Yōrō Code

Pre-modern Japan
Part of a series on the politics and government of Japan during the Nara and Heian periods
Daijō-kan (Council of State)
Chancellor / Chief Minister	Daijō-daijin
Minister of the Left	Sadaijin
Minister of the Right	Udaijin
Minister of the Center	Naidaijin
Major Counselor	Dainagon
Middle Counselor	Chūnagon
Minor Counselor	Shōnagon
Eight Ministries
Center	Nakatsukasa-shō
Ceremonial	Shikibu-shō
Civil Administration	Jibu-shō
Popular Affairs	Minbu-shō
Military	Hyōbu-shō
Justice	Gyōbu-shō
Treasury	Ōkura-shō
Imperial Household	Kunai-shō

The Yōrō Code (養老律令, Yōrō-ritsuryō^?) was one iteration of several codes or governing rules compiled in early Nara period in Classical Japan. It was compiled in 718, the second year of the Yōrō regnal era by Fujiwara no Fuhito et al., but not promulgated until 757 under the regime of Fujiwara no Nakamaro under Empress Kōken.

The penal code portions (ritsu) were largely lost, although they have been reconstructed. The content of the civil code portions (ryō) are preserved nearly fully, copied out in later texts.

The Yōrō Code was a revision of the Taihō Code of 701, and differences may have been limited. Still, when Nakamaro put the laws into effect in 757, it was unpopular among the nobility as it "slowed down the promotion schedule for officials."

While the precursor code (Taihō Code) does not survive, a substantial amount of Yōrō Code is preserved in the piece, Ryō no gige (『』^?) (833), especially the civil codes. In English-language scholarly literature, some commentators merely state that the code is preserved in a fragmentary state, but other academics do note preservation is nearly complete for the civil code portion. TheRyō no gige contains the full text of the ryō (or civil/administrative code part) except for two chapters according to a Kadokawa publishing house history dictionary, the missing portions being the warehouse statute (倉庫令, sōko-ryō^?) and the medical service statute (医疾令, ishitsu-ryō^?), and even this lacuna can be partly be filled from a collections of fragments of the codes.