Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 1.djvu/143

 obtained exemption, not only for themselves, but also for their fathers and sons, and even for their grandfathers, brothers, and grandsons, in the highest grade.

These imposts were evidently onerous. The corvée alone, representing one-twelfth of a man's yearly labour, would have been a heavy burden without the addition of five per cent of the gross produce of the land and a contribution of general staples equal, probably, to at least two or three per cent more. Mercy was shown, however, in the event of defective crops. The remissions on that account were regulated by a schedule: the land tax being remitted if the shortage amounted to fifty per cent of the average yield, the miscellaneous taxes if the shortage reached seventy per cent, and the corvée when there was a loss of eighty per cent. The five-families group spoken of above was responsible for the cultivation of all maintenance estates. Thus, if a man fled from the pursuit of justice or the burden of his taxes, the group to which he belonged took care of the land for three years and discharged his fiscal liabilities, at the end of which time the land reverted to the State in the event of his continued absence.

The Codes contained provisions with regard to inheritance also. The system was regulated by strict rules of descent, and not only land, but also serfs, houses, and personal property were included in the estate. The eldest son, his mother,