Bushidō and the Samurai
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Rethinking the Ako Ronin Debate the Religious Significance of Chushin Gishi
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1999 26/1-2 Rethinking the Ako Ronin Debate The Religious Significance of Chushin gishi John Allen T ucker This paper suggests that the Tokugawa Confucian debate over the Ako revenge vendetta was, in part, a religious debate over the posthumous sta tus of the forty-six ronin who murdered Lord Kira Yoshinaka as an act of revenge for the sake of their deceased master, Asano Naganori. At issue in the debate was whether the forty-six ronin were chushin gishi, a notion typ ically translated as “loyal and righteous samurai. ” The paper shows, how ever, that in Tokugawa discourse the term chushin gishi had significant religious nuances. The latter nuances are traceable to a Song dynasty text, the Xingli ziyi, by Chen Beixi, which explains that zhongchen yishi (Jpn. chushin gishi) could be legitimately worshiped at shrines devoted to them. The paper shows that Beixi text was known by those involved in the Ako debate, and that the religious nuances, as well as their sociopolitical impli cations, were the crucial, albeit largely unspoken, issues in the debate.1 he paper also notes that the ronin were eventually worshiped, by none other than the Meiji emperor, and enshrined in the early-twentieth century. Also, in prewar Japan, they were extolled as exemplars of the kind of self- sacrijicing loyalism that would be rewarded, spiritually, via enshrinement at Yasukuni Shrine. Keywords: Ako ronin — chushin gishi (zhongchen yishi)—しhen Beixi — Xingli ziyi — Yamasra Soko — Bakufu —apotheosis Chushin gishi 忠、臣義 士 was the pivotal notion in the eighteenth-century controversy among Confucian scholars over the Ako 赤穂 revenge vendetta of 1703. -
Kanadehon Chtshingura
CHAPTER FIVE Kanadehon Chtshingura MonB rHeN fusr e ThLB op Fnuoel Loverrv Modern lmages of Chúshingura Í7 anadehon Chashinqura 1The TreasrLry of Loyal Relain- .N.rr1 i, so deeply ro"uen into the cullrrral fabric o[ lapan llrat until quite recently there was hardly anyone who didn't lrrow the story. Based on a historical vendetta known as the Akrj Incident that occurred in r7oz, the play has spawned spin- r'lT works in many other genres, including a stoýelling series lrrlled Gishi Meimei Den (Biographies of Loyal Retainers)1 tlurt was popular in the second half of the eighteenth century. 'l'lrcse and other variants often developed subsidiary storylines tlrat had very little to do with the original play. After the Russo-Japanese War of r9o4-o5, the popular aníwa-bushi narrative singer Tochuken Kumoemon2 scored ir lrit with úte song Gishiden (Legend of the Loyal Retainers). 'I his entertainer had the backing of a right-wing group called llrc Black Ocean Society, which tinged his Chtishingura slrlry with ultra'nationalistic ideals of loyalty and patríotism. lrr tl-re lead up to World War II, thís nationalistic flavor had t.volved to the point where the story was featured prominently irr government-mandated textbooks for elementary schools. It 65 ChúshinlurL MoRE TEAN Jusr A Thrs o! FeuoAl LovAr,Ty extolled as the "revenge of loyal retainers that lifted our irrrllrropology focused on carnival practices, Maruya brilliantly hearts," providing an "antidote" to a complacency that had r.lrrcidated the secÍet to Chúshíngurd's enduring populariý. supposedly set in during the Genroku era because of pro- On a practical level, Chashingura inspired such a vast longed peace. -
Storehouse of Loyalty (Chushingura), 1806, by Hokusai (1760–1849)
Scene from The Storehouse of Loyalty (Chushingura), 1806, by Hokusai (1760–1849). Japan. Edo period (1615–1868). Woodblock print, ink and colors on paper. Gift of Japanese Prints from the Collection of Emmeline Johnson, Donated by Oliver and Elizabeth Johnson, 1994.45. What is depicted here? The men climbing the roof of this snow-covered building are disenfranchised samurai (ronin) bent on exacting revenge for the death of their lord. Drawn from a popular narrative known as the Chushingura (The Storehouse of Loyalty), the story was based on historical events that occurred in the early eighteenth century. The former samurais’ grievance originates when their master, Asano Naganori, is ordered to the palace to receive instruction from an official, Kira Yoshinaka. Goaded by Kira into drawing his sword, Asano lightly wounds the official. For the capital offence of drawing his sword at the palace, Asano is ordered to commit ritual suicide (seppuku) by disembowelment, while Kira goes free. Upon his death, Asano’s lands are confiscated, and the forty-seven samurai who served him are dismissed, becoming ronin (masterless samurai). In an act of loyalty to avenge their master’s death, the men go under cover, spending almost two years carefully plotting their vendetta. They eventually meet to attack Kira’s mansion on a snowy, moonlit night. The scene shown here is the moment before they discover Kira, hiding in a shed behind a bundle of firewood. After taking him prisoner, the ronin decapitate Kira and parade his severed head through the streets of the capital. The tale ends with the ronin turning themselves in; Asian Art Museum Education Department they are sentenced to death by the authori- ties, but are allowed to take their own lives (seppuku), an honorable death according to the warrior code of Japan. -
How Religion and Belief Influenced the Way of the Samurai
Sword and Spirit: Bushido in Practice from the Late Sengoku Era through the Edo Period Joe Lovatt Seminar Paper Presented to the Department of History Western Oregon University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in History Spring 2009 Approved Date Approved Date Hst 499: Prof. Max Geier & Prof. Narasingha Sil 2 Sword and Spirit: Bushido in Practice from the late Sengoku era through the Edo period By Joe Lovatt The Samurai possessed a strict code of ethics known as Bushido (the way of the warrior), which allowed them to become some of the greatest warrior the world has ever known. However, there were different embodiments of this system, personifications that two Samurai themselves have documented in two of the most well known books ever written by Samurai; The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi and Hagakure, by Yamamoto Tsunetomo. Bushido has usually been considered an ethical code that was set to a certain standard, just as the ten commandments are. This analysis suggests that it was in fact not a set of moral laws, but that bushido was embodied differently by every Samurai. Bushido was ultimately a guideline, just like rules in religion. It was a path that one was to adhere to as well as they could, but history has made it clear that it depended upon the circumstances in which a Samurai lived; the life of a Samurai in the twelfth century would filled with fighting for their master and practical use of the code; far different from that of a Samurai living during the first half of the 1800’s, who would be keeping track of the business operations of their master instead of fighting. -
The Significance of the Atypical Samurai Image: A
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by UC Research Repository THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ATYPICAL SAMURAI IMAGE: A STUDY OF THREE NOVELLAS BY FUJISAWA SHŪHEI AND THE FILM TASOGARE SEIBEI BY YAMADA YŌJI A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Japanese at the University of Canterbury by S. J. Albrow University of Canterbury 2007 Table of Contents Acknowledgments ........................................................................... …..……..…2 Abstract ........................................................................................................... …3 Author's Notes ................................................................................................ …4 Introduction ........................................................................... ….…….…….…..5 I Historical Background to the Samurai and their Ideals ......................... ..11 1.1. Emergence of the Samurai... ...................................................... ……..11 1.2. Samurai Ethics during the Tokugawa Period ........................... ……..20 1.3. Anxiety and Change .......................................................... …..…..…...29 1.4. Modern Adaptation of Samurai Ideals ............................................... ..42 1.5. Re-examining Samurai Traditions ............................................ ….…..46 II The Atypical Samurai Image ........................................................... ….…..51 2.1. Corporate Society ..................................................................... -
The Modernization of the Samurai
The Modernization of the Samurai Instructor: Henry Smith Course Description: This course explores the dramatic transformations in Japan’s military class over half a millennium. We will proceed through three stages, first the period 1550-1650 when the hardened battlefield warriors of the late medieval period were “tamed” into city-dwelling bureaucrats in an era of sustained peace. Next came the abolition of all samurai status after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, and its replacement by a modern conscript army. Third and most apparent to us is the pervasive re-imagining of the “samurai” and his code of “bushidô” in the modern period, both in Japan and abroad, and the creation in the post-World War II era of a global media world of samurai that has taken on an entire life of its own. We will read basic texts, primary and secondary, and look at examples of samurai stories and film. Throughout, the primary goal is to historicize and contextualize the samurai, both as a living historical figure and as a creation of the imagination, and to think about the relationship between the two. Prerequisites: A basic survey-level knowledge of both pre-modern and modern Japanese history is highly desirable, although not required. Requirements and Grading: 1) Attendance. You are expected to attend every class, or to let me know by email, before class unless it’s an emergency, when and why you are unable to attend. More than 2-3 unexplained absences may be reflected in your grade. 2) Commentaries: On most days, every member of the class is asked to write a commentary of up to one page (A4, single-spaced) on the assigned readings, in which you offer your thoughts on the key issues that they raise. -
Literature of Bushidō: Loyalty, Honorable Death, and the Evolution of the Samurai Ideal
International ResearchScape Journal Volume 1 Article 2 February 2014 Literature of Bushidō: Loyalty, Honorable Death, and the Evolution of the Samurai Ideal David A. Coldren Bowling Green State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/irj Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, and the International and Area Studies Commons Recommended Citation Coldren, David A. (2014) "Literature of Bushidō: Loyalty, Honorable Death, and the Evolution of the Samurai Ideal," International ResearchScape Journal: Vol. 1 , Article 2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25035/irj.01.01.02 Available at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/irj/vol1/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at ScholarWorks@BGSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in International ResearchScape Journal by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@BGSU. Coldren: Literature of Bushid?: Loyalty, Honorable Death, and the Evolutio Coldren 1 Literature of Bushidō: Loyalty, Honorable Death, and the Evolution of the Samurai Ideal David Adam Coldren ABSTRACT This essay will address the evolution of the samurai warrior code (bushido), concentrating on its depiction in several prominent works of Japanese literature from 1185 to 1989. This essay will argue that rather than a concrete set of principles, bushido was actually a malleable set of romanticized qualities supposedly possessed by the samurai that were repeatedly adapted to a changing Japanese society in order to maintain a national identity predicated on the warrior class. Beginning with the introduction of the samurai through the Tale of the Heike, this essay will then proceed to discuss the blatant romanticization of the samurai until the early 1900’s as illustrated in such prominent works and mediums as the house codes of various feudal lords, Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s Hagakure, and Nitobe Inazo’s Bushido. -
Tokyo Modern I: Koizumi Kishio's 100 Views of the Imperial Capital (1928–1940)
MODERNITY’S UNDERCURRENTS In celebrating Tokyo’s rebirth, the “creative prints” (sōsaku-hanga) artists revealed themselves to be thoroughly bourgeois urbanites. Industrialization drew their attention mostly in the form of engineering projects, smokestacks, Western-style buildings, and the revolution in mass transportation. Working-class activities were observed fleetingly at best. In Koizumi’s series, for example, this includes dying cloth for kimono and two contrasting versions of a picturesque lumberyard. “This is an unusual view from the old days,” Koizumi wrote in his 1940 annotation for this print created ten years earlier. “I wonder if it still exists?” “Dye Factory at Waseda (#08),” November 1930 "Tokyo Modern l" by James T. Ulak 4 - 1 “Lumberyards at Kiba (#65),” July 1935 “Lumberyards at Kiba in the Snow (#65-revised),” February 1940 Private collection The only hint of agriculture—and the fact that the great majority of Japan’s population was engaged in this—was Koizumi’s rendering of the new central vegetable market in Kanda, and a nostalgic depiction of a post-earthquake suburb where daikon, the succulent big white radish, was still grown. "Tokyo Modern l" by James T. Ulak 4 - 2 “Vegetable Market at Kanda (#16),” September 1931 Damage from the earthquake required the reconstruction of Tokyo's food markets, including the Central Wholesale Market at Tsukij. Vegetable sales were transacted under tented stalls along the Kanda River to facilitate the shipping of goods. The concrete-and-glass warehouse was built to withstand future earthquakes and fire. Harvesting daikon. “Landscape at Nerima Ward (#73),” November 1935 "Tokyo Modern l" by James T. -
Bushido: the Creation of a Martial Ethic in Late Meiji Japan
BUSHIDO: THE CREATION OF A MARTIAL ETHIC IN LATE MEIJI JAPAN by OLEG BENESCH A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Asian Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) FEBRUARY 2011 © Oleg Benesch, 2011 ABSTRACT This study examines the development of the concept of “bushido,” or the “way of the warrior,” in modern Japan, focusing on the period between the mid-nineteenth century and the early 1930s. The popular view holds that bushido was a centuries-old code of behavior rooted in the historical samurai class and transmitted into the modern period, where it was a fundamental component of Japanese militarism before 1945. In fact, the concept of bushido was largely unknown before the last decade of the nineteenth century, and was widely disseminated only after 1900, especially after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5. This study argues that modern bushido discourse began in the 1880s, and was dependent on political and cultural currents relating to Japan’s modernization and the nation’s attempts to redefine itself in the face of foreign “others,” primarily China and the West. Following more than a decade of largely unquestioned thrusts towards modernization and Westernization after 1868, Japanese thinkers looked to their own traditions in search of sources of national identity. The first discussions of bushido at this time were not the work of conservative reactionaries, however, but were conceived by relatively progressive individuals with considerable international experience and a command of Western languages. Some of the first modern writings on bushido clearly posit the concept as a potential native equivalent to the English ethic of “gentlemanship,” which was widely admired in late-nineteenth century Japan, and much of early bushido discourse should be seen primarily as a response to outside stimuli. -
Bushido Robert J
Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CGU Faculty Publications and Research CGU Faculty Scholarship 1-1-2001 Bushido Robert J. Bunker Claremont Graduate University Recommended Citation Bunker, Robert J. "Bushido." World War II in the Pacific: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing, 2001. 134-135. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the CGU Faculty Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in CGU Faculty Publications and Research by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact [email protected]. .... 134 Bushido This warrior code was based on concepts of Zen Bud of vehicles and cargo. When emergency training programs dhism, which provided its martial or warlike nature, and failed ro correct rhis deficiency, rhe problem was solved later of Confucianism, which instilled social responsibil by hiring indian operators for rhe segments of rhe Stilwell iry. Yer ir required loyalry to one's feudal lord (daimyo) Road in Burma, freeing up American truck drivers, many above all else. Major principl of th em African Americans who vo lunteered ro drive ro es of Bushido were based on honor, dury, to Kunming, for the portions in Chin a. courage, and a willingness sacrifice one 's Fro m January 194 5 unril rhe Japanese surrender in Au self in barcle or in rirual suicide. Possession of a warrior gust, rhe AJiies delivered 25,000 vehicles and 120,000 spirit and mastery of rhe horse, bow, and sword repre ro ns of cargo ro Kunming over rhe Sti lwell Road. Amer se nted other arrribures of this ethical code. -
Excerpts from Hagakure (In the Shadow of Leaves): on Death
Primary Source Document with Questions (DBQs) EXCERPTS FROM HAGAKURE (IN THE SHADOW OF LEAVES): ON DEATH ON LIVING IN THE MOMENT ON THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD RETAINER ON SPEAKING ON THE TEACHINGS OF YAMAMOTO JIN’ EMON Introduction After the unification of Japan in 1590 and the establishment of the Tokugawa Shōgunate in 1600, the samurai (warriors) remained at the top of the social scale but had fewer and fewer chances to prove their valor in battle. As opportunities to fight decreased, and samurai were employed in peacetime government positions, more attention was given to the values that defined their class. One of the most important was the loyalty samurai owed to the lord they served. In fact, the word samurai itself comes from a verb that means “to serve.” The lord or other high-ranking members of a clan often wrote out codes of behavior for the clan retainers. Among them, a work called Hagakure, or “hidden leaves,” has come to be seen as the one that best describes bushidō, “the way of the samurai.” It was written down in the early eighteenth century by a young samurai named Tashirō Tsuramoto (1678-1748), who was recording the wisdom he had learned over seven years of talks with an older, retired samurai of the Nabeshima clan named Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659-1719). Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s ideas were expressed in conversations with his young disciple and so the resulting book is not a systematic code of rules. But some ideas are repeated often enough to be seen as essential to his thought. -
Inventing the Way of the Samurai
THE PAST & PRESENT BOOK SERIES General Editor MATTHEW HILTON Inventing the Way of the Samurai Inventing the Way of the Samurai Nationalism, Internationalism, and Bushidō in Modern Japan OLEG BENESCH 1 1 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries © Oleg Benesch 2014 The moral rights of the author have been asserted First Edition published in 2014 Impression: 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Control Number: 2014938933 ISBN 978–0–19–870662–5 Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and for information only.