Reassessing Shōen: An International Conference
高橋敏子、東京大学史料編纂所： 「年貢の来納と荘園の領有」
Takahashi Toshiko, Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo: “Advance Rent Payment at Toji Estates”
「来納」（Rainou）というのは、年貢をその納入期限以前に領主に納めること、年貢の前納のことをいう。この来納は、荘園史のなかでは、特に中世後期の代官請負にかかわって、ごく一般的な事象として理解されるようになってきている。たとえば、荘園領主が、将来の収納年貢を担保として金融業者から借金をすることはよくみられることであるが、そのなかでも特に、債権者である金融業者を荘園の代官に補任し、金融業者の方は、荘園の経営を請け負いながら年貢の収納時に自分自身で債権を回収するという方式があった。金融業者が代官補任時にあらかじめ貸し出した銭が、金融業者が秋に回収する年貢の前納つまり来納にあたるのである。
けれども、このような荘園領主の借用の一手段としての来納は、来納のひとつの側面に過ぎない。来納というのは年貢そのもののことであり、請負代官だけでなく、荘園年貢の収取を行うあらゆる職と階層の人々にかかわる行為である。来納の納入者としては、領主に対して年貢を請け負った人々、すなわち請負代官、預所、下司・公文など在地の荘官そして百姓等がいる。逆に来納の収納者としては、荘園領主、収納請負者としての代官・地頭・預所等、さらには悪党や国人の一揆衆のような、その時点において公的に認められた領有者以外の在地領主等による来納の責め取りもみられる。来納というのは、荘園領主による借用の一手段というよりも、本質的には中世における年貢収取のひとつの形態であったと考えられる。
このような来納の性格は、来納が吉書のなかで徴収されているという事実によくあらわれていると考えられる。嘉禎元年（1235）2月、当時国衙領であった若狭国太良保では来納の徴符が吉書として出されていた（「東寺百合文書」エ函2号）。一年の所務初めの吉書には、仏神事興隆・勧農・乃貢という領主・領民双方の務めが記され、領知の嘉例・あるべき姿が示される。来納は、荘園・国衙領領知の嘉き例だったのである。年貢の前納によって、領主はその年の知行の確保を示し、百姓はその年の生活の安定を期待するのである。中世の百姓申状に「当庄に至りては、御寺以往末代の御領なり、したがって百姓等末代の御器なり」（「東寺百合文書」ツ函23(1)号、建武元年7月日太良荘百姓等申状）とみえるように、永代の御領と永代の百姓という公的関係の安定の意識、これが中世における来納という年貢収取の一形態を支えたのだと考える。
The term rainô refers to rent payments submitted to the estate proprietor before their due date—in other words, advance rent payments. This practice became common in the late medieval period, especially in connection with the system of contracting out rent collection to on-site representatives (daikan). For example, it was often the case that an estate proprietor borrowed cash from a moneylender using anticipated rent payments as collateral. In this process, the moneylender—the creditor—would be appointed as the daikan. The lender, while contracting to manage the estate, would collect the rents directly to pay off the debt. The cash previously lent to the proprietor when the moneylender was appointed as the daikan was an advance payment on the rent due after the autumn harvest—in other words, rainô.
However, the practice of advance rent payments was not only a means that estate proprietors used to borrow money. The method was employed not only by contractor daikan but by people at all levels and in all positions involved in the collection of estate rents. Those who delivered rents paid in advance included everyone who contracted to collect rents for the proprietor—local estate officials such as the contractor daikan, the custodian (azukaridokoro), local manager (gesu), and reeve (kumon), as well as cultivators. Those who received advance rent payments included the proprietor, the daikan in his position of contractor for the proprietor, the military steward (jitô), and the custodian. Also, advance rent payments were sometimes extorted by local strongmen who had no officially recognized right to collect them at that time, such as warriors in local leagues who were characterized as “evil bands (akutô).” Rather than being simply a method for estate proprietors to borrow money, advance rent payments were essentially one form of rent collection in the medieval period.
Documents that exhorted people not to be negligent in paying rents refer to rainô, indicating that the practice can be characterized as a standard form of rent collection. In 1235/2, a demand for advance rent payment from Tara hamlet of Wakasa province, at that time a holding in the public domain, was made in a written document (Tôji hyakugô monjo, box “エ” number 2). This document, issued at the beginning of yearly management operations, set out duties of both proprietor and residents, such as supporting temples and shrines, improving agricultural production, and paying the rent—it articulated good examples of management practice and indicated how things should be done. Advance payment of rent on estates and public holdings is included as one of these good examples. Through early rent payment, the proprietor could assure his control over the holding for that year, and the cultivators could anticipate stable living conditions for the year. In the seventh month of 1334, a petition from cultivators on Tôji’s Tara estate declared, “This estate shall be the temple’s holding until the end of days. Thus the cultivators shall serve the temple to the best of their ability until the end of days” (Tôji hyakugô monjo, box “ツ” number 23:1). This petition indicates a sense that the official relationship between proprietor and cultivators would guarantee stability forever. I think that this sentiment supported the medieval form of rent collection known as rainô.