ABSTRACT
During the late seventh and early eighth centuries, the Japanese state compiled and promulgated a series of legal codes based largely on Chinese models developed under the Sui and Tang dynasties. These codes are divided into two groups: the first, the ritsu, corresponds to modern penal codes, while the second, the ryō, represented a wide variety of administrative regulations. The term ritsuryō state (ritsuryō kokka), then, refers to the polity that held sway over Japan during the first half of the classical era, administered by codes of law. 1
