o all except nobles or
the sons and grandsons of literati. Scions of noble families down to
the fifth rank had the right of entry, and scions of nobles of the
sixth, seventh, and eighth ranks were admitted by nomination.

OFFICIAL EMOLUMENT

Remuneration to officials took the form of revenue derived from lands
and houses, but this subject can be treated more intelligently when
we come to speak of the land.

THE PEOPLE

According to the Daiho laws one family constituted a household. But
the number of a family was not limited: it included brothers and
their wives and children, as well as male and female servants, so
that it might comprise as many as one hundred persons. The eldest
legitimate son was the head of the household, and its representative
in the eyes of the law. A very minute census was kept. Children up to
three years of age were classed as "yellow" (kwo); those between
three and sixteen, as "little" (sho); those members of the household
between sixteen and twenty, as "middling" (chu); those between twenty
and sixty, as "able-bodied" (tei), and those above sixty as "old" or
"invalids," so as to secure their exemption from forced labour
(kayaku or buyaku). The census was revised every six years, two
copies of the revised document being sent to the privy council
(Daijo-kwan) and one kept in the district concerned. It was
customary, however, to preserve permanently the census of every
thirtieth year* for purposes of record, and moreover the census taken
in the ninth year of Tenchi's reign (670)** was also kept as a
reference for personal names. To facilitate the preservation of good
order and morality, each group of five households was formed into an
"association of five" (goho or gonin-gumi) with a recognized head
(hocho); and fifty households constituted a village (sato or mura),
which was the smallest administrative unit. The village had a mayor
(richo), whose functions were to keep a record of the number of
persons in each household; to encourage diligence in agriculture and
sericulture; to reprove, and, if necessary, to report all evil
conduct, and to stimulate the discharge of public service. Thus the
district chief (guncho or gunryo) had practically little to do beyond
superintending the richo.

*This was called gohi-seki; i.e., comparative record for a period of
five times six years.

**It was designated the Kogoanen-seki, from the cyclical name of the
year.

THE LAND

The land laws of the Dai