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Created page with "*''Japanese'': 助郷 ''(sukegou)'' or 助郷役 ''(sukegou yaku)'' Corvée labor was one of the chief ways in which villages, towns, and domains paid their feudal ob..."
*''Japanese'': 助郷 ''(sukegou)'' or 助郷役 ''(sukegou yaku)''
Corvée labor was one of the chief ways in which villages, towns, and [[han|domains]] paid their feudal obligations to the shogunate, alongside tax payments in [[currency]] or in goods.
==Classical Japan==
==Medieval Period==
==Early Modern Period==
In the [[Edo period]], corvée took chiefly three forms. One was labor for public works projects, usually provided at the direction of a domain in order to contribute to construction or repair of castles or riparian (river-related) projects in [[tenryo|shogunate-held lands]]. A second form was labor provided by towns and villages to aid in the travel and transport of official journeys, such as ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'', and [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo|Ryukyuan]] and [[Korean embassies to Edo]]. This included villagers & townsmen serving as porters, as well as providing horses, baskets, inns, and so forth. A third form of corvée was provided by fishermen and other peasant/commoner boatmen, who were obliged to use their boats to help escort or unload samurai vessels, among other similar tasks.<ref>Arne Kalland, ''Fishing Villages in Tokugawa Japan'', University of Hawaii Press (1995), 213-231.</ref>
Corvée could take up a rather considerable portion of a villager's time and efforts, taking him away from farming, fishing, or otherwise making a living for a very significant proportion of days of the year. This also pulled young men away from farming or fishing and into [[post stations]] or other large towns, where they would be exposed to and enticed by various entertainments, including [[prostitution]]. This was a serious concern for many village headmen, who complained and petitioned at times against the corvée and against official policies aiding the growth and prosperity of these towns, alleging that the towns represented a very serious threat to village prosperity, and to the very social fabric of village life. Post-station officials and brothel owners often countered, however, that prostitution (as well as other urban businesses and entertainments) were essential to ensuring that the town was prosperous enough to be able to afford to provide horses, inns, and men to fulfill the town's corvée obligations.<ref>Amy Stanley, ''Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan'', UC Press (2012), 157.</ref>
{{stub}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Terminology]]
[[Category:Political Institutions]]
Corvée labor was one of the chief ways in which villages, towns, and [[han|domains]] paid their feudal obligations to the shogunate, alongside tax payments in [[currency]] or in goods.
==Classical Japan==
==Medieval Period==
==Early Modern Period==
In the [[Edo period]], corvée took chiefly three forms. One was labor for public works projects, usually provided at the direction of a domain in order to contribute to construction or repair of castles or riparian (river-related) projects in [[tenryo|shogunate-held lands]]. A second form was labor provided by towns and villages to aid in the travel and transport of official journeys, such as ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'', and [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo|Ryukyuan]] and [[Korean embassies to Edo]]. This included villagers & townsmen serving as porters, as well as providing horses, baskets, inns, and so forth. A third form of corvée was provided by fishermen and other peasant/commoner boatmen, who were obliged to use their boats to help escort or unload samurai vessels, among other similar tasks.<ref>Arne Kalland, ''Fishing Villages in Tokugawa Japan'', University of Hawaii Press (1995), 213-231.</ref>
Corvée could take up a rather considerable portion of a villager's time and efforts, taking him away from farming, fishing, or otherwise making a living for a very significant proportion of days of the year. This also pulled young men away from farming or fishing and into [[post stations]] or other large towns, where they would be exposed to and enticed by various entertainments, including [[prostitution]]. This was a serious concern for many village headmen, who complained and petitioned at times against the corvée and against official policies aiding the growth and prosperity of these towns, alleging that the towns represented a very serious threat to village prosperity, and to the very social fabric of village life. Post-station officials and brothel owners often countered, however, that prostitution (as well as other urban businesses and entertainments) were essential to ensuring that the town was prosperous enough to be able to afford to provide horses, inns, and men to fulfill the town's corvée obligations.<ref>Amy Stanley, ''Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan'', UC Press (2012), 157.</ref>
{{stub}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Terminology]]
[[Category:Political Institutions]]