Author(s)

Zhengdong Xu

Corresponding Author

Zhengdong Xu

Abstract

As a political role, female officials played an important role in the political process of ancient Japan. The system of female officials in Japan was established in Nara period and lasted until to Edo period. Female officials were important in the overall political operation of the country. In the Heian period, Female official system showed new directions of development. There are some differences between Nara and Heian period. As for the term “female official”, it appeared at the end of Nara period or the beginning of Heian period. They were also called "court women" in the early historical materials. With regard to the differences and reasons of female official systems in Nara and Heian period, this paper attempts to discuss this question from social history, female history, marriage history and so on. Through the analysis of the historical data, this paper believes that the changes of female official system in political activities between Nara and Heian period may be related to the changes of marriage, family and social structure behind them.

Keywords

Female official system; Nara period; Heian period; Differences