Bushido

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This article is about the Japanese concept of chivalry. For other uses, see Bushido
(disambiguation).

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Japanese samurai in armour, 1860s. Photograph by Felice Beato

Bushidō (武士道, ) literally meaning "the way of the warrior", is a Japanese word for the way of
?

the samurai life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry.

"Bushido" is a modern term rather than a historical one. The "way" itself originates from the
samurai moral values, most commonly stressing some combination of frugality,loyalty, martial
arts mastery, and honor unto death. Born from Neo-Confucianism during times of peace
in Tokugawa Japan and following Confucian texts, Bushido was also influenced
by Shinto and Zen Buddhism, allowing the violent existence of the samurai to be tempered
by wisdom and serenity. Bushidō developed between the 16th and 20th centuries, debated by
pundits who believed they were building on a legacy dating back to the 10th century, although
some scholars have noted that the term bushidō itself is "rarely attested in premodern
literature".[1]
Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, some aspects of warrior values became formalized into
Japanese feudal law.[2]
The word was first used in Japan during the 17th century.[3] It came into common usage in Japan
and the West after the 1899 publication of Nitobe Inazō's Bushido: The Soul of Japan.[4]
In Bushido (1899), 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.
Nitobe was not the first to document Japanese chivalry in this way. In Feudal and Modern
Japan (1896), 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."[5]

Contents
[hide]

 1 Historical development
o 1.1 Early history to 11th century
o 1.2 13th to 16th centuries
o 1.3 17th to 19th centuries
o 1.4 19th to 21st centuries
 2 Tenets
o 2.1 Eight Virtues of Bushidō (as envisioned by Nitobe Inazo)
o 2.2 Associated virtues
 3 Modern translations
 4 Major figures associated with Bushidō
o 4.1 Fictional characters
 5 See also
 6 References
 7 External links and further reading

Historical development[edit]
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help improve this articleby adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced
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Early history to 11th century[edit]

Main article: Bushido literature

Bushidō in Gyo-Kaisho style Kanji. Inscription contains 7 tenets of Bushido.

The Kojiki is Japan's oldest extant book. Written in 721, it contains passages about Yamato
Takeru, the son of the Emperor Keiko. It provides an indication of early Japanese military
values and literary self-image, including references to the use and admiration of the sword by
Japanese warriors.
This early concept is further found in the Shoku Nihongi, an early history of Japan written in
797. The chapter covering the year 721 is notable for an early use of the term "bushi" (武士
) (albeit read as "mononofu" at the time) and a reference to the educated warrior-poet ideal.
?

The Chinese term bushi had entered the Japanese vocabulary with the general introduction
of Chinese literature, supplementing the indigenous terms tsuwamonoand mononofu. It is
also the usage for public placement exams.
An early reference to saburau—a verb meaning to wait upon or to accompany a person of
high rank—appears inKokin Wakashū, the first imperial anthology of poems published in the
early 10th century. By the end of the 12th century, saburai ("retainer") had become largely
synonymous with bushi, and closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the
warrior class.
Although many of the early literary works of Japan contain the image of the warrior, the
term "bushidō" does not appear in early texts like the Kojiki. Warrior ideals and conduct may
be illustrated, but the term did not appear in text until the Tokugawa period (1600-1868).[6]
13th to 16th centuries[edit]
From the literature of the 13th to 16th centuries, there exists an abundance of references to
military ideals, although none of these should be viewed as early versions of bushido per
se. Carl Steenstrup noted that 13th and 14th century writings (gunki monogatari) "portrayed
the bushi in their natural element, war, eulogizing such virtues as reckless bravery, fierce
family pride, and selfless, at times senseless devotion of master and man".
Compiled over the course of three centuries, beginning in the 1180s, the Heike
Monogatari depicts a highly fictionalized and idealized story of a struggle between two
warrior clans, the Minamoto and Taira, at the end of the 12th century—a conflict known as
the Genpei War. Clearly depicted throughout the Heike Monogatari is the ideal of the
cultivated warrior. The warriors in the Heike Monogatariserved as models for the educated
warriors of later generations, although the ideals depicted by them were assumed to be
beyond reach. Nevertheless, during the early modern era, these ideals were vigorously
pursued in the upper echelons of warrior society and recommended as the proper form of the
Japanese man of arms.
Other examples of the evolution in the Bushidō literature of the 13th to 16th centuries
included the Japanese:

Takeda Shingen, by artistUtagawa Kuniyoshi

 The Message Of Master Gokurakuji - Hojo Shigetoki (1198–1261)

 The Chikubasho - Shiba Yoshimasa (1350–1410)
 The Regulations Of Imagawa Ryoshun - Imagawa Sadayo (1325–1420)
 The Seventeen Articles Of Asakura Toshikage - Asakura Toshikage (1428–1481)
 The Twenty-One Precepts Of Hōjō Sōun - Hojo Nagauji (1432–1519)
 The Recorded Words Of Asakura Soteki - Asakura Norikage (1474–1555)
 The Iwamizudera Monogatari - Takeda Shingen (1521–1573)
 Opinions In Ninety-Nine Articles - Takeda Nobushige (1525–1561)
 Lord Nabeshima's Wall Inscriptions - Nabeshima Naoshige (1538–1618)
 The Last Statement of Torii Mototada - Torii Mototada (1539–1600)
 The Precepts of Kato Kiyomasa - Kato Kiyomasa (1562–1611)
 Notes On Regulations - Kuroda Nagamasa (1568–1623)
The sayings of Sengoku-period retainers and warlords such as Kato Kiyomasa and
Nabeshima Naoshige were generally recorded or passed down to posterity around the turn
of the 16th century when Japan had entered a period of relative peace. In a handbook
addressed to "all samurai, regardless of rank", Kato states:
"If a man does not investigate into the matter of Bushido daily, it will be difficult for him to
die a brave and manly death. Thus, it is essential to engrave this business of the warrior
into one's mind well."
Kato was a ferocious warrior who banned even recitation of poetry, stating:
"One should put forth great effort in matters of learning. One should read books
concerning military matters, and direct his attention exclusively to the virtues of loyalty
and filial piety....Having been born into the house of a warrior, one's intentions should be
to grasp the long and the short swords and to die."[7]
Naoshige says similarly, that it is shameful for any man to die without having risked
his life in battle, regardless of rank, and that "Bushidō is in being crazy to die. Fifty or
more could not kill one such a man". However, Naoshige also suggests that
"everyone should personally know exertion as it is known in the lower classes".[7]
17th to 19th centuries[edit]

Miyamoto Musashi killing a giant creature, from The Book of Five Rings

Japan enjoyed a period of relative peace during the Tokugawa period from 1600 to
the mid-19th century, also called the early modern or the "Edo". During this period,
the samurai class played a central role in the policing and administration of the
country under the Tokugawa shogunate. Thebushidō literature of this time contains
much thought relevant to a warrior class seeking more general application of martial
principles and experience in peacetime, as well as reflection on the land's long
history of war. The literature of this time includes:

 The Last Statement of Torii Mototada (1539–1600)

 Kuroda Nagamasa (1568–1623)
 Nabeshima Naoshige (1538–1618)
 Budoshoshinshu by Taira Shigesuke, Daidōji Yūzan (1639–1730)
 Hagakure as related by Yamamoto Tsunetomo to Tsuramoto Tashiro.
 Bugei Juhappan (武芸十八)
The Hagakure contains many sayings attributed to Sengoku-
period retainer Nabeshima Naoshige(1537–1619) regarding Bushidō related
philosophy early in the 18th century by Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659–1719), a
former retainer to Naoshige's grandson, Nabeshima Mitsushige. TheHagakure was
compiled in the early 18th century, but was kept as a kind of "secret teaching" of the
Nabeshima clan until was the end of the Tokugawa era (1867).[8] His saying, "I have
found the way of the warrior is death", was a summation of the focus on honor and
reputation over all else that bushido codified.[9]
Tokugawa-era rōnin scholar and strategist Yamaga Sokō (1622–1685) wrote
extensively on matters relating to bushidō, bukyō (a "warrior's creed"), and a more
general shido, a "way of gentlemen" intended for application to all stations of society.
Sokō attempts to codify a kind of "universal bushidō" with a special emphasis on
"pure" Confucian values, (rejecting the mystical influences of Tao and Buddhism
in Neo-Confucian orthodoxy), while at the same time calling for recognition of the
singular and divine nature of Japan and Japanese culture. These radical concepts—
including ultimate devotion to the Emperor, regardless of rank or clan—put him at
odds with the reigning shogunate. He was exiled to the Akō domain, (the future
setting of the 47 Rōnin incident), and his works were not widely read until the rise of
nationalism in the early 20th century.
The aging Tsunetomo's interpretation of bushidō is perhaps more illustrative of the
philosophy refined by his unique station and experience, at once dutiful and defiant,
ultimately incompatible with the mores and laws of an emerging civil society. Of the
47, Rōnin—to this day, generally regarded as exemplars of bushido—Tsunetomo felt
they were remiss in hatching such a wily, delayed plot for revenge, and had been
over-concerned with the success of their undertaking. Instead, Tsunetomo felt true
samurai should act without hesitation to fulfill their duties, without regard for success
or failure.
This romantic sentiment is of course expressed by warriors down through history,
though it may run counter to the art of war itself. This ambivalence is found in the
heart of bushidō, and perhaps all such "warrior codes". Some combination of
traditional bushidō's organic contradictions and more "universal" or "progressive"
formulations (like those of Yamaga Soko) would inform Japan's disastrous military
ambitions in the 20th century.
19th to 21st centuries[edit]
Recent scholarship in both Japan and abroad has focused on differences between
the samurai class and the bushidō theories that developed in modern Japan.
Bushidō in the prewar period was often emperor-centered and placed much greater
value on the virtues of loyalty and self-sacrifice than did many Tokugawa-era
interpretations.[10] Bushidō was used as a propaganda tool by the government and
military, who doctored it to suit their needs.[11] Scholars of Japanese history agree
that the bushidō that spread throughout modern Japan was not simply a continuation
of earlier traditions.
More recently, it has been argued that modern bushidō discourse originated in the
1880s as a response to foreign stimuli, such as the English concept of
"gentlemanship", by Japanese with considerable exposure to Western culture.
Nitobe Inazo's bushidō interpretations followed a similar trajectory, although he was
following earlier trends. This relatively pacifistic bushidō was then hijacked and
adapted by militarists and the government from the early 1900s onward as
nationalism increased around the time of the Russo-Japanese War.[12]
The junshi suicide of General Nogi Maresuke and his wife on the death of Emperor
Meiji occasioned both praise, as an example to the decaying morals of Japan, and
criticism, explicitly declaring that the spirit of bushido thus exemplified should not be
revived.[13]
During pre-World War II and World War II Shōwa Japan, bushido was pressed into
use for militarism,[14] to present war as purifying, and death a duty.[15] This was
presented as revitalizing traditional values and "transcending the
modern".[16] Bushido would provide a spiritual shield to let soldiers fight to the
end.[17] As the war turned, the spirit of bushido was invoked to urge that all depended
on the firm and united soul of the nation.[18] When the Battle of Attu was lost,
attempts were made to make the more than two thousand Japanese deaths an
inspirational epic for the fighting spirit of the nation.[19] Arguments that the plans for
the Battle of Leyte Gulf, involving all Japanese ships, would expose Japan to serious
danger if they failed, were countered with the plea that the Navy be permitted to
"bloom as flowers of death".[20] The first proposals of organized suicide attacks met
resistance because while bushido called for a warrior to be always aware of death,
but not to view it as the sole end, but the desperate straits brought about
acceptance.[21] Such attacks were acclaimed as the true spirit of bushido.[22]
Denials of mistreatment of prisoners of war declared that they were being well-
treated by virtue of bushido generosity.[23] Broadcast interviews with prisoners were
also described as being not propaganda but out of sympathy with the enemy, such
sympathy as onlybushido could inspire.[24]
The famous writer Yukio Mishima was outspoken in his by-then anachronistic
commitment to bushido in the 1960s, until his ritual suicide by seppuku after a
failed coup d'état in November 1970.

Tenets[edit]
Bushidō expanded and formalized the earlier code of the samurai, and stressed
frugality, loyalty, mastery of martial arts, and honor to the death. Under the bushidō
ideal, if a samurai failed to uphold his honor he could only regain it by
performing seppuku (ritualsuicide).
In an excerpt from his book Samurai: The World of the Warrior,[25] historian Stephen
Turnbull describes the role of seppuku in feudal Japan:
In the world of the warrior, seppuku was a deed of bravery that was
admirable in a samurai who knew he was defeated, disgraced, or mortally
wounded. It meant that he could end his days with his transgressions wiped
away and with his reputation not merely intact but actually enhanced. The
cutting of the abdomen released the samurai’s spirit in the most dramatic
fashion, but it was an extremely painful and unpleasant way to die, and
sometimes the samurai who was performing the act asked a loyal comrade
to cut off his head at the moment of agony.
Bushidō varied dramatically over time, and across the geographic and socio-
economic backgrounds of the samurai, who represented somewhere between 5%
and 10% of the Japanese population.[26] The first Meiji-era census at the end of the
19th century counted 1,282,000 members of the "high samurai", allowed to ride a
horse, and 492,000 members of the "low samurai", allowed to wear two swords but
not to ride a horse, in a country of about 25 million.[27]
Some versions of Bushidō include compassion for those of lower station, and for the
preservation of one's name.[7] Early bushidō literature further enforces the
requirement to conduct oneself with calmness, fairness, justice, and propriety.[7] The
relationship between learning and the way of the warrior is clearly articulated, one
being a natural partner to the other.[7]
Other pundits pontificating on the warrior philosophy covered methods of raising
children, appearance, and grooming, but all of this may be seen as part of one's
constant preparation for death—to die a good death with one's honor intact, the
ultimate aim in a life lived according to bushidō. Indeed, a "good death" is its own
reward, and by no means assurance of "future rewards" in the afterlife. Notable
samurai, though certainly not all (e.g., Amakusa Shiro), have throughout history held
such aims or beliefs in disdain, or expressed the awareness that their station—as it
involves killing—precludes such reward, especially in Buddhism. On the contrary,
the soul of a noble warrior suffering in hell or as a lingering spirit is a common motif
in Japanese art and literature. Bushidō, while exhibiting the influence
of Dao through Zen Buddhism, is a philosophy in contradistinction to religious belief,
with a deep commitment to propriety in this world for propriety's sake.
Eight Virtues of Bushidō (as envisioned by Nitobe Inazo)[edit]
[28]
The Bushidō code is typified by eight virtues:

 Righteousness (義 gi ) ?

 Courage (勇 yū ) ?

 Benevolence (仁 jin ) ?

 Respect (礼 rei )?

 Sincerity (誠 makoto ) ?

 Honour (名誉 meiyo ) ?

 Loyalty (忠義 chūgi ) ?

 Self-Control (自制 jisei ) ?

Associated virtues[edit]

 Filial piety (孝 kō )?

 Wisdom (智 chi ) ?

 Fraternal Respect (悌 tei ) ?

Modern translations[edit]
Modern Western translation of documents related to Bushidō began in the 1970s
with Carl Steenstrup, who performed research into the ethical codes of famous
Samurai clans including Hōjō Sōun and Imagawa Sadayo.[29]
Primary research into Bushidō was later conducted by William Scott Wilson in his
1982 text Ideals of the Samurai: Writings of Japanese Warriors. The writings span
hundreds of years, family lineage, geography, social class and writing style—yet
share a common set of values. Wilson's work also examined the earliest Japanese
writings in the 8th century: the Kojiki, Shoku Nihongi, theKokin Wakashū, Konjaku
Monogatari, and the Heike Monogatari, as well as the Chinese Classics
(the Analects, the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, and the Mencius).
In May 2008, Thomas Cleary translated a collection of 22 writings on Bushido by
warriors, scholars, political advisers, and educators, spanning 500 years from the
14th to the 19th centuries. Titled Training the Samurai Mind: A Bushido
Sourcebook, it gave an insider's view of the samurai world: "the moral and
psychological development of the warrior, the ethical standards they were meant to
uphold, their training in both martial arts and strategy, and the enormous role that
the traditions of Shintoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, andTaoism had in influencing
samurai ideals".
Major figures associated with Bushidō[edit]
 Asano Naganori
 Imagawa Ryōshun
 Katō Kiyomasa
 Sakanoue no Tamuramaro
 Tadakatsu Honda
 Tokugawa Ieyasu
 Torii Mototada
 Sasaki Kojirō
 Saigō Takamori
 Yamaga Sokō
 Yamamoto Tsunetomo
 Yamaoka Tesshū
 Yukio Mishima
Fictional characters[edit]

 Ogami Itto
 Roronoa Zoro
 Auron
 Cyan Garamonde
 Master Splinter
 Kesuke Miyagi
 Jubei Yagyu

See also[edit]
 Budō
 Hagakure
 Shudō
 Japanese martial arts
 The Unfettered Mind
 Zen
 Zen at War