ABSTRACT
In order to make a thorough investigation into the reforms of Taika and Taiho eras, one has to make oneself familiar with the land system and the social constitution prior to these reforms, and then find out what change and development were afterwards effected. Economic history, though naturally varying in various counties, tends to follow the same orbit whether in the East or the West. The first stage is the period of slave economy, where, except for the sovereign and the small group of classes surrounding him, all the people are nothing but slaves or half-slaves in the service of the upper class. In the second stage there remains very little colouring of slavery, but the majority of the people are still serfs who have not yet shaken off the life of slavish rules and customs. This stage may be called the period of land economy, in so far as the producer of wealth in this period is not only slaves, but also the land. As civilization gradually advances, labourers leave the state of serfdom, move about and work as they like, and earn wages by contract. On the other hand, bargains, enterprises, remunerations, land-tax, etc., are all handled by means of money, and the influence of capital is greatly increased. This is, therefore, in one respect the period of wage economy, and in another the period of money economy, as it is partly on a capitalistic basis. The social conditions before the eras of Taika and Taiho belong to the first stage, according to the above description, and lie within the period of slave economy
