| SAMURAI | |||||||||||||||||||
| Samurai In General | |||||||||||||||||||
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Bushido Bushido, in English means "Way of the Warrior. " Bushido was the main code and way of life that the Samurai followed. Bushido originated from four different types of study: Buddhism, Zen, Confucianism and Shintoism. Buddhism gives the Bushido its relationship to danger and death. The Samurai were a strong warrior because they didn't fear death. Buddhism also taught the Samurai how to overcome fear and have no limits. With Zen, this was a branch of Buddhism one could train himself to obtain complete control over ones inner self. This was a tool used to drive out unsteadiness and fear. Shintoism attributes to Bushido its scents of loyalty and patriotism. It basically includes a lot of ancestral worship. This promotes the imperial family even more so it becomes the figure head of the nation. Shintoism teaches that the emperor is like a God. Confucianism gives Bushido its belief in the having an important relationship without the planet. It taught ones self to respect the five moral relationships of master and servant, Father and son, husband and wife, older and younger brother and also friend and friend. This is how the Samurai would live, using these relationships. Also Bushido held justice, benevolence, love, sincerity, honesty and self control as very important aspects of life. Bushido created a way for the samurai to live. It nourished the nation through periods of war and crime, uncertainty and civil war. SAMURAI CREED!! -Bushido(Way of the warrior) I have no parents; I make the Heavens and the Earth my parents. I have no home; I make the Tan T'ien my home. I have no divine power; I make honesty my Divine Power. I have no means; I make Docility my means. I have no magic power; I make personality my Magic Power. I have neither life nor death; I make A Um my Life and Death. I have no body; I make Stoicism my Body. I have no eyes; I make The Flash of Lightning my eyes. I have no ears; I make Sensibility my Ears. I have no limbs; I make Promptitude my Limbs. I have no laws; I make Self-Protection my Laws. I have no strategy; I make the Right to Kill and the Right to Restore Life my Strategy. I have no designs; I make Seizing the Opportunity by the Forelock my Designs. I have no miracles; I make Righteous Laws my Miracle. I have no principles; I make Adaptability to all circumstances my Principle. I have no tactics; I make Emptiness and Fullness my Tactics. I have no talent; I make Ready Wit my Talent. I have no friends; I make my Mind my Friend. I have no enemy; I make Incautiousness my Enemy. I have no armour; I make Benevolence my Armour. I have no castle; I make Immovable Mind my Castle. I have no sword; I make No Mind my Sword. Source: http://mcel.pacificu.edu/as/students/bushido/bcreed.html FEUDAL SYSTEM!!! Over time the samurai's place in the feudal system rose dramatically as they received more power and nobility in the society. In 860AD the samurai were very low down in society and were not thought of as highly of the Merchant Class or the Manufacturers. Japan's Feudal System In 860AD ->Emperor ----->Fugiwara Clan ---------->Daimyo --------------->Samurai ---------------------->Peasants The Samurai made there way up in the feudal system in the 17th century passing the Merchant Class and the Artisans and Manufacturers Class. With this uprise the samurai gained great power over the lower classes of society. The samurai gained the Kirisute which gave them the power to kill all people lower in society than themselves who payed disrespect towards the samurai. Japan's Feudal System From 1603-1867 ->Emperor -->Shogun --->Daimyo ---->Samurai ----->Farmers ------>Artisans and Manufactures ------->Merchants DAIMYO All Samurai clans had a Daimyo. These were feudal lords who had full control granted by the shogun over a provenance. The Daimyo were not always loyal to the shogun and in the 15th and 16th centuries the Daimyo turned against each other trying to claim more power and land. The fighting caused a civil war. The fighting on until there was only a couple of clans left in Japan. These were the major clans: Minamoto, Fujiwara, Taria and the Yamato clans. When Oda Nobunaga came into power in1603, he united the Japan forming the Tokugawa Shogonate. WEAPONS/ARMOUR!!! Early in the picture samurai used weapons that were not all that sophisticated. They started off with the basic bow and arrow and the sword. Samurai wore armour but as the demands for war changed so did the armour. The samurai had a pair of swords or daisho. These two swords became the trade mark of the samurai. The larger of the two was the katana and it was over 24 inches long. It had a long thin and slightly curved blade. The katana was the standard fighting sword. The handle was made of tightly bound dark blue silk. The sword was fitted onto the waist using a scabbard which was tied on to the belt. The shorter of the two swords was the wakizashi. It was identical in shape and differed only slightly. The main difference was that it was only 12 to 24 inches long. After the swords were made by a black smith sword tester would test out the blade on the dead bodies of criminals or condemned individuals. Samurai armour changed and developed countless times through the centuries. The first basic type of armour was the yoroie armour suit. It was heavy and box like and was created by many lacquered plates overlapping and being tied by silk. The yoroi suit was mainly used for mounted samurai. The do-maru was a more flexible suit of armour that also weighed less and opened at the sides. It was worn by the foot soldier. During the 14th century a variation of the do-maru was designed called the haramaki. It was little different but it opened at the back. As armour evolved the best type turned out to be a type of armour called yukinoshita-do and after years of refining it turned out to be a solid single sheet that deflected missiles. HAIR CUTS!!! Samurai took great pride in their hair. Even if one hair was out of place it was considered the greatest of disgraces. Samurai shaved off the front part of their hair. Any hair left on the head was tied back into a pony tail. The pony tail would be bent backward then forward and this was called the mitsu-ori, or three fold style. There was also a variation of the three fold call the two fold, this was were the hair was only folded once | |||||||||||||||||||
| Bibliography | |||||||||||||||||||
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Guest, Lawrence and Eshuys. Tracing History: Tradition and change. Printed in Hong Kong, 1984. Laidlaw, Ronald! Japan a Documentary History 1994, Macmillan, Melbourne. Encarta 1995 CD-ROM Microsoft Corporatrion, 1994. http://mcel.pacificu.edu/as/students/bushido/bsamurai.html http://www.ox.compsoc.net/~gemini/simons/historyweb/samurai.html | |||||||||||||||||||
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