Iju ̄in Y., with S. Kawai
significantly different from those of China. This, he noted, was particularly true with regard to
patterns of kinship organization in the two countries. Unlike China, which was a strongly patri-
lineal society, social structure in seventh- and eighth- century Japan was bilateral, and the ie had
not been established to function as the foundational social unit.^46 Attempts to import Chinese
legal concepts verbatim thus introduced contradictions between law and actual practice.
As Sekiguchi Hiroko has noted, Japan’s proximity to the far more technologically and insti-
tutionally advanced Tang empire resulted in political reform on the archipelago being driven
overwhelmingly by external factors, rather than by internal developments within the social
structure and means of production. In spite of this enormous political change, Japanese social
structure did not become patriarchal.^47 This is an important point for scholars researching gender
relationships and other social phenomena of the classical era.
It is fortunate that recent scholars such as Yoshida have been conducting research focusing on
the differences in Japanese and Chinese societies. For example, more recent studies present a dif-
ferent perspective, reflecting on the historical condition of early classical Japan preceding the
establishment of patriarchal families. They argue that the royal court created the individual
articles compiled within the Yōrō Code, including the Ko ryō, in order to facilitate a smooth suc-
cession of tax responsibilities to the next generation rather than aiming to establish a patriarchal
family model.^48
Family during the Heian period
During the Heian period, it became customary in aristocratic society to inherit socio- political
status through the paternal lineage.^49 Clans were reorganized into groups based on patrilineal
principles and succession.^50 According to Fukutō Sanae, the royal family’s changing perspective
toward their genealogy led to the establishment of a new succession principle, based on the idea
that the throne should be transferred to patrilineal direct descendants, who represented the legiti-
mate royal line. Some prestigious aristocratic houses, such as the Fujiwara, generated “branch
lineages,” each of which consisted of family members descended from a politically powerful indi-
vidual who had attained high official rank. For example, the Kajūji line was a branch lineage
descended from Fujiwara no Takafuji, a grandfather of Daigo (885–930, r. 897–930), who
achieved an inner minister position. During the mid- Heian period, upper- level male aristocrats
began to receive promotions to the fifth rank at their coming of age. The purpose of this custom
was to transfer political status (i.e., an official court post) from father to son, and to maintain such
paternal- based privilege over time. By the end of the eleventh century, the concept of the ie had
been established based on official posts transferred through paternal succession.^51
Middle- and lower- ranking officials began transferring their specialized capacities, such as
scholarly knowledge and administrative skills, through these paternal successions. As shown by
the case of the Ozuki, who passed down the post of Major Recorder of the Left (sadaishi) over
many generations, members of specific families came to inherit certain official posts. Although
men were the successors to family jobs and posts, some mid- Heian cases show that the posts of
“female attendants from provincial elite families” were transferred from aunts to nieces.^52
Heian marriage
At the end of the ninth century, the Fujiwara regents’ house (sekkanke) began designating one of
the family head’s wives as the primary wife, a custom which became established during the mid-
eleventh century.^53 After that, the first wife of the family head was called “kita no mandokoro.”
Although she established her own administrative office, her husband took it under his control.^54