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"CODE OF THE SAMURAI."
Term Paper ID:30482

Essay Subject:
Discussion of the Samurai warrior class.... More...

5 Pages / 1125 Words
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Paper Abstract:
Discussion of the Samurai warrior class. Its domination of early Japanese society. Equivalent of Sumarai class in other societies, Europe and the U.S. Films about the Sumarai. Moral code of the Samurai depicted in the book CODE OF THE SAMURAI written to education yhoung Samurai in the 18th Century. The training program. Influence of Confuscianism.

Paper Introduction:
Code of the Samurai The samurai warrior class came to dominate Japanese society because for most of its history the country has been at war. Apart from the Mongol invasions of the 13th century and the debacle of World War II, the warfare has been internal � warlords fighting each other, or the central authority of the shogun. One has only to see some of the historical dramas filmed by the great director Akira Kurosawa, such as The Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Throne of Blood, or Ran to get a vivid sense of what the samurai were all about. Once the strangeness (to Westerners) of the bizarre dress and armor is registered, and one gets acclimated to a different culture and age, the motivations of the characters become clearer. For the samurai, there is usually an issue of honor to re

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Apart from the Mongolinvasions of the 13th century and the debacle of World War II, the warfarehas been internal � warlords fighting each other, or the central authorityof the shogun. Cervantes's Don Quixote is an exampleof a knight taking the idealism of chivalry to absurd lengths, whichnonetheless proves its central importance. The rise of the samurai as a class was enhanced by the giving of landgrants to faithful and courageous soldiers. 1999. But since defending againstforeign invasion could not entail grants of land due to the fact that therewere no newly conquered areas, dissatisfaction among the warrior class ledto internecine conflict and disrupted the relative stability of the feudalsociety. Works CitedCleary, Thomas, transl. Theywere brought to prominence by the long duration of military governments inJapanese history. With primogeniture, or inheritance of propertyonly by the eldest son, there were always second or third sons who had noother way of gaining their fortune, or social status, than by becomingsamurai � or monks. Thereforethe values inculcated in the training of the samurai are those which have,by implication, become standards of moral behavior for the society as awhole.This can be seen by comparing modern Japanese respect for their superiorsand natural obeisance to authority figures in contemporary corporations,factories, or schools with the following quote from the Bushido: "todisgrace the warrior band by incompetent arrogation of authority is theultimate outrage" (17). North Clarendon, Vt.: Tuttle Publishing. As the interests of the samurai and the aristocracy beganto diverge, the former took over both military and administrative functionsin the society, while the latter tended to focus on cultural development. From the first militarygovernment, established in Kamakura in the year 1186 A.D., until the Mongolinvasions that started in 1274, the samurai dominated the aristocrats, whostill held sway in their traditional fiefdoms. Knights, like samurai, oftencame from the upper classes. Reading it today one can imaginatively project oneselfback in time, as a novice in training, listening with rapt attention � andfear � about the ultimate sacrifice which could be required of a knight atany time � and wondering if one has enough courage and discipline to carryit off with honor when the fateful hour arrives. An analogy is made between the renunciation of worldly pleasures bythe monk and the samurai, as well as the hierarchical nature of therespective organizations and the absolute need to respect ones superiors.In his free time a knight is expected to actively cultivate all aspects ofmilitary science so he can take over any role in an emergency. Asamurai warrior was expected to undergo all manner of physical privationwithout complaint, abstain from worldly pleasures such as sex and alcohol,and maintain a finely tuned ability to discriminate between when not to getinvolved in a conflict or when to make the ultimate sacrifice of his life.But as the author of the Code of the Samurai writes, "knights on thehighest order are rare, even in a group of a hundred or a thousandwarriors" (Cleary, 22). In America our closest equivalent is the cowboy, an idealized figurewho has proved to be a durable peg on which to hang moral conflicts alsoinvolving bravery and honor. In his introduction to the Code of the Samurai Thomas Cleary writes:"the entrenchment of the samurai as the dominant class had profoundcultural and psychological effects on the Japanese people" (ix). In other words, only a few were able to live up tothese demanding standards in every way. Oncethe strangeness (to Westerners) of the bizarre dress and armor isregistered, and one gets acclimated to a different culture and age, themotivations of the characters become clearer. TheBushido Shoshinshu, or Code of the Samurai, was written to educate youngsamurai in the early 18th century. This attitude, of course, was historically importedfrom Chinese Confuscianism, but it was indoctrinated into new samurairecruits with the specific military need of maintaining unquestioneddiscipline and respect for authority. As Cleary puts it, the martial arts had become "theatrical,philosophically elaborated systems of mental and moral training" by thistime (xv). One has only to see some of the historical dramas filmed by the greatdirector Akira Kurosawa, such as The Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Throne ofBlood, or Ran to get a vivid sense of what the samurai were all about. The principles of knighthood and weaponry were so all-encompassing on the personal life of a novice that the author evenadvocates, apparently without any humorous intent, that the samurai wearhis sword when he's taking a bath. The training of a young samurai involved reading and writing as wellas martial arts, perhaps due to the samurai connection with thearistocracy. The Tokugawa regime came to power in 16 3, and proceeded to shut offJapan from the rest of the world for the next two-and-a-half centuries in apolicy of national isolation called sakoku. For the first andultimate fact about this calling is that the possibility of death is alwayspresent. Code of the Samurai. Shigesuke, Taira. Code of the Samurai The samurai warrior class came to dominate Japanese society becausefor most of its history the country has been at war. He shouldalso cultivate his mind for its own sake, enabling him to be an enlightenedand noble presence who will conduct himself flawlessly both militarily andmorally, according to the code of the samurai. For the samurai, there isusually an issue of honor to resolve, either by attack, revenge, orsubmission to authority. The closest European analogy to the samurai was the medieval knights,who also operated on a code of honor. Thomas Cleary's translation of this Japanese classic puts it intoclear English prose. The samurai had their origin as an offshoot of the aristocracy. By1574 Oda Nobunaga had finally united Japan under military rule. Its author, Taira Shigesuke, was aprominent Confucian scholar and military expert who was eminently qualifiedto provide the practical and moral teachings that distinguished thepersonal, social, and professional standards of comportment embodied in theBushido � the Way of the Warrior. It's no accident that The Seven Samurai wasremade in Hollywood as The Magnificent Seven, a gang of cowboys almost asviolent as the samurai of the Japanese screen, who at the same time aregroping for a moral code of sorts. Civil war ensued, resulting in the Era of Warring States, a hundred-year period during which rival warlords and factions battled for power. The Code of the Samurai stresses this from the first sentence:"Keep death in mind at all times"(3). The values by which a samurai was expected to live were harsh anduncompromising, centering on the concepts of duty, loyalty, and valor. It was during this period ofrelative peace, prosperity, and stability that the Code of the Samurai waswritten, perhaps as much to preserve Japan's most precious culturalheritage as from the presumably less pressing need of training warriors toactually fight. There was nothing tentative about the moral code of the samurai.

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