ritsuryo
Ritsuryō, or the ritsuryō system, refers to a set of legal codes and administrative regulations that formed the basis of the early Japanese state during the Asuka and Nara periods. Influenced by Chinese models, especially the Tang code, it was compiled and implemented in the 7th and 8th centuries, culminating in the Taihō (701) and Yōrō (718) codes. The term itself derives from the two components: ritsu (律), meaning statutes or criminal law, and ryō (令), meaning commands or administrative/fiscal law.
The codes established a centralized bureaucratic state centered on the imperial court and the Daijō-kan, or
While the ritsuryō system created a coherent framework for governance, actual practice varied; enforcement often depended