Japan

Encouragement to cruelty and ruthlessness "Bushido" is the way of war

After the "Daika Reform" in the 7th century AD, the samurai class was formed as Japanese society increasingly struggled by force for land resources and political power. At the end of the 11th century, when the feudal lord Minamoto no Yoshinoya was the governor of Rikuo, he pacified a civil unrest in the area. Minamoto no Yoshitomo asked the court for credit, but was refused. Minamoto no Yoshinoya then took it upon himself to reward his retainers. This act won the hearts of the people, and the samurai of the Kanto region (present-day Tokyo) flocked to him and formed a master-slave relationship with him. From then on, the foundation of the samurai class was officially formed in Japan. Over time, the thinking, morals, and behavior of the samurai class came to be known as Bushido.

Madness of harakiri

The term "bushido" began around the beginning of the Edo period (1603-1867). However, as early as the Heian period, which began at the end of the 8th century, titles such as "the way of the samurai," "the practice of the bow and arrow," and "the practice of the Sakado warriors," or "bushido," had already appeared, which was the prototype of Bushido. It was a typical way of killing and war, which drove the samurai to make loyalty and obedience to their lord their primary duty, and to kill and fight for their lord and conquer the land.

After the Kamakura Shogunate was established at the end of the 12th century, the Gokujin system was set up, and the master-slave relationship was further established in the form of rituals and laws. The political status of the samurai began to rise, and the political system of the martial arts was strengthened, and the ideologies of Confucianism, Zen Buddhism, and Shintoism began to become the code engraved in the hearts and minds of the samurai. Bushido at this time was likewise the way of war, which aimed at killing, but it emphasized more on dedication and etiquette. Typically, the tendency to die was glorified, and harakiri became an "honorable method of liberation". At that time, the reverence for harakiri was so insane that there were many differences in the position and method of harakiri. In addition, there were even more brutal forms of martyrdom harakiri, ranging from a few to hundreds of people. Contemporary movie director Masaki Kobayashi has made a film "Hara-kiri", which realistically portrays that cruel scene. In fact, the samurai's motivation to commit harakiri was ultimately driven by the desire for profit, to trade their honor for the rights and interests of future generations in the martial society.

Before the Edo period, the samurai's official duties were centered on military service and building a career on the battlefield. During the 200 years or so of the Edo period, substantial combat disappeared, the samurai's role as a combatant was formalized, and their main official duties were transformed into administrative affairs. The basic elements of bushido were transformed into loyalty, martial courage, honor, obedience, righteousness, frugality, etiquette, and diligence. Of course, none of these were aimed at strengthening martial politics and the master-slave relationship, none were required by the economic life and duties of the samurai, and none were aimed at developing the skills and "character" to build a successful career for the lord. Among them, "loyalty" was the core and soul, playing the role of a commander.

The essence was ruthlessness

This "loyalty" was expressed in a growing, blind, narrow-minded vengeance. The most far-reaching example of this was the revenge of the "47 ronin of Ako", a group of 47 ronin from Edo Castle, who committed suicide in 1701 after Yoshio of Edo Castle had insulted the head tinkerer, Nagatake, who was the lord of Ako Castle in Banshou, and the 47 members of Asano's family became the "47 ronin of Ako". In 1701, 47 of Asano's retainers became ronin and conspired to kill Yoshio and then committed suicide to honor their lord. The Ako incident has become a theme of "Loyalists' Hidden Treasures," which has been expressed in various genres of Japanese literature throughout the ages.

This spirit of "loyalty" in Bushido is related to the samurai's view of death, which was completed in 1716 with the completion of a written version of the "Yeinmeinshu" (The Book of Hidden Wonders), which was narrated by Yamamoto Nagatomo, a priest of the Saga domain, and organized by Tashiro Chinki, a priest of the same domain, and consisted of more than 1,200 stanzas in 11 volumes***. This is a classic of Japanese Bushido, and what is expressed is precisely the unrelenting and unhesitating view of death in Bushido. Of course, "not taking a life" and "taking a life" are closely related, and the Yeh Yin Wen Shu is full of very cruel samurai sayings. For example, Naomo, the ancestor of the Saga Nabejima clan, told his son Katsushige that in order to make beheading a common practice, the first step was to behead the executioner. He then arranged ten men in his courtroom to be beheaded one by one. The "hundred beheadings" carried out by Japanese soldiers during the invasion of China were typical of this cruelty.

Many of the examples in the Book of Hidden Wonders of the Leaves are also horrifying. For example, Horie Sanemon, a warehouse keeper in Yashiki, Edo, stole gold and silver from the stockpile, and after he was arrested and forced to confess, he was ordered to be tortured to death. So first he burned all the body hair on his body, stripped his nails, cut off his hamstrings, and gave him all kinds of tortures with tools such as awl grinders; and then, for example, according to his father's instructions, Yamamoto Yoshizaemon, in order to develop a character that didn't care about killing people, had to behead a dog at the age of five, and a condemned man at the age of fifteen. Thus, many of the behaviors recounted in Bushido are inherently cruel, heartless, and gruesome.

After the Meiji Restoration, bushido did not draw to a close with the withdrawal of the feudal system and the feudal samurai from the stage of history, but instead pushed forward from the medieval samurai. The core of the Meiji government consisted of lower and middle-ranking samurai, and in 1871 and 1878, the Minister of War, Yamagata Aritomo, resurrected Bushido under the garb of military spirit by issuing a code for soldiers, the Seven Chapters of Readings of the Laws, and the Soldier's Discipline. In this way, Bushido gradually evolved into "modern imperial Bushido" and "modern militaristic fascist Bushido", and became a spiritual tool for foreign aggression and expansion. For example, in the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese army often adopted the "flesh-bomb attack method", i.e., with their own officers and soldiers not afraid of death in the spirit of Bushido, regardless of casualties, continuously charging into battle, forcing the other side to ultimately lose the will to fight and break down and surrender, so that the soldiers to fill the "road to victory" with their blood and lives. "

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Author: 61.51.92.* 2006-7-19 17:40 Reply to this statement

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2 Japan's Bushido Spirit and Hara-kiri Culture (Hara-kiri method included, children should not imitate)

Spiritual Tools for Foreign Aggression

During the Sino-Japanese War at the end of the 19th Century, the Japanese army tyrannically carried out the "Brigadoon Massacre" and the "Consulate General's Massacre". "

In his early years, Shindoito studied at Hopkins University in the United States, where Woodrow Wilson, who later became president of the United States, was a classmate. After graduation, Shindado married Mary, an American. With Mary's help, NWT published an English book, Bushido, which compared Japanese traditions with those of Europe and the United States, detailing the similarities between Japanese Bushido and European and American chivalry, and arguing that Japanese harakiri and vengeance were by no means barbaric. With its elegant English, Bushido became a bestseller among European and American intellectuals, and Shindo became an authority on Japanese spirituality and ethics, and in 1905, the couple was summoned and honored by the Meiji Emperor for packaging Japan's engagement in foreign wars in the spirit of Bushido. Shindo went on to become a professor at Kyoto Imperial University, president of the Daiichi Higher School, professor at Tokyo Imperial University, and president of Tokyo Women's University.

From 1920, Shindo served as deputy secretary-general of the League of Nations for seven years, where he was in charge of Japan's international propaganda work and actively supported Japan's colonial rule. After his return to China, Shindo served as a member of the House of Lords, justifying the invasion of northeastern China during the September 18th Incident, saying that Manchukuo was a "self-determination of the nation" and emphasizing the legitimacy of Japan's invasion of China. In 1938, the Japanese edition of Bushido, translated by Tadao Yanaihara and published by Iwanami Shoten, became the "definitive edition" in Japan, and in its chapter 16, "Does Bushido Still Exist? Chapter 16 of the book, "Bushido Still Exists?" asserts that "Bushido has always been the spirit and the driving force of Japan. The book argues that through Sakuma Koseyama, Saigo Takamori, Okubo Toshimichi, Kido Takayoshi, Ito Hirobumi, Okuma Shigenobu, Itagaki Yasusuke, and others, Japan's "Restoration of the King's Rule" was promoted, and Japan became a "united imperial state". However, he denied that Japan's "internal" achievements were based on "foreign conquest".

In the 20th century, Japan transformed itself from a traditional to a modern society, and transformed and renewed, inherited and strengthened the core value of the samurai warrior tradition into the core value of the modern society. The core value of modern society is transformed and renewed, inherited and strengthened. In 1984, the Bank of Japan launched a new version of the Japanese currency, the 5000 yen on the pattern of the new Watarido Inazo, which shows the Japanese people's respect for bushido.

In fact, since the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese militarists have used Bushido as a spiritual pillar and a tool of war, sparing no effort in foreign aggression and plunder, and the huge reparations and colonial gains gained have greatly accelerated the pace of Japan's modernization. Currently, the three major treasures of the Japanese style of business management - the life-long employment system, the system of annual merit and the enterprise trade unions, i.e., "labor and capital destiny **** the same body" - are directly derived from the Bushido society. The three main tools of the Bushido system - the life-long employment system, the seniority system, and the in-company labor union, i.e., "labor and management are one and the same" - are directly derived from the traditional model of the "one ruler, one subject" family concept of Bushido. This shows the deep influence of Bushido on Japan. ▲

Can't close your eyes when disemboweling: Japan's harakiri culture revealed

I. The origin and evolution of disemboweling

Yongjo first year (989 CE), the great thief Fujiwara Yoshitomo, before being arrested, will be cut open in one word on the abdomen, and then the tip of the knife picked out the viscera and thrown to the officials and soldiers - it is said that this is the earliest source of disemboweling.

The beginning of the prevalence of disembowelment came after the Kamakura Shogunate, and disembowelment for blame for loss of position, or disembowelment in front of the battlefield in shame of being captured, accounted for the majority of disembowelments, which continued until the Warring States period. After the opening of the Edo period, when the rule of society was relatively stable, the practice of disembowelment for martyrdom and the punishment of "kyokushin" gradually became more prevalent. Although the Shogunate strictly prohibited martyrdom, there was no way to stop this historic trend.

As for the reason for choosing the disembowelment as the most noble way of death for the samurai, it is now generally believed that many countries and nations in ancient times believed that the soul of a human being was lodged in the belly, and therefore the samurai adopted the method of disembowelment as a way of showing the public when it was necessary to show the soul to the outside world.

Types Motivation

Self-blade Self-cutting Losing the war (e.g., Asai Hisamasa)

Citing blame Taking responsibility for a fault

Sacrifice Saving the life of a subordinate or fellow samurai by one's own sacrifice (e.g., Shimizu Soji)

Advising death To advise the lord (e.g., Hirate Masahide)

Honor To save one's own face

Disembowelment can be categorized into two types of disembowelment according to the position: "standing" and "sitting". There are four main methods: the "one-word", "two-word", "three-word", and "cross".

The first thing you need to do is to prepare a ribcage - if you can't get one, a dagger will do - and a kitchen knife or fruit knife is definitely not recommended. Tools should be sharpened and cleaned, and if you're not afraid of tetanus, you'll want to try a rusty, dull knife to see ...... If it's not an emergency, it's best to be in a seated position, with a neatly padded cloth blanket or blanket underneath you.

Author: 61.51.92.* 2006-7-19 17:40 Reply to this statement

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3 Japanese Bushido Spirit and Hara-kiri Culture (Hara-kiri method included, kids should not imitate)

First, unbutton your lapel to reveal your belly, and then ...... By the way, first decide what kind of disembowelment method is to be used. A zigzag abdomen, is to use the right hand to hold the rib differential (the book is so written, I do not know what to do with left-handed people) deep stabbing into the left side under the ribs, and then the knife blade slightly upturned, a zigzag across the pull to the right side of the abdomen. The so-called two- and three-letter bellies are pulled one or two more times above or below the wound in the one-letter belly. These three are the easier methods.

Of course, disembowelment is a very artistic and mind-enhancing (definitely not body-enhancing) exercise, and there is a lot of know-how to be mastered. First of all, as a samurai, in order to show one's valor, one should not close one's eyes while disemboweling. Secondly, the direction of the body should be directly in front of you, and as falling on one's back is a disgraceful thing to do, the knees should be kept together, not apart, throughout, the body should be leaning slightly forward, and in order to ensure that you fall forward, the sleeves, if they are long enough, can be pressed under the legs. It is well to wrap the rib differential in absorbent white paper, so that the blood does not mark the ground wildly and soil it. The stabbing into the flanks must not be too shallow, or you will suffer more than you need to die (it is said that, in the absence of a mistake, if the dissection is not done correctly, it will take up to seventy-two hours before you are cut off, instead of the usual short, easy six), and the tip of the knife must be allowed to touch the intestines. Certainly not too deep, or you will be too weak to pull due to hand weakness.

Then I introduce you to the most dominating cross-shaped belly. Please prepare your tools and do as Mr. Masafumi Nanoki, the important minister of the Sanada clan, whom I have asked to demonstrate - first cut the belly open in a zigzag pattern, and then, instead of pulling out the rib spread, draw it straight back close to the umbilicus, open it up toward the umbilicus, and then slash upward from below the umbilicus toward the throat. This is a very elegant and heroic method, and is recommended if you want to pull out the intestines and hurl them at someone after the dissection (very physically demanding and contraindicated for pregnant women and infants).

Finally, a word about meshing. In fact, it is non-essential that you can pull out your own ribcage and stab your heart (stabbing the throat is similar to what a woman would do, and is not recommended) if you still have the strength to do so after you have dissected your stomach. If you are afraid that you will not have enough strength and need to make a mistake, it is recommended that you find an expert swordsman to do the job. The sword must come out at the moment you lean forward and cut off your head and neck from the back (a piece of neck skin must be left attached so that the head does not roll far away and is not easy to pick up) - OK, someone, carry Mr. Nanaki out.

Of course, you are free to use whatever tools you like and in whatever way you like. You can also use a dirty rusty cleaver, use a thousand characters or even ten thousand characters (note that the traditional ten thousand characters) form wild diarrhea, and then find a three hundred knives can not cut your neck of the super incompetence in the wrong, to try this deviant pleasure ...... hara-kiri, is divided into passive and automatic two kinds. Anyone who violates the government authorities and is punished is passive. This kind of punishment is also limited to the scholarly family and above, only qualified to give the harakiri, ordinary people have not been able to take the turn of such a death. It is said that the execution was carried out with great pomp and ceremony, and that the person who committed harakiri was kept alone in a secret room, instead of being shown to the public in a square, in order to preserve the dignity of the samurai. The floor of the chamber was covered with mats and thick quilts, and fine sand was sprinkled on top to absorb the blood and filth. Three sides of the chamber surrounded by a curtain, the corners of the white lanterns, and many white candles. The hara-kiri was pre-combed and bathed, had a sumptuous dinner? , change into light yellow dress, step on the bedding covered with fine sand, first bowed to the officer to thank, such as drinking a cup of salt water, then calmly, pick up the knife of hara-kiri to do their own hara-kiri. Such passive harakiri, most of the side of the "in the wrong person" in. This "in between the wrong people" holding a large knife, such as the hara-kiri in the stomach after a horizontal cut, immediately after the knife, the hara-kiri head cut down, which can reduce the hara-kiri a lot of pain. And the hara-kiri for their own knife method must also pay attention to, in-depth, there is a certain point, absolutely do not allow the five intestines out of the abdomen, if you can not do, known as the "regret abdomen", lose the style of the samurai.

Automatic harakiri motives are more complex, in addition to the Lord's vengeance, harakiri and death, there are cited harakiri; there is a corpse admonition harakiri; there are defeated and not submit to harakiri, there are aspirations not to try, life is worse than death and harakiri, and so on. Any automatic harakiri, there is no "in the wrong person" in the side to help. Most of the harakiri people use the following ways: First, force in the abdomen from left to right, a horizontal cut; and then from the bottom to the top, a straight cut, become a cross-shaped, to reach the heart for the degree. The second is to cut across the abdomen and immediately return to the knife to cut one's own throat. Third, after making a cut across the abdomen, he immediately stabs himself with the knife into the heart, and then pulls it downward with all his strength into the shape of a cross. The hara-kiri knows that such a death is physically painful, but must always endure the pain without uttering a sound, and actively achieve the goal.

When dying, one must maintain a clear and lucid will and follow the rituals one by one. First, the body must not be tilted, but only allowed to slump forward. If it is on its back, it is considered a breach of etiquette. Second, the knife marks on the abdomen must not be wrinkled. Thirdly, the knees must be closed, if they are loose, it means that they are not cultivated enough. Finally, the weapon used to commit suicide must also be properly placed and not be allowed to fall apart. It seems that the harakiri not only strong will to die, stubborn rituals, and can transcend the concept of life and death, really deserve the name "tough guy"."

Author: 61.51.92.* 2006-7-19 17:40 Reply to this statement

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4 Japanese Bushido and Hara-kiri Culture (Hara-kiri method included, no imitation for kids)

Well, the last requirement above "The weapon used to commit suicide must also be properly placed and not left loose." That seems like a tall order.

Additionally, it is known that in the Edo period, senior samurai who were given the gift of harakiri did not necessarily have to be disemboweled, and often the harakiri man just picked up the wakizashi, and then cut off his head with a knife, which is known as "maki-hara".

Ancient Japanese samurai love between the beautiful boy was very popular, partner harakiri martyrdom is considered a brave and romantic destination.

Respondent: beleaguered hero - same as jinshi origin Grade 6 5-10 18:02

Questioner's comment on the answer:

Thanks

Other replies*** 4

Tolerance

Respondent: peter114 - same as jinshi origin Grade 6 5-10 17:22

What is the Bushido Spirit

What exactly is the spirit of Bushido in Japan? In a nutshell, the trick of Bushido is to see through death, "not afraid to die" and sacrifice one's life for the Lord without reservation. This kind of thinking is also a reaction against the traditional Confucian "Shidao". Confucianism's "Shidao" emphasizes the righteousness of the ruler and the minister, and has the humanistic concepts of "the righteousness of the ruler and the minister" and "the harmony of the father and the son with heaven," but Japan's "bushido" is based on the idea that the master is not afraid of death and sacrifices his life without reservation. However, Japanese "Bushido" is based on the realization that the master is not afraid of death and does not want to die.

Bushido attaches importance to the precepts of the king and his subjects, "the king is not a king" (the king is tyrannical) and not "the subject is not a subject" (the subject does not fulfill the subject's duties), loyalty is an absolute value. The original Confucianism in China was based on filial piety, and filial piety is the absolute value. If "the father has made a mistake", the son "if he does not listen to his three remonstrances, he will cry and follow", but if "the ruler has made a mistake", the minister "if he does not listen to his three remonstrances, he will run away". ". According to Bushido theorists, Confucianism's "Shidao theory" is a whitewash of the selfishness of the fear of death, and focuses on the morality of the ruler before choosing to live or die in the face of death, but not simply to die. The only strong point of Bushido is the pure and complete realization of death. Bushido's complete enlightenment of death, his appearance, speech, living and moving, is also different. The samurai society respected etiquette, not only the feudal social order, but also "proper etiquette", which was the expression of the samurai's superiority. Samurai to "die dry", Jun want you to commit hara-kiri you have to commit hara-kiri, this is Japan's Kamakura martial arts since the time of the tradition.

The samurai's family tradition

The classical Japanese samurai doctrine is called 'hagakure', which is a book of samurai training recited by the Saga clan (Hizen-Nabeshima clan) in the Edo period. "Hagakure" means "to dedicate oneself to the service of one's lord" as the shade of the leaves of a tree is not seen by others. This book was narrated by Yamamoto Tsunetomo (Yamamoto Tsunetomo 1659-1710), a samurai of the Saga domain, and was compiled by Tashiro Tsuramoto, a samurai of the same domain, who heard it and wrote it down, and completed a written version of the book, "Yein-henshu," at the beginning of the 18th century in 1716.*** There are more than 1,200 verses in 11 volumes. 11 volumes with more than 1,200 sections, referred to as 'Yeh Yin' or 'Yeh Yin Collection'. Volume 1 and 2 are about the training of the samurai, Volume 3 is about the ancestor of Nabeshima clan, Naomo, Volume 4 is about the first lord, Katsushige, Volume 5 is about the second lord, Koumou, the lord of Yamamoto Tsunetomo, and the third Tsunamo, the first son of the second lord, Volume 6 is about the ancient deeds of the Nabeshima clan, and Volume 7, Volume 8, and Volume 9 are about the deeds of the samurai of the Nabeshima clan, who were "warriors with bravery and devotion to public service," and Volume 10 is about the deeds of samurai of other clans, and Volume 10 is about the deeds of samurai of other clans. Volume 10 deals with the words and deeds of the samurai of other clans, and volume 11 is an addendum.

The spirit of Bushido, as expressed in the 'Yeh Yin', is to die decisively, to die without attachment, and to die without hesitation. Whereas ordinary people are obsessed with life, Bushido takes a negative view, believing that only death is sincere, and that all other merit and fame are dreams. When a man gives up fame and fortune, and uses his "dead body" to serve the public, he can see the reality of this world. The samurai's claim to spiritual superiority is to be able to mentally defeat oneself before being able to defeat others. It is the ability to "not take one's own life" before one can "take another's life". This was the moral law that made the Japanese samurai superior. The lesson of "not taking a life" and "taking a life" are closely related, and the lesson of "Yeh Yin" is a very cruel samurai saying.

For example, Naomo, the ancestor of the Saga Nabejima clan, told his son Katsushige, "In order to make decapitation a common practice, we must first decapitate the person who is to be executed," and so he lined up ten men in his western courtroom and asked him to try to decapitate them. He saw that the tenth person was a strong young man and said, "I have beheaded enough, let that person live, and this person will be saved from beheading". Japanese soldiers invaded China when the "hundred beheadings" cruelty typical, can be seen here.

The allusion to the family of Yamamoto Tsunetomo, the author of 'Ye Yin', is also horrifying.

Yamamoto Jizaemon, Yamamoto Tsunetomo's half-brother, was instructed by his father, Yamamoto Shinemon, to behead dogs at the age of five, and those who had committed capital offenses at the age of fifteen. The samurai public began practicing beheading at the age of 14 or 15. The samurai grew up with swords and developed the spirit of not caring about beheading and killing.

The original meaning of Bushido, as taught in Japan's pre-war education edicts, "righteousness, courage, and public service" as the highest principle, which is the samurai for the "public service" of the heart of the preparations for the "public service", which is very cruel and inhumane to say the least. For example, Yoshimo, the fourth generation of the Saga Nabeshima clan, was very rough when he was young, and when one of his retainers disliked him, he wrote something bad about his wife on a fan and gave it to his retainer, saying, "Show him the fan, and tell him how he reacted. After reading the fan, the retainer did not know who wrote it and tore the fan. The chamberlain was about to report this. Lord Yoshimo said, "It is rude to tear up something written by the master. He was ordered to commit harakiri. "In the world of Bushido, harakiri is the most loyal expression of Bushido. Yamamoto Tsunetomo also said that the highest loyalty expected of a samurai is to die a martyr's death.

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5 Japanese Bushido Spirit and Hara-kiri Culture (Hara-kiri method included, kids should not imitate)

There is a goosebumps-inducing story. Horie Sanemon, a warehouse keeper in Yashiki, Edo, stole gold and silver from the stockpile, and after he was arrested and forced to give a confession, he was ordered to be "tortured to death as a great sinner". First, he was burned to death by burning all the hair on his body, stripped of his fingernails, cut off his hamstrings, and tortured with tools such as an awl, but he did not cry out or change his color. Finally, they cut open his back and poured hot soy sauce over it, and he died with his body bent.

Bushido is also said to emphasize the virtues of righteousness, patience, courage, courtesy, sincerity, honor, loyalty and righteousness, but in reality it is cruel and brutal. In the Kamakura period of the Middle Ages, the Genji family's blood brothers (Minamoto no Yoshitomo, Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and Minamoto no Asa), killed each other with their flesh and bones, thus breaking the Genji's rightful heir. Another example is that due to the machinations of the Hojo clan, the meritorious officials were also cut off from their lifelines. The ruthlessness of Japan's Warring States period is supported by a history of bloody killings. There are killing the lord, Matsunaga bomb is treasonous regicide that is General Yoshihide; there are killing his father, Saito Yoshitaka killed his father Saito Road three; there are killing brother, Imagawa Yoshimoto in order to inherit the position of the head of the family, in the death of the eldest brother, kill the second brother and all its support for the courtiers; there are killing their own children, Edo Shogunate the first generation of the generals Tokugawa Ieyasu listen to the words of Oda Nobunaga, his own son Nobuko Tokugawa Nobukasu self-inflicted death. The cruelty and inhumanity of the Japanese samurai abound, and another true side of the spirit of bushido can be seen from this.

Origin of the Bushido Spirit

Circa 1200, there was a famous Japanese priest. His life was a life of travel, for he was a storyteller and also a martial artist, and his life was all about swords and literature. His sword was as famous as his writings, and he went around telling stories of the samurai, always with a lute at his side, so people called him "Lute Master". He traveled all over Japan, rain or shine, on the road. During his long journey, his sword rusted, but his pen became sharper. His grammar, like the blade in his hand, was flamboyant, capricious, and painful, and he could be amazingly careless of the truth, but his full-bloodedness and personal behavior did become the original image of the samurai. Legend has it that in his later years, the Venerable Pipa cut down hundreds of birch trees in order to hone his blade. And in his lifetime, he failed to find an opponent.

The fact that the Venerable Biwa had not found an opponent at that time was in no way due to the fact that there were too few samurai, but rather that his skill with the sword was too great. In his time, the samurai had become a class, and had become so popular among the people that samurai ronin could be seen everywhere with long swords at their waists, hair in buns, and wearing real drapes. This marked the beginning of the era of samurai politics in Japan.

Bushido emerged in Japan against the backdrop of the Fujiwara clan's authoritarian politics, and the formation of the samurai was associated with the disintegration of the centralized system of power headed by the emperor and the development of the manor system. With the decline of centralized power, the conscription system that had been in place since the Daika Reform became less stringent, and in the early 9th century the "kenji system" was introduced, which made military service a privilege of the nobility, and the quality of the army fell into disrepair. At this time, the rise of manor houses throughout Japan, the owners of the manor for the territory and security, and, slowly separated some farmers to train, and later simply set up a special defense responsible for the samurai regiment. Some temples and shrines also organized "monk soldiers". But the establishment of the manor armed forces, posing a threat to the local, aware of the local forces also organized armed forces. Generally, they were formed by the local rich and powerful, and were called "ronpai, ronzong".

The emergence and strengthening of the samurai power, from the early 11th century gradually formed beyond the scope of the manor of the regional armed groups. Numerous scattered samurai gathered in one place and formed a samurai group under a single command. The leader of a samurai group was called a "tsuke" and his subordinates were called "shuko". The samurai group had a strong sense of clan and followed the orders of the chief, practicing a master-slave relationship. The samurai's bravery on the battlefield and dedication to their masters were the basic requirements for both the individual samurai and the samurai order, and new concepts such as "the martial arts style" and "the way of the bow and arrow" were developed, which became important ideological pillars for the maintenance of the samurai organization! The rise of the samurai coincided with the transformation of Japan from a legalistic society to an aristocratic society. It was also the time when feudalism began to take over. The rise of the samurai was not only a struggle for power between the nobles and the samurai, but also included the emergence of the samurai from the local rich farmers. At that time, the five samurai, who were local landowners, had their roots in the land. They were appointed as chiefs of constables, shoguns, etc., and embraced famous samurai warriors as their backers.

But it wasn't until the end of the Warring States period, at the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate, that the term "bushido" first appeared in writing.

The purpose of bushido was similar to that of medieval Western chivalry: to set the warrior on a path of survival, elevating them from the status of hired assassins. A true believer in Bushido honors the virtues of integrity, fortitude, simplicity, courage, courtesy, honesty, and loyalty. As long as a samurai was faithful to his vocation, he was honored. This belief in personal honor at all costs made the samurai not shy away from self-sacrifice, which could be described as unnecessary. The samurai who fought valiantly despite being surrounded by enemies was not sacrificing his own life by the standards of bushido. Such behavior was a tangible expression of the samurai's heartfelt loyalty. From a modern point of view, this may seem strange or even suicidal. In fact, it was not. It was not at all unusual compared to European chivalry. The samurai, y influenced by Bushido, simply put aside personal life and death when considering their next move. Life and death were secondary to everything else, and making one's actions effective was the right thing to do. It was better to try and die in the process than to not try at all, for the samurai did not have to think about his own gain or loss at all, but went forward. However, this spirit still prevented some samurai from running away from the battlefield (they were flesh and blood, after all), and Bushido did not mean that a man had to fight to the death, regardless of his chances of victory, and put himself in a difficult situation. A samurai must be wise and courageous, and it is wrong and foolish to take a life unnecessarily. Suicidal behavior, such as that which often occurs when the defenders of a castle open the castle to meet the enemy, must be re-examined in terms of Bushido. Going out to meet the enemy besieging the castle is suicide, but if you can hold the enemy at bay and give your lord time to repel them, it is a sign of loyalty and valor, not a self-destructive impulse.

Author: 61.51.92.* 2006-7-19 17:40 Reply to this statement

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6 Japan's Bushido Spirit and Hara-kiri Culture (Hara-kiri method included, children should not imitate)

The last two hundred Tokugawa defenders of Fushimi Castle in 1600, who opened the castle to constantly meet the western army, were precisely this type of heroic behavior! Of course, this same spirit can be used to explain the suicide attacks of all the Japanese defenders on all the Pacific islands chanting Banzai in World War II. Bushido still lives on in the hearts and minds of the Japanese Army and Navy of the twentieth century. Bushido, like any other formal code of behavior, has its negative aspects. Samurai often treated their captives cruelly because the captors had abandoned Bushido. Many of the samurai's enemies were executed after combat for this reason alone. Unlike medieval Europe, where nobles and knights who were captured (and often imprisoned for years) could be ransomed, the Japanese never fought in a similar way by exchanging money for prisoners. A samurai or daimyo captured alive on the battlefield usually died an ignominious death at the hands of his captor.

There are three main categories of books on bushido that have been handed down from the Warring States period. One was the secret books of martial arts, where the definition of bushido was drastically cut down to martial skills. The Monogatari anthology, a book published in 1735, focuses on the martial skills that a samurai would need to learn on the battlefield. The subtitle, "The Way of the Armor," correctly explains the book's content. Although it was written long after the Warring States period, the martial arts techniques written in this book are still very effective after a hundred years in the conservative Tokugawa Shogunate. The second is philosophical thinking, the spirit of the battlefield can be widely utilized in daily life to achieve any goal. The third is the practical science of running a castle and commanding an army of samurai, but it also mentions how the samurai applied the spirit of Bushido to their daily lives. Kato Kiyomasa's standard that "a samurai should not dance, and a samurai who dances wildly...should commit hara-kiri" may seem a bit harsh, but perhaps it means that a true samurai had to be both educated and skilled in martial arts. Not only did he have to be proficient in swordsmanship, but he also had to be skilled in social etiquette, including the tea ceremony and the art of poetry. There were also poetry contests in which the samurai indulged, sometimes even on the battlefield! The samurai would start with an opening line (the first line), which the opponent had to follow immediately. Subtle puns and metaphors were highly valued in these battles of wits. Of course Japan was a fairly affluent country and the samurai were the upper class of society and had the privilege of experiencing all the finer things in life. Of course, the daimyo who lived this life were arguably the richest landowning powerhouses in the world at the time.

The Spirit of Bushido in the Japanese Mind