Zoyakumen Kei Shoen (雑役免系荘園)
The term "Zoyakumen kei shoen" means shoen (manor) which were granted Zoyakumen (the right to exempt from all levies other than regular land tax) and whose lords were allowed to secure the amount equivalent to zatsueki (odd-jobs tasks) for themselves.
Summary
Zatsueki, provided to temples/shrines, was originally provided by the nation as an allowance in kind. In the tenth century, however, it came to be financed by shozei (rice tax stored in provincial offices' warehouse) of kokuga (provincial government offices) and in the eleventh century, the system was established under which temples/shrines were allowed to directly collect zatsueki by obtaining kokuga's permission. The object lands under the above system were granted Zoyakumen and became 'Zoyakumenden' (land exempted from zatsueki) (also called Fuden or Fumyo), obliged to provide zatsueki to temples/shrines instead of the nation. Though the object lands were not fixed initially and called "Ukimen," the system called Jomen under which some land was fixed as Zoyakumenden established later. As a result, a constant relationship was created between temples/shrines and Zoyakumenden/farmers and such relationships became the seed of the development of shoen. Later, these lands were certified by kokuga as shoen. The term "Zoyakumen kei shoen" refers to these shoen.
Provided, however, that because of the process of their establishment, kanmotsu (tributes goods paid as tax) was paid to kokuga as before though zatsueki was paid to temples/shrines, the lord of shoen. Due to the above, kendenken (the right of cadastral surveys) of kokuga was also maintained as before and the management of shoen was unstable because of the intervention by kokuga. It is considered that the area of Zoyakumen kei shoen was bigger than that of Kikonchi kei shoen or Kishinchi kei shoen (shoen originated from donated land) because the certification of kokuga was easily obtained. From the beginning of the twelfth century, some of temples/shrines, the lord of shoen, began to seek ichienshihai (complete rule of the land) of Zoyakumen kei shoen and eventually obtained the right to collect kanmotsu as with the case of fuko (lands allotted to temples/shrines) called jiden (land allotted to temples) or shinden (land allotted to shrines). However, Zoyakumen kei shoen still existed at various places during the twelfth century.
Remarks
The notion of Zoyakumen kei shoen was proposed by Yasuhiko MURAI in 1959. Initially Zoyakumen kei shoen were regarded as the cases that were seen mainly in kinai region (provinces surrounding Kyoto and Nara), but thanks to Keiichi KUDO's research on the cases in Kyushu, it is now believed that such cases were seen across the nation.