exactly What was the Bushido and how did the Samurai devote themselves to it fully? The year 729CE marked the beginning of the Heian period in Japan. Japan's central government began to lose control when local aristocrats no longer paid taxes due to their "tax exempt farmland called shoen" (Duiker 303). Heian's decreasing power called for the local aristocrats to develop a new way of defending their land and assets. Soon a group of warriors known as the Samurai would come forward who's function was to "protect the security and property of their patron" (Duiker 303). The Samurai began as personal guards to rich aristocrats but rapidly became a force that would soon become arguably as powerful as the Japanese government. As warriors, the Samurai lived "by a strict warrior code known in Japan as the Bushido, or `way of the warrior'" (Duiker 304). The Samurai warriors who followed Bushido mastered it in every form possible. The western term `chivalry' refers to virtues of medieval knighthood. Virtues such as honor, honesty, patience, and other related attributes were expected if one was to be considered a knight. Bushido was essentially a Japanese version of chivalry which served as an ethical system that Samurai warriors were expected to follow. There is no known set of `rules' for Bushido. Instead, it had been passed down orally through Japan's vast history. Professor Inazo Nitobe of the University of Kyoto in Japan describes the emergence of Bushido as "an organic growth of decades and centuries of military career" (5). It is known that Bushido came forward during feudal Japan, but its roots dig deep farther into history creating a warrior code unlike any other. Samurai literally means "knight" and from Bushido comes Bushi which literally means "fighting knights" (Nitobe 7). Nitobe describes the upbringing of the Samurai as very rough. Constant warfare allowed the selection process to continue while the weak were sorted out naturally. A life of privileges and responsibility demanded a widespread standard of which included seven virtues. Those virtues were rectitude, courage, benevolence, respect, honesty, honor, and loyalty. (BushidoCode.com).
Samurai training was an in depth process that involved building character above all else. Intellectuality or Chi, was very important to the Samurai. Along with Chi, came Jin and Yu which meant, respectively, "Wisdom, Benevolence, and Courage"(Nitobe 95). Chi, Jin, and Yu were not the only virtues in which a Samurai would need to attain before being a true follower of Bushido. In addition, the true Samurai would be polite to others and expected to speak and act with veracity and sincerity. The way of the warrior penetrated all of their actions in every day life. The Samurai were nobility in the truest sense of the word. Not because they were born into it, but because they earned it and lived it as role models to their society. As mentioned earlier, followers of the Bushido were called Bushi, which meant fighting knights. Thus, their curriculum was not without extensive training in horseback archery, fencing, and the martial arts (Nitobe 94). In addition to their status as nobles, Samurai devoted themselves to perfection in warfare. One could argue that warfare was really their sole occupation given how proficient they were in each aspect of battle. Although there were some that preceded them, Samurai were some of the first to absolutely master horseback archery. The bow structure was very different from other bows in that it was much longer and the arrow itself was fired from only a third of they way up the length of the bow as opposed to the center, giving each Samurai extreme accuracy (Turnbull 16). Countless hours of target practice while on a galloping horse gave them an advantage on the battlefield coupling deadly accuracy with swift attacks. Whether or not one was exceptionally talented at horseback archery was something that Samurai continuously attempted to prove. In fact, prior to battles, Samurai would often ride out of formation to `challenge' another single warrior to a contest (Turnbull 16). One recorded example of these contests describes two horse archers that charged each other and fired their arrows style "yabusame as they passed at a gallop" (Turnbull 16). This is just another example at how Bushido infiltrated every aspect of the warrior's life. Samurai were also very affluent in hand to hand combat. However, nothing in their arsenal compared to perhaps what Samurai are most known for, their swords.
Without a doubt the most important symbol the each Samurai warrior was his sword. According to Bushido, a Samurai should only use his sword when unavoidable. An old saying goes, "Weapons are instruments of ill omen, despised by the Way of Heaven. To use them only when unavoidable is the Way of Heaven" (Cleary 69). Of course, each Samurai would have to earn his sword first. Basically each warrior underwent two rites of passage. The first occurred when the warrior was five years of age and initiated into the military profession (Nitobe 131). After this moment, "he was no more to be seen outside his father's gates without this badge of his status (his sword)" (Nitobe 132). Even at the mere age of five the Samurai warrior understood the severity and the responsibility that came with being a follower of Bushido. The second passage came at 15 years of age when he was officially given independence of action. The sheer magnitude of the importance of the sword can be explained by this passage: "The very possession of this dangerous instrument imparts to him a feeling and an air of self respect and responsibility. `He beareth not the sword in vain.' What he carries in his belt is a symbol of what he carries in his mind and heart--loyalty and honor. The two swords, the longer and the shorter, called respectively the daito and the shoto--never leave his side" (Nitobe 133) The meaning of the sword to each individual Samurai warrior is immeasurable. The warriors that follow Bushido would rather die than dishonor the code or their family in any way. "The way of the Samurai is found in death" (Turnbull 71). A Samurai's life culminates when he leaves the physical world, voluntary or involuntary. Under certain circumstances, whether it be the death of ones master, shame of loss in the battlefield, or another condition that robbed a Samurai of his honor, the Samurai warrior would perform an act of suicide. This act of suicide
was called seppuku and requires one to use a blade to cut his abdomen (Turnbull 73). This practice seemed strange to westerners, however being able to perform seppuku meant a great deal to the warrior. "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..." (Turnbull 73). In the modern era, the word `warrior' has lost its true meaning. To the Samurai "The way of the warrior" was everything. To live by a code that was not written down, yet more important than any document in their time was an honor that cannot be described to its full extent. Bushido was not only a guide on how to act in their everyday lives; it was another force with so much history behind it that it became alive. The ancient code surrounded and bound the Samurai together. Honoring the code meant honoring the sword. Understanding and perfecting warfare never ceased for these ancient warriors. Such discipline among a people is something rarely seen. To be a Samurai it seemed as if one must have made many sacrifices in order to live by Bushido. However, whatever was sacrificed by a warrior was given back to him tenfold by the principles he devoted himself too and the honor he would forever be remembered by when he passed into the afterlife.
Bibliography
"7 virtues of the Samurai Code." Bushido History. 2007. April 4, 2008. < http://bushidocode.org/japanese_bushido_history.html>
Cleary, Thomas. The Japanese Art of War. Boston: Shambhala, 1991
Duiker, William J. World Civilizations I. USA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006
Turnbull, Stephen. The Lone Samurai and the Martial Arts. Great Britain: Arms and Armour Press, 1990
Turnbull, Stephen. Samurai: The World of the Warrior. Great Britain: Osprey Publishing, 2003
Nitobe, Inazo Ph.D. Bushido The Soul of Japan. New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1905