On Sun, 1 Aug 2004 02:10:30 -0700 (PDT), Christin Agustiniさん wrote:
>It is rather difficult to find much information about Japan history before
>Heike. Where can I find it? Is there any samurai before it?
Interesting choice of words. What period (specifically) do you
define as "classical"? When you say "before Heike" do you mean
"before the setting of the Heike Monogatari"? Or do you mean before
the Taira clan itself existed? Are you looking in English, Japanese,
or other languages?
The question "when did the samurai first come about" could be one
that you never really get answered. It depends on what you mean (and
what the people who reply to you mean) by the word.
An anectode: the first known use of the word 'bushi' 武士 was from a
proclomation from Emperor Genmei, in 721. But there is no reason to
think that this use of 'bushi' really equates to samurai per se -
it's rather thought to be something more like a generic "warrior".
--
Jay Kelly
oyakata@...