When speaking about the history of Japanese society, the samurai is a very interesting phenomenon. Although the samurai, as a human being, disappeared at the time when Japan opened itself to the West, much of the mentality of the Japanese people could years later, and can even now be traced back to the lifestyle of that warrior class. .
This essay is concerned with the role that religion played in the life of the samurai. The central question hereby is: "How is the religion of the samurai expressed in their views towards death?". First, as little introduction, I will explain what a samurai is and how they emerged. I will argue that Bushido was the central concept in the live of the historical samurai. Hereby I will make use of a helpful semiotic interpretation of Bushido, in accordance with what some famous semiotics said about the mechanism of Japanese culture in general. Finally, through discussing bushido and the influence of Zen, the role of religion and meaning of death for the samurai will become clear. .
Samurai, a history .
The history of the samurai started around the 8th century. The central court could not reign the whole country out of one place and therefore they appointed some governors to rule the provinces. They were chosen out of aristocratic families and could handle bow and horse well. These "gentleman-warriors", as Sato calls them, were the precursors of the samurai. Not all of these gentleman-warriors were closely connected to Kyoto, especially not those who ruled in the "wild areas". Gentleman-warriors evolved into leaders of clans wherein master-servant relationships developed. Land protection became a main issue.
By the 11th century 2 big clans dominated the militaristic field, the Minomoto and Taira. By that time there was a big conflict going on at the court and both clans became involved. Finally the Taira clan won but more important is that the samurai penetrated into the highest circle of government.
Samurais usually preferred to fight alone. ... Bushido was developed and inspired by three different schools of thought and religions. ... The combination of these schools of thought and religions has formed the code of warrior values known as Bushido. ... With such loyalty, the samurai pledge themselves to the ruler, as higher ranking samurai. ... Samurais were very honorable and trust worthy. ...
Shinto is a religion in which one follows the genuine impulses of the heart, there is neither a moral code nor philosophy in this religion. It is a religion that was birthed in the Jomon era. ... Due to the fact that Shinto does not have a moral code or philosophy, it makes this religion easily adaptable to many other facets of religion such as Buddhism or Confucianism. ... Zen Buddhism was widely accepted by the Japanese people, especially by the samurai class. The ideals of Zen Buddhism projected many similar characteristic of the samurai code such as self-discipline, self-reliance, self-de...
The sword of the knight was much stronger than that of the samurai; and if a knight was to fight a samurai then his sword would most likely slice right through the samurai's armor (Machood ). ... In the medieval times, the Japanese religion was quite different than the European one. ... In Europe, however, the main religions were Christianity and Catholicism. ... Although all of these religions are searching for the true route to salvation, they are quite different in beliefs and practices. ... However, the ways of the samurai and emperors were very much different. ...
From 1185 to 1868 the Samurai was the premier warrior of the Japanese. ... Given this brief background of the Samurai, it seems odd that many Samurai "retired- to pursue other interests. ... So the Samurai class found themselves with a lot of time on their hands. ... If a Samurai did not take up an art form, he would surely commission an artist to make beautiful designs for the Samurai. ... The Japanese royal house traces its beginning to Amaterasu, the sun goddess in the Shinto religion. ...
Samurai and Bushido: What You Didn't Know It is fairly common for people to have heard of samurai. ... There is a huge association between samurai and bushido. ... Boys born onto the samurai class were schooled in many areas, but expected to become a samurai above all other things. ... Shinto was a major part of samurai life. ... The samurai, as well as Japanese society as a whole, were influence greatly by religion. ...
The Samurai clans were happy for a while, until they were stripped of their status, however, the lower ranking samurai didn't seem to mind at all. ... These groups were the Choshu and Satsuma clans of the samurai. ... The loss of privileges brought some resentment and rebellion, from some older Samurai. However, the samurai had their last run in 1877, in the Satsuma rebellion. ... Another major social change was when the Meiji reformers brought the emperor and Shinto to national prominence, replacing Buddhism as the national religion, for social ideological reasons, and even political mea...
(Fitzgerald 14) The religion of the earliest Chinese people involved the worship of the forces of nature, especially the powers of the Earth and the Sky. Fitzgerald 35) Ancestor worship was also a very important part of their religion. ... The reason Confucianism never developed into a religion was its lack of metaphysical elements. ... Since Confucianism had divorced itself from the ancient religions and from mysticism, it left a religious void. ... (Wang 57) During the second century, Taoism was recognized as the official religion of China for several brief periods. ...
Ieyasu, fearing the corruption by a foreign influence, decided that "direct government control of foreign trade and strict regulation of religion, were essential to maintaining the power of the bakufu (military government) over a united Japan" (Nardo 93). ... Chikamatsu was born into the Samurai family, who later dropped from the rank of Samurai and joined the townspeople; it was for (and about) the merchant class that a majority of the greatest writers wrote about and the Samurai's status was on the decline due to their moral code of life. ... Everyone was ranked according to caste: samu...
