2005 Volume 2005 Issue 55 Pages 51-79,en5
Rinji _??__??_ is a member of the Hosho _??__??_ group of documents. Hosho was a letter-form document that was written by servants or lower-ranking officials that was used to convey the proclamations of higher authorities to lower authorities. Rinji was mainly reserved for imperial orders. This paper considers the processes that established Rinji, as well as the reasons behind Rinji's importance in the eleventh century.
First, it is important to focus on how imperial orders were transmitted during the eighth century. Documents from Shosoin _??__??__??_ show us that orders from emperors, cloistered emperors and empresses were initially transmitted orally by those who first received the order. After oral transmission, officials then transcribed the order, so as to convey it to others. There seem to have been few documents dictated directly by an emperor, cloistered emperor or empress. It should also be noted that the documents made for the transmission of imperial orders were not necessarily in letter-form.
During the period under the statutory system (Ritsuryo-sei _??__??__??_), transmissions of imperial orders were usually carried out by Naishi-no-tsukasa _??__??__??_. A number of documents from Shosoin were recorded from the dictations of female attendants and nuns during this period. In the ninth century, imperial orders were transmitted by Naishi-sen _??__??__??_. At that time, Naishi _??__??_ made oral transmissions of imperial orders, and in many cases it was after this oral proclamation that male officials issued documents concerning the imperial order.
In the first year of the Konin-period (810), the office of Kurodo _??__??__??_ was established in the wake of the revolt of Kusuko _??__??__??__??_. The office of Kurodo expanded in size and function from the end of the ninth to the beginning of the tenth century, and as a result, the exclusive functions involving communication between the emperor and officials moved from the Naishi to the Kurodo.
From the tenth century onwards, many cases can be found where the Kurodo were transmitting imperial orders and mediating messages to the emperor. Although in many cases these transmissions were made orally, there are some examples that show the Kurodo had documented imperial edicts in letters. Letters written by the Kurodo are quoted in some diaries dating from the middle of the Heian period. In the diary ‘Gonki’[_??__??_] for example, Kurodo's letters concerning imperial orders were occasionally referred to as ‘oose-gaki’_??__??_, which suggests that the documents were written in the style of a letter from a higher to a lower authority. Also, the diary ‘Shoyuki’ [_??__??__??_] quotes letters in which the Kurodo wrote imperial orders with detailed instructions on business. On the other hand, later Rinji seldom contained such detailed instructions. Moreover, the letters of the Kurodo found in ‘Gonki’ and ‘Shoyuki’ do not include the same closing phrases as seen in Rinji. On the other hand, the diary ‘Sakeiki’ [_??__??__??_], which was written during the period of Emperor Go-Ichijo _??__??__??_, referred to letters that contained the same closing phrases as Rinji.
The documents that were specifically known as Rinji originate in the reign of Emperor Go-Ichijo. Earlier Rinji resembled the letters of the Kurodo quoted in the previously mentioned diaries, since both had contents that were twofold - the private rituals of the emperor himself, and the official rituals and ceremonies held within the imperial court. Therefore, it appears that the style of Rinji as a document was established during the reign of Emperor Go-Ichijo.
