Jige Kaden (地下家伝)
The Jige Kaden, a work of history written during the Tenpo era in the late Edo period, is a collection of the genealogical records of families of Jigenin (low-ranking court officials who were not allowed into the Emperor's living quarters in the imperial palace, usually ranked at the sixth rank or lower except for Kurodo). The editor was Kagefumi MIKAMI, a member of the Hokumen warriors (guards of the north side of the Imperial palace).
Background of the Work's Composition
By the period Kagefumi lived in, several hundred years had already passed since the Ritsuryo system had become nothing but a name and the noble families of the court had been divided by status into the Tosho-ke (the lineage of court nobles occupying relatively high ranks) and the Jige-ke. The high-ranking Tosho-ke families had detailed records of their origins, the dates of birth and death of their successive heads, and the history of their investiture. But among the Jige-ke, who were more like actual administrative officers, few families kept such grand genealogies. In addition, there were many Jige-ke families who had originally been outside the circles of power, but were promoted out of recognition for their contributions and newly given the status of Jige as new families. This might be the reason that most of the Jige-ke families in those days were unclear about their origins and histories.
Bemoaning this fact, Kagefumi started an independent survey of the various Jige-ke families' lineages. His method of collecting the necessary sources is unknown. It is assumed that possibly, in response to his request, the Jige-families offered their family trees and the kuzenan (official announcements of appointment) that had been handed down from generation to generation. Based on such materials collected in this way, Kagefumi started writing in October 1842. After a year and a half, the first edition was completed on June 16, 1844.
Publication by Atsuo MASAMUNE
After the first edition was published, the Jige Kaden was revised and supplemented several times, and the last revision was performed during the Ansei era. Although not many, some manuscripts were made. However, they were not printed but copied by hand using a brush, and the more the book was copied, the more clerical errors, omissions, and errors in the structure of volumes were produced.
In 1938, Atsuo MASAMUNE, a scholar of Japanese literature, edited the manuscripts surviving at the time and published them. Still, among the several manuscripts he used for reference, there were some differences in the characters and the structure of volumes. This was the reason for Masamune labeling the 31st volume of the Jige Kaden as missing. It also has the defect that because it was not revised after the Ansei era, it cannot identify the heads during the period from the last revision to the Meiji Restoration, when the status of Jige was discontinued. However, neither the original text written by Kagefumi himself nor any manuscript essentially identical to it has been found yet. Besides, now that Masamune himself has already passed away, another edition of the Jige Kaden more accurate than Masamune's edition is unlikely to be published.
And yet there is nothing else that has surveyed the genealogical record of the Jige-ke families so carefully or in such detail. For this reason, now the Jige Kaden is an indispensable historical source for the study and research of Jige-ke families.
Contents
The Jige Kaden has 33 volumes in total, divided according to categories such as the offices they held, and the differences between Sekke (families of the regent line), Miyake (families allowed to have the status of the Imperial family) and Monzeki (families from temples of high rank where members of imperial family and nobility had entered the priesthood). It records, in as much detail as possible, such things as the names of the successive heads of Jige-ke families, the names of their fathers and mothers, the dates of their birth and death, and the history of their investitures and appointments to office.
According to the Masamune edition, the configuration of the volumes is as follows;
The First Volume
Rokui no Kurodo (Chamberlains of Sixth Rank)
The Second Volume
Shonagonkyoku (Lesser Counselors' Office, including Daigeki [Senior Secretaries], Shogeki [Junior Secretaries], Shisho [low-ranking scribes in government offices], Fudono [the document bureau], 上召使 and 少納言侍)
The Third Volume
Nakatsukasasho-shisho (low-ranking scribes in the Ministry of Central Affairs), Otoneriryo (Bureau of Imperial Attendants), Miki no tsukasa (Bureau of Sake-brewing), Nuidono-ryo (Bureau of the Wardrobe and Court Ladies) and Shikibu-sho (Ministry of Personnel)
The Fourth Volume
Daizenshiki (Office of the Palace Table), Oiryo (Bureau of Palace Kitchens under the Ministry of the Imperial Household), Kamonryo (Bureau of Housekeeping), 内賢, Shurei (officials belonging to the Ministry of Central Affairs and changed with impressing stamps and seals), Samaryo (Bureau of Horses, Left Division), Umaryo (Bureau of Horses, Right Division), Hyogoryo or Tsuwamono no kura no tsukasa (Bureau of Military Storehouses), Sanja (assistants to shonagon [minor counselors] and Shibu (low ranking bureaucrats engaged in miscellaneous works)
The Fifth Volume
Benkan (officials of the dajokan [Grand Council of State] including Kanmu [the collective name for the offices of the sadaishi or senior recorder of the left, and the udaishi or senior recorder of the right], Shi [clerks], Takumiryo [Bureau of Skilled Artisans], Kajo[officials under Benkan and in charge of supervising Shibu] and 弁侍)
The Sixth Volume
Udoneri (Palace Attendants)
The Seventh Volume
Takumiryo Shisho (low-ranking scribes in the Bureau of Skilled Artisans), Okura-sho (Ministry of the Treasury), Mokuryo (Bureau of Carpentry), Tonomoryo (Bureau of Grounds) and others
The Eighth Volume
Suino (officials of Kurododokoro in charge of miscellaneous services and receipts and disbursement), Zushoryo (Bureau of Drawings and Books), Mondo no tsukasa (Water Office) and others
The Ninth Volume
Kebiishi (Office of Police and Judicial Chief)
The Tenth Volume
Gagaku (ancient Japanese court dance and music) players (at the Imperial Court in Kyoto)
The Eleventh Volume
Gakunin (Musicians of the Kofukuji-Temple in Nara)
The Twelfth Volume
Gakunin (Musicians of the Tennoji-Temple in Osaka)
The Thirteenth Volume
Gakunin (musicians) of Edo, Nanto uhonin (musicians at temples in Nara, such as the Kasuga-taisha Shrine), Nanto terazamurai (warriors at temples in Nara who performed not only administrative functions but also dances and music), and the histories of families that died out
The Fourteenth Volume
Takiguchi no musha (the Imperial Palace Guards under the command of Kurododokoro [the Chamberlain's Office])
The Fifteenth Volume
Konoefu, or the headquarters of the Inner Palace Guards (part one)
The Sixteenth Volume
Konoefu, or the headquarters of the Inner Palace Guards (post two)
The Seventeenth Volume
Jo-hokumen (Hokumen warriors ranked at the fourth or fifth rank) and others
The Eighteenth Volume
Ge-hokumen (Hokumen warriors ranked at the sixth rank)
The Nineteenth Volume
Onmyoryo (Bureau of Divination) and Tenyakuryo (Bureau of Medicine)
The Twentieth Volume
Naizenshi (Imperial Table Office), Mizushidokoro (Imperial Kitchen), 御蔵, Edokoro-azukari (the head painter of the Edokoro [an atelier producing paintings and painted decorations for the court and nobility]) and In no Zoshiki (low-level functionaries of the retired emperor's offices)
The Twenty-first Volume
The Konoe family and the Kujo family (Shodaibu [fifth and fourth rank officials] and samurai [warriors])
The Twenty-second Volume
The Nijo family, the Ichijo family and the Takatsukasa family (Shodaibu [fifth and fourth rank officials] and samurai [warriors])
The Twenty-third Volume
The Fushiminomiya family, the Katsuranomiya family, the Arisugawanomiya family and the Kaninnomiya family (Shodaibu [fifth and fourth rank officials] and samurai [warriors])
The Twenty-fourth Volume
The Sanjo family, the Saionji family, the Tokudaiji family and the Imadegawa family (Shodaibu [fifth and fourth rank officials] and samurai [warriors])
The Twenty-fifth Volume
The Kazanin family, the Oinomikado family and the Daigo family (Shodaibu [fifth and fourth rank officials] and samurai [warriors])
The Twenty-sixth Volume
The Koga family and the Hirohata family (Shodaibu [fifth and fourth rank officials] and samurai [warriors])
The Twenty-seventh Volume
The Nakanoin family, the Sanjonishi family, the Ogimachisanjo family and the Nakayama family (Shodaibu [fifth and fourth rank officials] and samurai [warriors])
The Twenty-eighth Volume
The Shogo-in Temple, the Shoko-in Temple, the Enman-in Temple and the Jisso-in Temple (Bokan [residential retainers serving at those temples], Shodaibu [fifth and fourth rank officials] and samurai [warriors])
The Twenty-ninth Volume
The Shoren-in Temple, the Sanzen-in Temple, the Myoho-in Temple, the Manshu-in Temple and the Izumo-ji Temple (Bokan [residential retainers serving at those temples], Shodaibu [fifth and fourth rank officials] and samurai [warriors])
The Thirty Volume
The Ninna-ji Temple, the Daikaku-ji Temple, the Kaju-ji Temple, the Sanbo-in Temple, the Zuishin-in Temple and the Rengeko-in Temple (Bokan [residential retainers serving at those temples], Shodaibu [fifth and fourth rank officials] and samurai [warriors])
The Thirty-first Volume
(A missing volume)
The Thirty-second Volume
The Chion-in Temple, the Ichijo-in Temple and the Daijo-in Temple (Bokan [residential retainers serving at those temples], Shodaibu [fifth and fourth rank officials] and samurai [warriors])
The Thirty-third Volume
The family tree of Mikami family of Hata clan (Kagefumi's own family)