This article attempts to investigate the imperial legislation regarding donations to the Church in the Early Byzantine Empire and point out their social character. In the 5th and 6th centuries, the Byzantine government issued several edicts to control such donations, which were being rapidly accumulated through out this period. The aims of this system of legislation, which was finally established by Justinian (527-565), were first to make sure that religious institutions would be constructed, secondly that the revenue for such institutions would be secured, and finally that these religious institutions be organized within the intentions of the imperial administration. The results of the author's investigation are as follows. As to the construction of chapels or other related institutions, the Byzantine government established an administrative rule and operated it rigidly. Given a time limit, the Church organization was made responsible for the construction of every project under the supervision of the imperial administrative governors. If the project could not be completed on schedule, the provincial governors (proconsules) were to file a lawsuit against the benefactor or his family and to force them to contribute twice the initial amount of money proposed. The legislation also prescribed that all religious institutions should have guaranteed annual revenues. If the benefactor or his family wanted to keep the foundation as private property, they were to arrange the finances to cover the operational expenses in advance. The sources of such funds were supposed to be from landed property. Evidently, however, private benefactors were ordained to support the clergy of their private institutions through the payment of salaries. This way of supporting clergy by salary was the same as the case of the official churches. The Byzantine government tried to pull the clergy away from both the church properties and their relatives. They were prohibited from taking any profits through their financial privileges. And after their death their private properties were to be assigned to the church to which they had belonged. The Byzantine government thus tried to bring benefactors and their clergy strictly under its control so that they could not act as freely as Western European benefactors. And since the charitable institutions were in charge of public functions, they were put under very strict control. The Byzantine government was eager to put ecclesiastical property under its control with so many measures that the Church organization, including the private institutions mentioned above, seemed almost fully subjected to the imperial administrative and financial system.

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The "Minbusho kankai system" (the audit system of the ministry of taxation) integrated the functions of public finance under the "Ritsuryo" government. However, in the ninth century, the "kankai" system became ineffective as the choyo in-kind/corvee taxation system decayed. Therefore, the government set to work on reforming this system. Initially, during the Kanpyo era (889-898), a new system called choyo sohensho was established. In this system the government issued receipts to those who had paid their choyo taxes. At the same time zomai sohensho was also established. Next, during the Engi era (901-923), the zuryo koka sadame was enacted as a way of efficiency rating the local government bureaucrats. Together with reforming the audit system, the central government reorganized the way to send taxes from the payer to the central government. Thus, in Engi 4 (904), a new tax collecting system was bagun. Consequently, each aristocratic family had the right to levy taxes directly by negotiating the charges with the provincial government. This how the "patrimonial kankai system" was formed. At this stage, taxes could not be collected without prior negotiation of the tax charges between aristocratic families and the local government. In other words, tax collection was based on the "patrimonial kankai system". The "Minbusho kankai" and the Zuryo koka sadame systems that began in the tenth century, were developed from the "patrimonial kankai system" within the aristocratic families. In this essay it is called "the stratified kankai system". Todaiji-temple's fuko documents describe exactly what the "patrimonial kankai system" was like. The documents show the various stages of tax payments from peasant (tax payers) to the central government (the final collector). When we examine the transformation shown in the documents from the tenth to the twelveth century it is fundamental to consider the roles that the Todaiji cho and the Todaiji hensho documents played. In the process of the "kankai" reform (from the end of the ninth to the beginning of the tenth century) the Todaiji cho is categorized a seicho, which means letters of reminder to pay the rice tax. On the other hand, the Todaiji hensho is categorized as receipts which the temple issued for the payments of the cho, yo, and zomotsu (miscellaneous in-kind) tax. Since they were issued from the ministry of taxation, the Todaiji documents served as official documents. The "tax" ministry issued them for the purpose of recording and checking the payments of the taxes from the provincial government. The Todaiji documents certify that the "kankai" reform was actually being carried out. Consequently, the temples were playing an important part in this by overseeing the local government in its remittance of the taxes. Incidentally, in the case of the rice tax, temples did the checking by referring to the fusoshocho and zeicho (tax accounting ledgers kept in the Minbu ministry). That is why Todaiji issued the letters of reminder for payments of the rice tax, while it was the receipts that they issued for the other taxes. The "kankai" system underwent great changes in the middle of the eleventh century. The seicho (letters of reminder) had been issued only for the rice tax. However, letters of reminder called saicho were introduced in the late eleventh century. They were issued not only for the "rice" tax but also for the cho, yo zomotsu taxes. The receipts had been issued only for the "Cho Yo and zomotsu taxes" however in the mid-eleventh century, the receipts called "hensho" for the "rice" tax were being issued as well. Hensho continued as an official audit document from the "tax" ministry. However, saicho became an unofficial document. This is because the

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Ning-Yang district was formed in December, 1566. The seat of government was built at Jixianli Dongxiyang (集賢里東西洋) in Long-Yan district (龍巌県). This paper examines the progress and significance of its formation. This region had previously suffered from wide-spread brigandage,against which territorial officials had to work out measures. Wen-Rui Wei (魏文瑞), a magistrate of Zhang-Ping district (〓平縣),conceived of a plan to form a new district as an effective countermeasure. On the basis of his plan, the territorial officials consulted inhabitants of Jixianli about the problem. Accordingly, the Cao brothers, Wen-Ye Cao (曹文〓) and Ming-Feng Cao (曹鳴鳳), both shengyuan (生員) of Long-Yan district, presented to the local government a petition for the formation of a new district, "Qing Jian Xian Yi (請建縣議)", on behalf of the inhabitants. In it, they strongly emphasized their wish for the restoration of order, and also for the social advancement of those who would join in economic cooperation in the course of its formation. When their petition was submitted, however, an opposition group appeared. The bureaucracy and inhabitants of the existing districts, opposing such a plan, requested an educate intendent circuit (提學道) to deprive the Cao brothers of their shengyuan titles. Eventually, the Caos' petition was granted by the government, and a new district was formed, but the brothers were deprived of their titles. Thus, the long-cherished wish of the inhabitants of Jixianli was finally fulfiled through their cooperation in building the new district city. Among all the sub-districts in the new district, they nearly monopolized all the advancements and privileges in their society. Just after the petition was granted, another opposition group started a campaign against the transfer of jurisdiction to the new district. This movement was solved politically five years later. But socially, the opponents would not be reconciled with the society of the new district until the end of the 17th century. In short, Ning-Yang district was formed by a one-sided movement of the Jixianli inhabitants to acquire their own district. But, on the other hand, their selfishness roused the repulsion of their neighbors. The formation of Ning-Yang district is considered to be a model case of the formation of districts in the middle and south China during the Ming Dynasty.

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