Date sent:        Thu, 25 Apr 1996 01:06:19 -0400




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The Bushi
Steve Perkins
Georgia Southwestern College












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 Through the ages every culture has had their warriors.  These warriors have 
defended and fought for their homes, countries, and deeply held beliefs (either political or
spiritual).  Many of these heroes have become legends, but were based on an average man
accomplishing heroic feats.  William Wallace, known as the protector of Scotland, became a
romantic hero in Jane Porter's novel the Scottish Chiefs.  He was already a national hero in
Scotland before the novel was published.  Other cultures have their own heroes and legends
(some of these are Lugh, of Ireland, Arthur, King of the Britons, and David, King of the
Jews).  Even in America , we have had our share of warriors through history (George
Washington, Daniel Boone, Davey Crockett, Wyatt Earp, and Doc Holiday).  The knights of old,
the Highland and Lowland Barbarian Celts, the Ostro-goths, Visi-goths, and Romans, all
managed to fight and kill each other in the most ghastly of manners.  All of this was for
conquest, home, country, and God.  Another warrior, shrouded in mystery, is the Japanese
warrior, the Samurai.  While the Scottish and Irish cultures considered their selves
warrior-poets, the Samurai leaned more towards a warrior-priest or Zealot.    The Japanese
have  a history of being vicious and skilled warriors. In  Japan  Yesterday and Today 
Langer states that ," Zen  attempts to overcome the duality of self and non-self, of matter
and spirit, of life and death. It aims at the discovery of the ultimate reality that
underlies everything.  It seeks to lead its disciples toward satori, that is "enlightenment"
in the sense of utter serenity, composure, and fearlessness.  Once this state of mind has
been attained, man stands, as Zen puts it, "as a rock in the raging sea."  The most
important means for the attainment of this state of mind is meditation.  Crossing of his
legs firmly, sitting erect before a plain wall, the Zen disciple meditates for hours on 
                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                             
end.  Gradually the physical strain subsides, giving way to a feeling of numbness.  It is
believed that the practitioner then descends into his inner self and becomes part of it, 
reaching a condition termed "meditation without thought."  Eventually a feeling of utter
calm and serenity takes hold of him. The Pure Land teachings appealed to the commoner.  But
Zen, with its stress on self-discipline, absolute composure in the face of spiritual and
material challenges, and aversion to ostentation, doctrinal study, and lengthy sermons,
possessed just those qualities that appealed to the warrior.  Zen thus became the faith of
the Shoguns.  Zen masters served as advisers the feudal lords, and Zen became the creed of
Japan's warrior, the samurai.  Zen inspired the Japanese artist too.  The power of
concentration that it 4encouraged provided the mental training of the Japanese military man
as well as of the highly respected Japanese swordsmith".            It is easy to understand
that the Samurai  was  not  only respected, but feared by  the lower classes.  In  Twelve
Doors to Japan, by  Hall and Beardsley, the  history of  feudalism  and  the rise of the
Samurai  is explained: The most characteristic feature of Japanese history at the end of the
twelfth century was the rise to prominence of  the military aristocracy throughout Japan. 
As an elite type, the Japanese bushi contrasts sharply with other such types in East Asia,
particularly with the Chinese scholar-official.  Why it was that Japan developed a kind of
military-agrarian society so similar to that of feudal Europe is still very much a matter of
conjecture.  Perhaps the period of civil imperial rule had never really wiped out the
tradition of aristocratic arms bearing which had characterized early Fuji society.  At any
rate during the 
                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                              
Heian age there seems to have been a strong undercurrent toward the reappearance of an armed
gentry, especially in local affairs.  The need for an elite military class in the Japanese
provinces came gradually after the beginning the tenth century and accompanied the decline
in effectiveness of the police and military organs of the central government.  It
accompanied also the growth of the large immune proprietorships, which were required to
provide their own enforcement services as a consequence of their immunity.  As a result,
local officials and provincial families of influence took up the bearing of arms as a social
provincial families of influence took up the bearing of arms as a social privilege and
combined the functions of local administration or land management with those of enforcement
and protection.  By the eleventh century the bushi had begun to separate out as a definite
functional type.  By the twelfth century they had begun to emerge as a dominant leading
stratum of society (though the kuge retained the highest social prestige), providing the
dominant way of life and key values for the entire culture.  As frequently happen, it was
not until near the end of the bushi age, after the beginning of the seventeenth century,
that this warrior aristocracy became self-conscious of its social function and its common
ideals, giving rise to the formulation of the principles of bushido (the warriors way)."
Hall and Beardsley  also state, " The  bushi , though an aristocrat, lived a life which had
important differences from that of the court  aristocracy.  He  was a provincial aristocrat 
professionally dedicated  to  the bearing of arms.  His  provincial origin and his 
cultivation of  military skills necessitated  a way of life quite different from that of 
the  civil  court."  The  Samurai was the head of his on little world and responsible
                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                              
to the Shogun (the warlord over all Samurai).  This responsibility to the Shogun often 
produced violent punishment aimed at the farmer and peasant when disloyalty occurred . This
would later cause the fall of the warrior class.  The  loyalty of the Samurai was so intense
that ritual suicide became a way of cleansing tarnished honor.

         Hall  and  Beardsley describe ritual suicide and the reason for it by stating," In
contrast to the courtiers of the previous age, the bushi was preoccupied with problems of
the sword and land. He emphasized , in contrast to the genteel accomplishments of the kuge,
such qualities as loyalty, honor, fearlessness, and frugality. The two most cherished
symbols of the bushi class were the sword( the soul of the Samurai)   and the cherry blossom
  (the petals of which fall with the first breath of wind just as the samurai gives up his
life without regret for his lord).The bushi often lived a life of harsh physical
discipline(either by necessity or by choice),enduring extreme rigors in the belief that they
were "building character." He was trained to scorn an easy life( which to him was a
luxury)because of its softening influence. He even scorned an easy way of taking his life.
(Suicide now gained respectability as an honorable way out.) The Japanese bushi, by
resorting to the slashing of the bowels(seppuku) as his method of suicide, literally showed
himself worthy of a class that prided itself on "having guts." "

        Living the life of the samurai was no easy task and with small civil wars occurring
some Lords were sometimes killed. This would leave the possibility of  a Samurai  without a
master. This masterless Samurai, or Ronin, was considered an outcast. Today some students
who have graduated from high school ,but are having to wait to attend because of lack of
space in universities are now referred to as "ronins." Even after the fall of the Samurai
way of feudalism Japan still feels this mighty warrior class's influence in small and large
ways. Even during World War II soldiers were trained in the art of akido (which is the art
of sword fighting that the Samurai had to learn). Because of the later rise of the merchants
into higher economic status the Samurai often took out mandatory loans from the
merchants(this is also discussed in Twelve Doors to Japan). Growing unrest with the
strictness of the Samurai and outer influences led to the final fall of the Samurai class.
It is still thought that many people in authority in Japan today are descendants  of the
Samurai class.
            Even with all the later hostility towards the Samurai the Japanese culture still
            holds 
the ideals of the Samurai in high regard. The religious dedication to a certain cause and
determination to perform the required duty with honor is still what is wanted in the young.
In the culture of Japan the warrior, the Samuri will always have a place of great respect
and a heroic air . He was and is the warrior of  Japan. His legend survived all the conflict
and rebellion and still thrives today.







Bibliography
Celtic Myths and Legends   Charles Squire Random House 1994 
The Scottish Chiefs  Jane Porter  Charles Scribner's Sons 1956
Japan Yesterday and Today  Paul F. Langer   Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc. 
1966
Twelve Doors to Japan  John Whitney Hall, Richard K. Beardsley    McGraw-Hill 
Book Company 1965



