Bushido
Bushidō is a samurai moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behavior, and lifestyle. Its origins date back to the Kamakura period, but it was formalized in the Edo period. There are multiple types of bushido which evolved significantly through history. Contemporary forms of bushido are still used in the social and economic organization of Japan. Bushido is also used as an overarching term for all the codes, practices, philosophies, and principles of samurai culture. It is loosely analogous to the European concept of chivalry, but with some major differences.
Origin
The concept of a samurai code or codes was developed and refined centuries before the Edo period in the Kamakura period. Such ideas formalized earlier moral values and ethics, most commonly stressing a combination of sincerity, frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, honour until death, "bravery", and "loyalty to the samurai's lord." Bushido proper developed between the 16th and 20th centuries, but this was debated by pundits who believed they were building on a legacy dating back to the 10th century.The term bushido itself is "rarely attested in pre-modern literature", but a code of honor did exist among the writing elite and historians who were generally disgusted enough at the dishonorable activity of some fighters such as shinobi as to rarely mention them. Ideas of honor that led to bushido developed in response to the longstanding dishonorable behavior of samurai, emerging stealth and espionage techniques, and Zen Buddhist soldier tenets.
The relative peace in Japan during the Kamakura period favored ideas of honor in battle, expressed in customs such as announcing one's family name and/or lineages before fighting, attempting to limit fights among warrior nobles to horseback archery or sword duels with no subterfuge or trickery, and conducting oneself like a legendary character or renowned hero. Pre-bushido honor codes during this time were also contributed to by commoners, who sometimes took on similar roles to samurai and often used their family names as introductions to fighting despite not being noble. However, even during the relatively small family and land quarrels of this time, as well as duels thought to be honorable, warriors often disregarded these norms of combat and the announcement of family names or lineages was mostly a way to brag and assert a right to fight and/or gain whatever a faction was looking for after a fight. Outright bragging was also known to happen. These already tenuous codes of honor were weakened when the Japanese, expecting the invading Mongols to be laid-back with their combat, humiliatingly sent an envoy that fired a noisemaker arrow to officially commence the start of what the Japanese assumed would be a series of small duels and skirmishes. Additionally, Mongols usually cut swathes through soldiers that attempted to announce their lineages before facing them. Despite ultimately winning against the Mongols, these honor norms, along with the shogunate, were weakened enough to cause endemic division that led to the end of the Kamakura period and the court wars of the Nanboku-chō period.
Born from Neo-Confucianism during times of peace in the Edo period and following Confucian texts, while also being influenced by Shinto and Zen Buddhism, it balanced violence with the therapeutic ideals of wisdom and peace accepted at the time. It was developed further during the Muromachi period and formally defined and applied in law by the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo period. There is no strict definition, and interpretations of the code have varied over time. Bushido has undergone many changes throughout Japanese history, and various Japanese clans interpreted it in their own way until the 19th century, enough for it to be most often a series of unwritten oral expectations that could be described as different codes, with further variations likely existing in the same warrior noble house, rather than a single code.
One of the earliest known usages of bushido is in the extremely influential late 16th century text The Military Mirror of Kai, where it was used to describe unwritten rules in a complex metaphorical way that commoners could purportedly not live up to. Another early use of the written term is in the Kōyō Gunkan in 1616 by Kōsaka Masanobu. In 1685, the ukiyo-e book Kokon Bushidō ezukushi by artist Hishikawa Moronobu included the term and artwork of samurai with simple descriptions meant for children. In 1642, the Kashoki was written by samurai Saito Chikamori and included moral precepts which explained the theoretical aspects of bushido. It was written with accessible kana and intended for commoners, not warriors. It was very popular, demonstrating that the idea of bushido had spread among the population. The Kashoki shows that moral values were present in bushido by 1642.
The term, bushido, came into common international usage with the 1899 publication of Nitobe Inazō's Bushido: The Soul of Japan, which was read by many influential Western people. In Bushido, Nitobe wrote:
Bushidō, then, is the code of moral principles which the samurai were required or instructed to observe...More frequently it is a code unuttered and unwritten...It was an organic growth of decades and centuries of military career. In order to become a samurai, this code has to be mastered.
In Feudal and Modern Japan, historian Arthur May Knapp wrote:
The samurai of thirty years ago had behind him a thousand years of training in the law of honor, obedience, duty, and self-sacrifice ... It was not needed to create or establish them. As a child, he had but to be instructed, as indeed he was from his earliest years, in the etiquette of self-immolation.
Etymology
is a Japanese word that literally means 'warrior way'. It is first attested in the 1616 work, a military chronicle recording the exploits of the Takeda clan. The term is a compound of, a Chinese-derived word first attested in Japanese in 712 with the on'yomi, and. In modern usage, bushi is often used as a synonym for samurai; however, historical sources make it clear that bushi and samurai were distinct concepts, with the former referring to soldiers or warriors and the latter referring instead to a kind of hereditary nobility.In the early 17th century, the term with its on'yomi reading was used alongside the synonymous alternative form, read using native Japanese vocabulary as mono no fu no michi. Another important term is.
Usage
For centuries, the samurai adhered to multiple types of the code, of which the interpretations varied per samurai clan and per member of the military nobility. This encompassed morality, their role in society, and how to live a life with honor and virtue. The samurai had some common values, but they did not have a single definition or path that all samurai were required to abide by. The samurai were as practical on the battlefield as any other warriors. These concepts, codes, and ideals were ingrained in the samurai since they rose to power in the Kamakura period. At certain eras, there were prevalent rules and unwritten customs such as the "Way of the Bow and the Horse" since the 12th century and, in the Edo period, the code of the samurai was formalized with specific virtues and laws by the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate. Notable samurai, such as Miyamoto Musashi and Yamamoto Tsunetomo., wrote extensively about their interpretations of bushido. In the 1870s, the Meiji restoration abolished the samurai class, and they were transferred to professional, military, and business classes. However, the former samurai and their descendants continued to be influential in Japanese society because they occupied important positions. Bushido has continued to exist in various forms. Additional concepts and ideas were added to bushido so that it could evolve with the times. It was used in the Armed Forces of the Empire of Japan and symbolically by the successor Japan Self-Defense Forces. In the Taisho period, bushido was advocated as the way of the merchant. It can be dormant for years and revived during geopolitical instability. Centuries of rule by the samurai class have left a deep impact on Japanese society. Thus, various forms are still used today in e.g., Japanese culture, business, martial arts, and communication.Myth and reality
Bushido is often described as a specific moral code that all members of the samurai class were obligated to follow. However, historically, the samurai adhered to multiple warrior codes, and the interpretations varied per samurai clan, individuals, and eras. These codes and philosophies changed dramatically during the different eras. The earliest proto-bushido type existed since the Kamakura period. The degrees of devotion and interpretations varied between individuals. Since at least the Sengoku period, samurai didn't have compunction to use certain weapons. Retreating from battles did occur if it was unwinnable while others chose to fight till the end. Samurai did not actively seek an honorable death. However, it was honorable to die in the service of a daimyo only while furthering the daimyo's cause.Samurai had dark customs, the most notable: Kiri-sute gomen was the right to strike the lower class who dishonored them. Seppuku was ritual suicide, to die honorably or restore one's honor. Tsujigiri to attack a human opponent to test a weapon or skill became rampant in the early Edo period until a ban was issued. The exact frequency of tsujigiri is unknown, and it was never officially condoned by any samurai clan. However, it and other types of samurai-committed murder did happen enough to become a point of complaint among Europeans.
Samurai did head collection with a ritual to beautify severed heads of worthy rivals and put them on display. The samurai applied various cruel punishments on criminals. The most common capital punishments up until the Meiji Restoration were : decapitation, decapitation with disgraceful exposure of head post-death, crucifixion, and death by burning with incendiaries. Members of the samurai class had the privilege to perform hara-kiri. If it was not lethal, then a friend or relation performed decapitation. In 1597, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered the prosecution of 26 Martyrs of Japan. They were tortured, mutilated, paraded through villages, and executed by crucifixion, tied to crosses on a hill, and impaled by lances. In the 17th century, the Tokugawa Shogunate executed over 400 Christians for being more loyal to their faith than the Shogunate. The capital punishments were beheading, crucifixion, death by burning and.
Bushido has been described as Japanese chivalry, and samurai in general have been described as being like Western knights.. Notable similarities and differences depend on which bushido type is compared with chivalry. Christianity had a modifying influence on the virtues of chivalry, whereas bushido was influenced by Zen Buddhism, Shinto, and Confucianism. Bushido is commonly associated with the moral norms of Nitobe Inazō's Bushido: The Soul of Japan, because his book popularized the term bushido internationally. However, it is a romanticized interpretation of bushido that differs from other historical literature by the samurai. Thus, the morals defined by Nitobe do not represent all of bushido. Some researchers claim that chivalric bushido, as defined by Nitobe, was invented in the 19th century. However, there is a plethora of historical literature about Japanese warrior codes, practices, philosophies since the Kamakura period. These types can be categorized by era into Sengoku, Edo, Meiji and Contemporary Bushido. Therefore the term bushido can be used as an overarching term for all the codes, practices, philosophies and principles of samurai culture.
Chinese politician Dai Jitao acknowledged the historical legitimacy of bushido and said it originated as a theory of a social order, but it had evolved considerably. In the Tokugawa period, bushido was used to describe an ethical theory, and it became a religious concept based on Shinto. In the Meiji period, bushido absorbed European ideals and formed the foundation of Japan's political ethics. Chinese writer Zhou Zuoren supported the historical legitimacy, although it was thought to be altered and corrupted in the modern period.