ABSTRACT
COMMON CULTIVATION.-Before the enactment of the Taiho Statutes the land system in Japan was" Common cultivation of common land among village people " under the patriarchal management of a big family. Long before the statute the head of this big family had commenced the practice of usurping and monopolizing the ownership of the land, and, in addition, the increase of the population subsisting on a limited area of land helped to change the land system. During this period Japanese officials and priests had been studying the institutions and customs of China. With deep admiration they had seen the splendour and glory of the Royal Palace and the organization and order of the state, and realized that the upkeep of such a high state of civilization depended on the taxation levied on the people, a system which was not known in their native country. On their return from China they advised the Emperor to enact the Reform of Taika, of which the great principle was the nationalization of the land. It stopped short, however, at this and did not lead up to the formation of a state, so in 701 the Emperor promulgated the Law of Taika (Law of Taika Year), and the work of reformation was completed.
