Hello, Mr. Wood.
I think I got caught up in a different discussion on some other threads
concerning "modern samurai" and inserted the grammatical correction. Sorry
you were offended, I meant no offense.
I'm going to address the two points in your post in different responses
because I don't want to bend anyone's ears too much in some of my rather
long-winded commentary.
In this post, I'll address the issue of ronin
and seppuku and the 47 Ronin.
Yes, I read THE 47 RONIN STORY by John Allyn and I remember the part where
he explains that, as ronin (as opposed to samurai affiliated with a clan),
that the 47 Ronin would not normally have the right of seppuku. My own
research and other readings show that this statement is not true. Ronin
commmited seppuku throughout Japanese history and as far as I know, no one
ever questioned their right to do so.
Just an aside: when studying historical events, it's best to consult more
than one source. I remember questioning this statement by Allyn (that ronin
were not entitled to commit seppuku) when I read his book and went to
consult other sources and accounts. What I found in most of these other
sources contradicts what Allyn had posited about ronin and seppuku. Mainly,
I found some original sources from the period when this event happened
(early 18th century); they are contained in English translation in Hiroaki's
book LEGENDS OF THE SAMURAI. These sources contradicted what Allyn stated.
John Allyn was, however, quite correct in that there was a discussion and
dispute over whether the 47 former Ako retainers should be allowed to commit
seppuku. In LEGENDS OF THE SAMURAI, Sato presented some writings by Japanese
scholars and officials of the early 18th century. These writings had varying
viewpoints on what penalty, if any, that the 47 Ako ronin should be subject
to.
The debate that raged was over the fact that the 47 former Ako retainers had
commited a vendetta against the laws that were in effect at the time. In
those days, commiting a vendetta without having received official permission
was a crime that normally would merit execution as common criminals. So
normally, the former Ako retainers would merit that punishment -- whether
they were ronin, samurai, commoners, whoever. It wasn't their position as
ronin in society that entered into this debate, it was the nature of the
laws that had been broken.
Some of the bakufu officials believed that the 47 former Ako retainers
should be exonerated completely and allowed to return to their homes. They
reasoned that the 47 had corrected a bakufu mistake in that Lord Asano had
been punished but that Lord Kira had not been punished. By rights, they
argued, both parties should have been given the punishment of seppuku for
what had happened in the castle two years previously. Other bakufu officials
believed that, as the 47 Ako ronin had committed a vendetta without
government sanction, that they were therefore common criminals and should be
treated as such i.e. executed. A compromise was reached in that the Ako
ronin would have to die for their actions, but that they would be allowed to
die by seppuku rather than be executed as criminals. And that is what
happened.
Hope this is helpful. Nina
-----Original Message-----
From: samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com [mailto:samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Michael Wood
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2005 11:33 PM
To: samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [samuraihistory] What can we define as the best samurai ???
--- "Boal, Nina" <Nina.Boal@...> wrote:
[snips]
As far as the rest of it goes Nina (the 47 Ronin story), I can see you have
let ego get involved and you are picking nits with grammer so I will not
comment on what you said next. Somehow I feel it is a tone unworthy of this
topic.
Michael
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