荘園(しょうえん)

しょうえん
noun
manor; feudal estate
1. manor; feudal estate; landed estate
A privately owned agricultural estate in pre-modern Japan, particularly from the Nara through Muromachi periods. Manors were granted tax-exempt status and were controlled by aristocrats, temples, or shrines. Composed of 荘 (estate) + 園 (land).
平安時代(へいあんじだい)には荘園(しょうえん)が増(ふ)えた。
Manors increased during the Heian period.
貴族(きぞく)たちは広大(こうだい)な荘園(しょうえん)を所有(しょゆう)していた。
The aristocrats owned vast manorial estates.
荘園(しょうえん)制度(せいど)の崩壊(ほうかい)は武士(ぶし)の台頭(たいとう)と深(ふか)く関(かか)わっている。
The collapse of the manor system is deeply connected to the rise of the warrior class.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
The 荘園(しょうえん) system developed in Japan from the 8th century onward. Powerful families, temples, and shrines accumulated tax-exempt lands, weakening central government revenue. The system gradually declined as warrior clans gained control of the land during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 荘園(しょうえん)制度(せいど) (manorial system)
  • 荘園(しょうえん)領主(りょうしゅ) (manor lord)
  • 荘園(しょうえん)を管理(かんり)する (to manage a manor)
  • 荘園(しょうえん)の整理(せいり) (reorganization of manors — historical reform efforts)
general
Added 2026.3.5 16:54
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