義門鄭氏と元末の社会

It is well known that when the Yüan began to govern China, social status was strictly divided into four classes: i; Mongol 蒙古, ii; Sê-mu 色目, iii; Han-jên 漢人, iv; Nan-jên 南人. The lowest class of Nan-jên (the landowning class in Chiangnan 江南) was especially alienated from politics. The only way left for them to participate in government was to become low class official. But after the years past, the Yüan Government also had become inclined to change its mode of government to one like that practised in traditional Chinese dynasties. Subsequently its attitude to the Nan-jên also changed. Especially during the premier Toktogha 脱脱 period of late Yüan dynasty, maybe for his understanding of Han culture, maybe for the strengthening of the political system, the Yüan Government found a need for co-operation from the Chiangnan landowning class. Therefore, a lot of Chiangnan landowners had entered political careers in that time.Although the Yüan Government changed its attitude, a rebellion still arose in 1351 A. D. and immediately spread over all the country. In Chiangnan, Chu Yüan-chiang 朱元璋—the leader of the rebel army—occupied Nanking 南京 and used it as a base for gradually expanding his power. Owing to his inclusion of the Chiangnan landowning class in his group, he successfully established a firm political power basis.At P’u-chiang county 浦江県 in Chin-hua prefecture 金華府, the Chêng family survived the confusing period. The family lived together without dividing their property for several generations and had received the award, the ‘I-mên 義門’, from the Yüan Government and were well known in Chiangnan society during the late Yüan dynasty. The struggle between the Yüan Government and Chu Yüan-chiang was also projected into their relation with this family. Both of them were trying to strengthen their relations with the Chêng family. It means that we can’t really understand Chiangnan society in the late Yüan dynasty without knowing the Chêng family.In this study I took the Chêng family as a representative of the landowning class in Chiangnan. By tracing the Cheng family’s participation in and withdrawal from the Yüan Government and its subsequent co-operation with Chu Yüan-chiang we show the trends in the Chiangnan landowning class in the late Yüan dynasty