著者

崎川 隆

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.90, no.2, pp.145-153, 2008-09

著者

崎川 隆

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.90, no.2, pp.145-153, 2008-09

著者

加藤 博

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho

巻号頁・発行日

vol.58, no.1・2, pp.214-220, 1976-12

著者

蒲 豊彦

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.88, no.4, pp.471-490, 2007-03

---

The twentieth century saw a turning point in the colonial regime, at which time the administrator of British India changed the government’s policy orientation from orientalism to reformism. In the area of education, the orientalist-anglicist controversy was one of highlights of this transformation. In an attempt to break the deadlock in the controversy, Charles Edward Trevelyan (l807-86), a fervent anglicist, forced the orientalists into an 1834 debate regarding the application of the Roman alphabet to vernacular languages in India. Basing his “for” argument on the necessity of popular education, he cited the universality of the Roman alphabet, several of its merits, and its benevolent effect on popular education. In addition, he related romanization to the formation of a genre of national literature and the cultural unification of the Indian people, saying, “Indian vernaculars and its literature will be enriched by supplies of words and ideas derived from English.”As for the orthography of the Roman letters to be applied, Trevelyan abandoned the system created by John Borthwick Gilchrist, which was close to the standard at that time, in favor of that created by William Jones. Trevelyan said that Jones’ scheme was more systematic and applicable to languages all over the world. Trevelyan’s well-known inclination towards modern rationality and universality is clearly evident on this point.This controversy over English education was basically put to an end the following year by a memorandum written by Thomas Babington Macaulay, making the anglicists the victors. Thereafter, however, the Romanization project did not take off, for two reasons: 1) the controversy over Romanization was only one part of the English education debate, and 2) despite Trevelyan’s plan being based on the promotion of popular education, educational administrators in British India chose not to pursue that direction after 1835.

著者

髙村 武幸

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.104, no.3, pp.1-35, 2022-12-16

---

It is widely known that there are “two-line” (lianghang 兩行) slips among bamboo and wooden slips from the Han period. Among these “two-line” slips dating from the second half of the Former Han and unearthed in the Hexi 河西 region, there exist two types: one type has a ridge down the centre of the writing surface which divides the two lines, while the other type has a flat surface with no ridge. However, in the past there has been no examination of this difference. In this article, I focus primarily on the “two-line” slips among the Dunhuang 敦煌 Han slips, unearthed in former Dunhuang Commandery in Hexi, and compare them with the “two-line” slips among the Juyan 居延 Han slips unearthed in former Zhangye 張掖 Commandery, also in Hexi. By this means, I clarify the fact that there exist various differences, starting with the shape of slips of the same type, between regions and government offices, and I also gain leads for adding further depth to research so that it extends to regional differences between slips. There was found a clear-cut difference between the Dunhuang Han slips, which include roughly the same number of “two-line” slips with a ridge and without a ridge, and the Juyan Han slips, which include almost no “two-line” slips with a ridge. In the case of the Xuanquan 懸泉 Han slips from Dunhuang, wood from the tamarisk (hongliu 紅柳; Tamarix ramosissima) is used in more than 70% of the “two-line” slips with ridges, and few of them have been made from spruce (song 松; Picea neoveitchii or Picea crassifolia), used in many of the “two-line” slips without a ridge. In addition, the “two-line” slips with ridges are narrower than those without a ridge. In view of these facts, it is to be surmised that in order to make effective use of the branches of the tamarisk, which, properly speaking, are unsuitable for making “two-line” slips because they are comparatively narrow, and produce “two-line” slips, the branches were processed in the same way as “two-line” bamboo slips so as to add ridges to them. It was for this reason that regional differences in shape arose among slips of the same type. When one examines the reasons for these differences, it is to be surmised that differences in regional conditions lay behind them. That is to say, the Juyan region belonged to Zhangye Commandery, where a transportation route had been established to the Qilian 祁連 Mountains where spruce suitable for making wide “two-line” slips were produced, whereas Dunhuang Commandery did not have a large supply of spruce because it was a long way from the Qilian Mountains and use could not be made of transportation by water or some other means.

著者

山崎 元一

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho

巻号頁・発行日

vol.54, no.4, pp.483-490, 1972-03

著者

梅村 坦

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.79, no.1, pp.105-111, 1997-06

著者

栗山 保之

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.90, no.2, pp.199-224, 2008-09

---

The trade conducted across the Red Sea between the Arabian Peninsula and the African continent is known to have flourished from the middle of the tenth until the late fifteenth century, at which time the Portuguese began making inroads into the Indian Ocean. The research to date on the Red Sea trade has considered it from such different viewpoints as the merchants involved, modes of trade and trade routes; however, the articles of trade, a subject of vital importance in any examination of trade, have not been adequately examined. Consequently, in this article the author considers the Red Sea trade during the thirteenth century by examining the goods that were exported from Egypt to Yemen at that time.The discussion is based on Nūr al-Maʻārif fī Nuẓum wa Qawānīn wa Aʻrāf al Yaman fī al-ʻAhd al- Muẓaffarī al-Wārif, a collection of documents pertaining to tax administration compiled during the reign of the second Rasūlid sultan, a1-Muẓaffar Yūsuf b. ʻUmar (r. 647-94/1249-95), analyzing a section entitled “Goods arriving from the regions of Egypt,” containing documents relating to the customs house at the port of ʻAdan, listing in great detail the numerous goods that were being brought to Yemen from Egypt at the time and clarifying a number of points in connection with the classification of goods, kinds of goods (extiles and non-textiles), the localities where they were produced, from where they were shipped, distribution routes, and the maritime merchants who were involved.

著者

河内 春人

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.86, no.2, pp.185-215, 2004-09

---

The official history of the Tang Dynasty is contained in two volumes, the Jiu-Tangshu 旧唐書 and Xin-Tangshu 新唐書, both of which are said to have original content. This article examines their value as source materials through an analysis of their content, focusing on the information they provide regarding Japan.Originally, the Chinese Dynasties acquired their information about foreign affairs through the Honglusi 鴻臚寺 office, which was in charge of entertaining foreign guests. Reports would be made to the emperor, then the information was transferred to the compilers of official histories. In the case of the Xin-Tangshu, compiled in 1060, information on Japan centers around the genealogy of the royal family, the Onendaiki 王年代紀, prepared by the Buddhist monk Chonen 奝然, who had visited China in 984. What appeared in the compilation was an account of the genealogy with its Buddhist information replaced by facts about Japanese emissaries paying tribute. For this reason, the Xin-Tangshu contains no new information about Japan, relying mainly on what was contained in the Jiu-Tangshu and supplementing it with accounts from the Tanghuiyao 唐会要, etc.Moreover, from the mid-Tang through the first half of the Song 宋 period, a confusion existed about Japan in the form of distinguishing between the kingdoms of Wo 倭 and Nippon 日本, which was the name adopted under the Ritsuryo 律令 system. However, the Xin-Tangshu contains only a section dealing with Nippon, having combined the information on the two kingdoms. This is how the Onendaiki functioned to consolidate the information about Japan in China from the mid-eleventh century on.

著者

谷 光隆

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.64, no.3・4, pp.225-256, 1983-03

---

The successful control of the floods around the confluence of the Huang-ho 黄河 and the Huai-ho 淮河 (“Huang-huai chiao-hui”) was vital for safe transport on the Grand Canal during the Ming Dynasty. Regarded as one of the greatest river experts in China, P’an Chi-hsün employed various methods to control the river system around this area from flooding between the years of 1578-1579.This paper investigates the different methods P’an Chi-hsün employed and notes the following four points about his river control methods:1. Kao-chia dike (高家堰) on the northeast bank of the Hung-tsê Lake (洪沢湖) was strengthened so that the resulting increased force of the Huai River would carry away the silt from the Huang River at the point where they joined. This method is called “shu-shui kung-sha 束水攻沙” and distinguished him from the other experts of his time.2. Yao-ti 遥堤 dikes were constructed along both sides of the Huang River between Hsü-chou 徐州 and Ch’ing-ho 清河 prefectures. The Yao-ti were secondary dikes built at a short distance from the lü-ti 縷堤, the main dikes. The secondary dike was to check the overflow of the Huang River in case the main dike collapses.3. Concave outlets for surplus water, called chien-shui pa減水壩, were made at four different places in each secondary dike in the northern banks of the Huang River between T’ao-yüan 桃源 and Ch’ing-ho prefectures. They were located at a certain height from the bottom of the dike in order to prevent the breaking of the secondary dikes.4. T’ung-chi cha 通済閘, the main watergate on the Ch’ing-chiang p’u 清江浦 waterway (a part of the Grand Canal) at Huai-an 淮安 was shifted to an oblique position so that the full force of the waters from the Huang River and the Huai River were prevented from flowing into the Grand Canal.

著者

市村 瓚次郎

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho

巻号頁・発行日

vol.8, no.1, pp.1-25, 1918-01

著者

箭内 亙

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho

巻号頁・発行日

vol.1, no.1, pp.100-104, 1911-01

著者

鈴木 宏節

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.87, no.1, pp.37-68, 2005-06

---

This article attempts to prove that a royal member of the Türks (Tujue 突厥), Ashina Simo 阿史那思摩 [583-647], was the great-grandchild of Yili 伊利 (Yili 伊力; O1d Türkic. Illig) Qaγan (Kehan 可汗) and the grandchild of Tabo 他鉢 (Daba 達抜; Sogdian. Tatpar) Qaγan, according to his epitaph and some Chinese sources. Moreover, it is shown that Ashina Simo in fact did succeed to the throne as Julu 倶陸 (Old Türkic. Küllüg) Qaγan [reg. 603-?]. The genealogical table of the first Turkic Qaγanate [552-630] is based on the following conclusions.At the end of the first Türks, the royal family of Ashina was divided to two main lines, namely Yixiji’s and Tabo’s, which politically opposed each other. Because of this conflict, the last three Qaγans from the dominant Yixiji line created the rumor that Simo was not a member of the royal clan in order to deprive him of a chance at re-enthronement. This controversy is what lay in the background of the well-known episode of his not being bestowed with the title of Sad (She 設), giving him military powers.His life history after the collapse of the Türks (630-) is said to have been strongly influenced by the ethnic situation between the Ordos and the Yinshan 陰山 region during the 7th century, because he had played an important role around Xiazhou 夏州, in the south central Ordos region, controlling not only a part of the abandoned Türkic people there, but also a part of Sogdians, who had been originally resided throughout Türks. The author considers such a condition to constitute a characteristic feature of the whole periphery of Central Eurasia, where a nomadic pastoral system and agricultural civilization had come into contact and coexisted.

著者

于 志嘉

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.71, no.3, pp.311-351, 1990-03

---

The social status of the military households (chün-hu 軍戸) of the Ming dynasty has been underestimated in the past. Using examination records like Têng-k'ê-lu 登科録 and Hsü-ch'ih-lu 序歯録 as well as biographical materials, the present study surveys the available household registers of all grand secretaries, presidents of the Six Ministries, and successful candidates in the metropolitan examination, chin-shih 進士, during the entire Ming period. It points out that there was no particular limitation to the member of chün-hu who could in fact participate in the civil service examination and hold a civil official post. It also argues that the chün-hu was in no way inferior to the commoner households (ming-hu 民戸) in the fortune of examination, and this success of theirs helped raise their social status.

著者

鈴木 隆弘

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.103, no.2, pp.29-59, 2021-09-16

---

The propaganda bureau of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has the role of “induction of the public opinion,” “regulation of the public opinion,” outside the party, and “opinion agreement” to unify the opinion within the party. This paper demonstrates that the propaganda bureau of the KMT strengthened control by unifying the opinion within the party in the early days of the tutelage period. Two methods of unifying the opinion were employed. First, the KMT created a vertical leadership system for the local party propaganda bureau by the central party, and second, the party members were instructed by the content of the propaganda to homogenize political ideas. After the reorganization of the KMT in January 1924, the necessity of both methods was recognized; however, the system was not sufficiently established, and the opinion was not unified. Therefore, it was extremely vulnerable as an organization. Hence, the KMT proceeded with developing the propaganda organization in 1928. First, the organizational rules of the central-local propaganda bureau were formulated, and the hierarchical relationship between the propaganda bureau of local propaganda organization was established with the central propaganda bureau at the top. An “propaganda system” based on orders and obedience was institutionalized. In addition, in the “propaganda strategy” established by the central propaganda bureau, the propaganda was divided into “inside the party” and “outside the party.” The “inside of the party” propaganda refers to unifying the intentions of the party members. After establishing such an institutional framework, the central propaganda bureau increased its effectiveness in various ways. First, it thoroughly carried out a “propaganda work report” to the upper party bureau from the lower party bureau. The central propaganda bureau gave instructions based on these reports, rigorously assessing and evaluating the reports to control the lower party. Furthermore, to promote the unification of the content of propaganda, a national propaganda conference was held to unify the content of propaganda and to exchange people. By supplying a large amount of propaganda items throughout the region, they tried to unify the propaganda and promote the unification of the party members’ opinions.

著者

岡﨑 滋樹

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.103, no.2, pp.61-89, 2021-09-16

---

This article describes the actual circumstances surrounding the provision of live hogs to the Canton region by the Taiwan Development Company (TDC) at the early stage of the Japanese occupation of Hainan Island. In the research to date, it has been argued that the TDC’s livestock operations on Hainan Island were profitable, despite the Company falling into management difficulties under the Japanese military administration. While historians have emphasized business management difficulties within the framework of the ideals and reality of policy regarding government-sponsored colonial enterprises during the War, it has not yet been clarified how military cooperation and profit acquisition were achieved. Therefore, what actual measures were carried out on the ground to generate profits needs to be thoroughly discussed by analyzing TDC inhouse reports and other contemporary documents. The TDC showed a very positive attitude toward its livestock operations, giving the Hainan Island endeavor the leading role among a wide variety of industries, the most successful being the live hog business. Facing competition from Mitsui & Co., the TDC continued to provide a steady flow of Hainan hogs to Canton following the occupation to meet the Canton Garrison’s need for a constant source of meat. Here the TDC staff developed their operations carefully, while observing the mood of the Army, thus attaining profitability. That is to say, by raising abundant amounts of hogs on Hainan and delivering them live, it eliminated the need for meat processing plants, thus significantly reducing production costs, while at the same time targeting the popularity of pork in the Army’s mess halls. The success of the Hainan operation was largely due to the TDC’s ability to overcome fierce competition by dispatching skilled experts in livestock operations in the south at the onset of the Occupation, combined with clever strategies based on proper identification of local conditions facing customers. The benefits achieved from quickly maturing, fertile hogs indicates that by showing loyalty to the army and sacrificing its own interests, the TDC was able not only to maintain but also increase profits. The author concludes that the case of the TDC’s Hainan livestock operations surely presents an extremely important opportunity to examine Japanese enterprise management in occupied South China from a wide variety of perspectives.

著者

安永 有希

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.103, no.1, pp.029-057, 2021-06-30

---

Towards the end of the 19th century, Hindi writer Devakīnandana Khatrī (1861–1913) incorporated the two motifs of the labyrinth (tilasma) and the master of deception capable of solving it (aiyāra) into his first novel entitled Candrakāntā (first published in 1892), an epic fantasy which opened up a whole new genre of popular Hindi fiction, called “Tilasmī Aiyārī upanyāsa,” which has been widely read ever since. Despite the plethora of similar works following Khatrī’s style, none were able to eclipse Candrakāntā and its 24-part sequel, Candrakāntā Santati. After a surge of Tilasmī Aiyārī novels during Khatrī’s lifetime, the number of new works began to decline during the early 20th century as realism came to dominate Hindi fiction. The research to date on the Tilasmī Aiyārī novel has been limited to commentaries on Khatrī’s masterpieces and introductions to other authors adopting his style, while no authoritative bibliography has yet been compiled covering the whole genre. In response, this article is an attempt to clarify the history of the Tilasmī Aiyārī novel, as one breakthrough in the early stages of the development of the Hindi novel, based on the library catalogs created in the midst of British colonial censorship, which, while by no means complete, still make it possible to get some idea of circumstances surrounding Hindi publishing at that time. In addition to the available catalogs, advertisements appearing in the actual publications provide important clues to the publishing history of the Tilasmī Aiyārī genre. The author also traces the origin of the term “Tilasmī Aiyārī upanyāsa,” and its “discovery” by later literary critics, since there was no such characterization of Khatrī’s style, or its imitators, during its heyday.

著者

佐藤 良聖

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.103, no.1, pp.31-55, 2021-06-30

---

Beginning in the late 19th century, as the countries of East Asia encountered European international law, the legal issue of territorial waters, the institutional basis for any nation’s claim to maritime possessions, was approached by Japan and China in greatly differing ways as shown by a fishing dispute which occurred between Japan, China and Korea in the Bohai and the Yellow Seas between 1906 and 1912. The dispute began in Bohai between Japan and the Qing Dynasty over the extent of China’s territorial waters there. Then in 1909, it reverberated into the Yellow Sea region when the Korean Empire legally determined its territorial waters, thus shutting out Chinese fishermen. In opposition to the Japanese argument citing customs of International Law of the Sea, the Qing Dynasty reinterpreted international maritime customs to legitimize its position, thus giving rise to differing approaches, which clashed over China’s claim that the whole Bohai Sea constituted its territorial waters, in contrast to Japan’s claim that they were limited to three nautical miles. Throughout its course the dispute was further complicated by the unsolved question of whether China or Japan was authorized to administer Kwantung Leased Territory on the Liaodong Peninsula, which included the maritime ports of Dalian and Lüshun on the Bohai Sea. In order to break the deadlock Ijuin Hikokichi, the Japanese envoy to the Qing Dynasty, proposed that debate be focused on the issue of tax collection instead of territorial waters, arguing that a compromise ironed out on the local level would bring a speedy end to the controversy. Nevertheless, a solution of sorts was only reached in April 1912, when a fishing agreement was concluded between the Republic of China and Japan, which determined that customary administrative procedures would be adopted. The author argues that the dispute gave rise to a controversy over maritime sovereignty, which the three parties tried to resolve by way of the idea of territorial waters. Although that attempt was unsuccessful due to the ensuing gridlock, it enabled the Qing Dynasty to form a unique interpretation of territorial waters determined by international custom, due in part to the fact that the simple application of International Maritime Law was made impossible by the special case of foreign leased territory in the region under dispute.

著者

李 弘喆

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.103, no.1, pp.1-29, 2021-06-30

---

This article analyzes the role of the Book of Origins (Shiben 世本), a lost work, in the three of the commentary collection Correct Meaning of the Five Classics (Wujing Zhengyi 五經正義), that is to say, the Zhengyi commentaries on the Book of Changes (Zhouyi 周易), the Book of Songs (Maoshi 毛詩) and the Book of History (Shangshu 尚書), keeping in mind the influence of commentaries predating the Wujing Zhengyi and focusing on the diverse receptions of Shiben over time. Beginning with the Zhouyi Zhengyi, the author notes the absence of any Shiben citations there, due to the fact that the compilers of the 7th century Wujing Zhengyi emphasized the correspondence between the existing commentaries (zhuwen 注文) they adopted and the sub-commentaries (shuwen 疏文) they also adopted or wrote anew themselves. The Zhouyi Zhengyi accepted Wang Bi’s 王弼 commentary of the 3rd century which did not quote any of the Shiben text. Next, the author notices that since the Shiben citations in the Maoshi and Shangshu Zhengyi are limited to the content of the canon (jing 經) relevant to those works, they concentrate chronologically on the Three Dynasties Period (Sandai 三代) and before, and in the latter, Shiben information on Antiquity (Shanggu 上古) is treated as one particular hypothesis that should be refuted. In both, Shiben genealogical information about the Yin and Zhou Dynasties is used together with citations from the Shiji 史記, but is often prioritized. That is because, the author points out, it had become the general consensus at the time of the Wujing Zhengyi compilation that Sima Qian 司馬遷 did consult the Shiben during the compilation of the Shiji. The author additionally notes that from an analysis of the fragmented evidence, the cited Shiben genealogical narrative lacks regularity in form, and the so-called “unique” descriptive style of the citations is in fact no different from the general narrative style of the sub-commentaries in the Wujing Zhengyi. The views offered in this article will hopefully contribute not only to the further study of Shiben itself, but also to the research regarding the restoration and reconstruction of lost and fragmentary texts in general. Since the historiographical research to date has long been focused on the task of restoring lost fragments of texts, perceptions towards restoration have remained at the level of Qing Dynasty textual criticism (Qingchao Kaozhengxue 淸朝考證學). What scholars should be collecting in the restoration process is not fragments of the original, but rather a “consciousness” regarding the original, for it is impossible to “restore” the original text. What is possible, however, is to clarify the perceptions towards and the substance of the fragments by returning to where they have been cited. This article is an attempt to answer the fundamental historiographical question of what sources the restored text was based on and to present that how inseparable the historiographic research on restored texts is from investigating in what way the original work was received and adopted over time.

著者

山崎 元一

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho

巻号頁・発行日

vol.53, no.3・4, pp.267-311, 1971-03

---

The aim of the present essay is to clarify the exact position of the low-classed people, especially that of the untouchables, Caṇḍālas, in ancient Indian society. The writer seeked into this problem based on the Buddhist canons, as well as Arthaśāstra, Dharmasūtra and Dharmaśāstra.In the first section the writer assumed that the institution of untouchables had its origin in the pollution concept which is still prevalent among the primitive people. It seems that the institution was developed in its religious and ritualistic aspects by the Brahmans in the process of the establishment of the Aryan agricultural societies and the subsequent formation of the territorial states, and was finally established with the further support of the Kṣatriyas. This institution was also acceptable for the other two classes, Vaiśya and Śūdra, who were the chief producers of the relevant society.In the second section the writer discussed that this institution of the low-classed people developed into a complicated system itself, and there might have been a distinction of higher or lower ranks even among themselves. Among the low-classed people, so-called Caṇḍālas outnumbered the most, and was made the lowest untouchables of the society. In the next third section it was discussed that the Caṇḍālas were mostly forming kinship societies among themselves and settled in a circumference of a Varṇa Society, still keeping their traditional customs and manners and earning their livelihood by serving for the despised professions such as services concerning the death, which was regarded as the most filthy occupation.Finally, in the fourth section, problem of the contact between the members of Varṇa Society and the untouchables was discussed, based on the concrete evidences observed in the Buddhist canons, giving as well various theoretical regulations picked up from Arthaśāstra, Dharmasūtra and Dharmaśāstra. Among the above sources, the latter documents have been used chiefly to clarify the expiation ritual (prāyaścitta) which was developed by the Brahmans aiming at maintaining purity of the Varṇa Society. It was also pointed out that the members of the Varṇa Society could not generally avoid the contact with Caṇḍālas in their everyday life, despite of the strict taboo concerning the above.The institution of untouchables superficially seems to be based on extremely religious and ritualistic demands to maintain the purity of the Varṇa Society but there certainly existed behind it other social, economic and political demands. Namely, exclusion of the low-classed people was to frame the Varṇa Society from outside, and further to consolidate the inter-class relationships within the Varṇa Society making them the ritualistic status order (viz. four varṇas).