A Study on Some Acts Concerning the Vietnamese Land Distribution System in the 18th Century
Year: 1975
Type: article
Abstract: In “A Study on the Vietnamese Land Distribution Act of 1711” which will appear in Shigaku-Zasshi, we show how the cȏng ᵭiền (公田), ricefield of the State, passed, as a result of the disintegration of the monarchical structure and the growth of village autonomy, from State control (in the 15th century) to village control (in the 19th century). In this article we analyze the process by which cȏng ᵭiền became tu’ ᵭiền (私田), private ricefield, and the influence that this separation from State control had on the structure of peasant society. Part I. The ᵭiển ᵭiền (典田), pledge system of ricefields, played a decisive role in the decrease of cȏng ᵭiền during the 17th and 18th centuries. Cȏng ᵭiền in pledge was prohibited in the Hồng Dức Code, the basic document of Vietnamese law promulgated in the 15th century. But an act issued in 1690, prescribed that cȏng ᵭiền in pledge could be repurchased by means of the payment of hủy tiền (毀銭), the money for cancellation, with the proviso that sales contracts before 1669 would be valid. Furthermore, according to the Act on Land Distribution of 1711, the government acknowledged the right of the obligee to purchase cȏng ᵭiền. While this act forbad the sale or pledge of cȏng ᵭiền after the promulgation of 1711, we conclude that these acts were ineffective in the preservation of cȏng ᵭiền.Part II. The decrease of cȏng ᵭiền caused increasing stratification of the peasantry who were entitled to state distribution of land. By the Act of 1711, the government gave legal priority to the distribution of cȏng ᵭiền to the landless peasants. However, the numbers of them, who abandoned their legal residence, increased sharply during the 18th century. Therefore, the government reduced taxes on them, tried to force them to return to their originals places of residence, and called them together to reclaim waste land. But all in vain.Part III. The decrease of cȏng ᵭiền caused the accumulation of ricefields by large landowners. Accumulation of land by haò phú (豪富), village gentry, was forbidden by another act of 1711. In the 15th and 16th centuries it was the qúy quyen (貴権), aristocracy, who owned ᵭiền trang (田庄), latifundia. According to this act, however, some of the trang trại (庄寨), estate, in the 18th century formed haò phú, and the tenants on the estates had their origins in the former cȏng ᵭiền peasantry. These conditions were at the root of the economic and social problems of the Nguyễn dynasty in the 19th century.
Author: SAKURAI, Yumio
Language: Japanese
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7146300749