渡わたり奉ぼう公こう

noun

working as a servant for a series of masters

Historical term referring to a practice in the Edo period where servants, often from rural areas, would work under fixed-term contracts for different employers in turn, rather than being permanently bound to one household.

• 江え戸ど時じ代だいには、地ち方ほうから出でてきた若わか者ものが渡わたり奉公ぼうこうをして生せい計けいを立たてることがあった。

  In the Edo period, young people from the countryside sometimes made a living by working as servants for a series of masters.