Official Letter from Gufuku-ji temple with Phrases of Acceptance by the Administration Offuce in Yamato 弘福寺牒並大和国判ぐふくじちょうならびにやまとのこくはん

Description

{i=>[chō], content=>[This is an official document (, ) from Gufukuji Temple (Kawaharadera) sent to the governor of Yamato Province requesting that their fields be exempt from taxation. During the Yamato governor’s inspection of this document, he has written notes in red at the end of each column. This document is of great significance for reflecting the operations of local government administrations during the period.]}

{br=>[[], [], [], []], content=>[This handscroll is a letter from Gufuku-ji temple to the administrator of Yamato province sent in 1072. In the letter Gufuku-ji temple asks the administration office to confirm the ownership of Kōfuku-ji temple's estate in the province of Yamato., In the main part of the letter, which consists of ninety-five lines, all the plots owned by Gufuku-ji temple are listed up. Signatures of the three persons including the inspector from the temple, were added at the end of the list., On request of the temple, the phrases of acceptance by the administrator of Yamato province was written in the fifteen lines at the end of the scroll, and the seal of the province of Yamato was stamped onto twenty places at paper-joint parts and over the characters., Gufuku-ji temple was sometimes called by the name \Kawahara-dera\ and was one of the largest temples during the Asuka and Hakuhō periods., In the 9th century, it became one of the subordinate temples of Tō-ji temple. This official letter provides fundamental information concerning Gufuku-ji temple's estate in the 11th century. It is a valuable document which shows the size of temple estates and the provincial administrator's certificate during the days when the regulation about nongovernmental ownership of real estate was proclaimed.]}