed vassals. Nevertheless, the enfeoffed or bestowed land and its society should be examined in terms of the vassals'views on agraian policy and the consciousness of the ruling group which serve as clues to decipher the characteristics of the upper level (daimyo) and lower level (kyunin) fiefs during the Tokugawa times in general.