Japanese term for powerful and wealthy families
, in Japanese, refers to powerful regional families. In historical context, it can refer to powerful non-royal families regardless of their area of influence, in contrast to the Imperial Family. The most powerful "gōzoku" families of the Yamato period included the Soga clan, Mononobe clan and Katsuragi clan.
History.
In the Yamato period prior to the "ritsuryō" system, the powerful clans based in Yamato Province and Kawachi Province were referred to as the "chūō gōzoku" (central "gōzoku"), while the term "chihō" "gōzoku" (regional "gōzoku") referred to powerful clans outside the immediate vicinity of the capital who served as "kuni no miyatsuko" and "agatanushi". The central "gōzoku" held "kabane" titles such as "omi" and "muraji", while the regional "gōzoku" held titles such as "atai" and "kimi". The most powerful "daigōzoku" ("great "gōzoku"") included the Katsuragi clan, Ōtomo clan, Mononobe clan, and Soga clan.
After the implementation of the "ritsuryō" system, the central "gōzoku" became "kizoku", the aristocracy, and took part in central politics. The regional "gōzoku" remained practically unchanged and took part in regional politics. Under the "ritsuryō" system, "gōzoku" referred to powerful regional families holding a court rank of Sixth Rank or below or who were unranked, in contrast to the royals and the aristocracy, who held a court rank of Fifth Rank or above. Under this system, the "gōzoku" typically served as district governors or as junior officials in provincial governments, and thus took on the duties of local administration.
In the Middle Ages, "gōzoku" referred to a class of regional officials such as "jitō" (territory governor), "shōkan" (manor administrator) and "geshi" (junior official at a manor). However, after Muromachi period, the term "gōzoku" fell out of use and was replaced by the term "dogō", which referred to "jizamurai" (provincial peasant-warrior in charge of a small rural domain), "kumon" (official at a manor in charge of official documents) and "satanin" (official at a manor in charge of executing orders and judgements on behalf of the lord).
During and after the Edo period, neither the terms "gōzoku" nor "dogō" were used. The terms "gōnō" and "gōshō" replaced the previous class distinction following the rise of wealthy farmers and wealthy merchants during the Edo period.