What is discussed in this essay is the structure of the Shosho-Betto 所々別当 system which functioned during the Heian Period. In the function of the Shosho-Betto, the following three elements can be enumerated. First, they appointed, under the Emperor, the staff of the Shosho 所々, which means they themselves organized the Shosho system. Secondly, they assumed ultimate responsibility for the Emperor in the management of the service records of the staffs they appointed. Lastly, they supervised the work of the Shosho, without becoming involved in the usual management which was to be done in the Shosho offices, but representing the offices in outside world, for instance before the Emperor, various departments and the provincial authorities. In this regard, the Shosho-Betto were distinct from the department heads 諸司長官 under Ritsuryo Law. On this point of super vision duties, the Shosho-Betto appear to bear a resemblance to the Emperor himself during the period. Tenjojisin 殿上侍臣, the Emperor's entourage, and the konoe-Jisho 近衛次将, the vice-ministers of the Imperial Guard, which attended near by the Emperor, were appointed to Shosho-Betto during the first half of the 9th century. This means that the Shosho were controlled until that period by the Emperor and those linked to him by blood or by personal trust. That is to say, the Shosho, the patrimonial machinery of the Emperor, were controlled by the upper circle of the Court with the Emperor in the centre. However the Kurodo 蔵人, the secretary to the Emperor, came to be appointed to new Shosho-Betto posts, which were instituted from the second half of the 9th century. Here we see a remarkable change in the worth of the Shosho. In other words, there developed a new phase of the Shosho-Betto; the Emperor began to manage the Shosho directly through the Kurodo, while the united upper circle of the Court were relieved of the duty. This means that there developed a notion that the patrimonial machinery of the Emperor should be controlled by he himself. It is said the Emperor became one of the political elites of the period Kenmon 権門, expanding his personal patrimony during the latter half of the Heian Period. Taking our discussion into consideration, the starting point for this tendency can be ascribed to the latter half of the 9th century, during which time the Emperor's personal patrimonial machinery came into being.

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The most important matter for the development of the Chinese shipping industry was to recover the navigational rights won by foreign ships through the conclusion of unequal treaties of the late Qing. In China, even domestic trade largely depended on foreign steamships, since China did not have enough transport capacity to substitute for them. The China Merchants' Steam Navigation Co. (C. M. S. N.) was the largest enterprise financed by Chinese native capital. It had many problems and was on the verge of bankruptcy when the national government was established. Under such conditions, the nationalization of the C.M.S.N.Co. came under discussion. Because of the government's financial difficulties and lack of managerial skill, it floundered until 1932, when it finally woke up to reality under the influence of Finance Minister T.V. Soog. However, the management of the company was left to a group of Shanghai bourgeoisie, even with the change from private to state ownership. Considering its management, therefore, we should regard the company as a private firm. After "nationalization", efforts at improvement obtained some results. The C.M.S.N.Co. did a responsible job as a state enterprise, such as combining its service with railways and operating foreign routes. In 1934, the serious panic caused financial difficulties for the company, as the bourgeoisie management withdrew, Its reorganization in 1936 meant more active participation by the government in management, constitution real nationalization. Both weaker private power due to thd panic and stronger official power after the successful currency reform made the change of policy possible. In prewar China, the hope of recovering navigational rights could not be attained. However, the rebuilding of the C.M.S.N.Co. contributed to the development of Chinese shipping, which was indispensable for their attainment after the war. The nationalization of the C.M.S.N.Co. meant not only the rebuilding of one company, but also improved economic and political conditions.

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The aim of this article is to examine how Empress Shotoku (Shotoku Tenno 称徳天皇), who had taken the Buddhist tonsure, understood the relationship between Buddhism and kingship, in order to shed light on imperial succession in Japan during the eighth century. Empress Shotoku was of the opinion that the most important issue concerning her successor was that the Buddhist tradition be carried on, and thought that the ideal succession should be based on the joint monarchy carried on between Empress Suiko (Suiko Tenno 推古天皇) and Crown Prince Shotoku (Shotoku Taishi 聖徳太子), the ruler of the Buddhist faith (hoo 法王). So the Empress finally gave up her determined effort to establish a line of succession from the offspring of Crown Prince Kusakabe (Kusakabe-no-Oji 草壁皇子) and instead appointed the monk Dokyo 道鏡 to be her successor. From these facts, the author makes the following points. First, the Buddhist papacy that was given to Dokyo was thought by the Empress to signify the type of kingship determined by Buddhist law as outlined in the Suvarnaprabhasa Sutra (金光明最勝王経), a scripture that was always placed at her right hand. Secondly, the status of her successor would be granted by "heaven" (ten 天) to a person who was worthy of "all the holy gods of the heavens and earth". She also perceived that she had the authority from her father Shomu 聖武 to choose anyone with such worth to be her successor, even if he or she was a slave. It was in this manner that the Empress determined Dokyo to be heaven's choice to succeed her as ruler of the faith. The author also argues that in order to legitimate her choice of a holy monk not of royal blood to succeed her, she cited the inter-pretation of Prince Shotoku's authority that had become popular in the eighth Century. This explanation stated that Prince Shotoku had not been chosen successor because he was of royal blood, but rather because he was the reincarnation of the holy and learned Chinese Buddhist monk, Huisi 慧思. Of course, the Empress' plan was thwarted by a divine message from the Usa 宇佐 Shrine, but the her idea that the Japanese emperor be a Buddhist monk had after her death much influence on Japanese kingship throughout the latter half of the eighth century.

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