--- nahless <
mr.ripley@...> wrote:
>
>
> Does anyone know the exact reason or reasons why
> Hirate Masahide chose
> to commit seppuku (kanshi)? What point did he want
> to get across?
>
> Nahless
As Kitsuno said, the generally accepted theory is that
it was Hirate's last effort (literally) to get
Nobunaga to abandon his wayward ways. Hirate had been
like a surrogate father to Nobunaga while Nobunaga was
growing up, being in charge of his education, and
while you could interpret it as an admission of
failure and attempt to attone for the bad management
of his ward, I think it was less that and more an
attempt at a wake-up call for Nobunaga. The incident
Kitsuno mentions about the horse belonging to Hirate's
son is mentioned in Yoshikawa Eiji's novel "Taiko".
Essentially, Masahide's son (can't remember the name
at the moment) had procured a fine white horse, and
Nobunaga rather selfishly ordered Hirate to give him
the horse, as the master should have finer things than
the retainer. The novel recounts that Masahide's son
chafed at having to give up his horse, but Masahide
instructed him to do so, because his lord had so
ordered. That night Masahide committed seppuku--the
horse incident being just the final straw. The seppuku
was a final remonstration from an obedient servant
who'd simply seen his lord go too far.
Now, that's the novel version--reality, I'm not quite
sure. I don't think I've ever heard about the horse
incident anywhere else.
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