무사계급과 의제적(擬制的) 친족관계의 시대별 유형 - 가마쿠라시대와 에도시대를 중심으로 -

Abstract

Japan had long formed a unique bushi-culture distinct from the cultures exhibited in other East Asian countries such as Korea, China, and Vietnam. Approximately 700 years had seen the bushi-governed, rather than intellectual- governed, hierarchy, and their traditional and cultural heritages are still found in contemporary Japanese life. It has already been 150 years after the demise of the Edo regime, and it is a remarkable fact that the contemporary Japanese are more or less affected by the bushi-derived tradition, custom, behavioral pattern, and thought. The key to understanding the contemporary society is the concept of family relation. One of the reasons why the adoption system has developed in Japan is indeed concerned with the bushi-class in the past time. During Edo period, not only the families of bushi but also those of merchants and farmers emerged, and the adoption system accordingly developed in order to resolve issues about taking over the house. Out of 15 Tokugawa shoguns in the days of Edo Shogunate, six of them inherited the shogunate position as an adopted child, with the adopted rate being more than 40 percent. At the time, adoptions were continuously found in not only shogunate families but also families of feudal worriers. It is concluded that the inheritance through adoption was an essential factor for bushi-families.