The mokkan, wooden administrative records, provide a clear picture of the lives of the thousands of bureaucrats who made up the administrative heart of the Nara state. The records reveal how they were assessed for promotion, in a hierarchy that gave special preference to the members of aristocratic families. For these favored individuals, there were 30 ranks. Under the provisions of the Taiho Code, rank determined their allowances of rice land and ascribed households to provide for their needs and their number of retainers. Thus a person of the 14th rank was given eight cho of rice fields, 20 retainers, but no sustaining households. By contrast, a minister of the Right was given 30 cho of rice fields, 2,000 sustaining households, and 300 retainers. Some worked full time, others on a half-time basis. Many lived in Heijo-kyo itself, but others commuted to the center from outlying villages. The total size of the administration probably reached about 10,000 individuals.
Grades of the Elite and Rural Bureaucracy
The top 14 of the 30 grades of officials were reserved for the elite aristocracy, members of powerful uji, or clans. It was virtually impossible for the less exalted in status to break into this group, which was privileged by much higher rewards, land grants, and power. Responsibilities were also inherited to the second or third generation, again ensuring continuity within the uji. These elite individuals had large and opulent compounds located near the royal palace at Heijo-kyo. They were provided with substantial incomes in kind, sustaining land and villages, and were exempt from most tax imposts. There were probably no more than 250 such privileged aristocrats at any given time. Below them lay 16 further grades occupied by those who held lower court ranks. Some of these had important regional administrative posts that joined the center with the provinces. They received far less in terms of goods and services.
The supporting rural population was also rigidly ordered in about 60 provinces, each controlled by a governor appointed for a period of six years. He had his own administrative staff and was responsible for maintaining a census, encouraging production, and resolving disputes. An excerpt from the yoro code of 718 c. E. decreed that the governor should have responsibility for the supply of labor, oversee tax collection, and maintain storehouses. He was in charge of troops in his province and their necessary supplies. An idea of rural japan during this period can be gained from references in the same code to beacons for signaling, forts, Buddhist monasteries, and rice fields. Provinces were further divided into about 600 districts that were usually administered by a local leader, responsible for ensuring production and collection of taxes.
World History
