The 'Image' of the Samurai

Well here's a topic for contention.

The classical warrior image is of the mounted archer, and really, from then on the samurai
went into decline. The Onin wars nearly finished him off, and in the Sengoku the ethos
reached its lowest ebb, and the emerging Tokugawa shogunate set about restoring the
image as one of virtue and propriety.

But the heart of the samurai is personal pride and a profound sense of self-determination,
his alliances were always pragmatic - he served whom it suited him most to serve - and
the regularity with which he changed side and allegiance demonstrates.

Aside:
Ieyasu seems always even-handed in his treatment of his retainers, which earned their
loyalty, because they could trust him. Of course, he had Nobunaga's example to go by.

I wonder, however - if Ieyasu could have done away with the sammurai after the bakafu
was safely established - would he have done so?

To me 'the sword is the soul of the samurai' shifts the emphasis away from the man, and
is all part of the 'cult of the Tokugawa' in that the man now has something to live up to
outside of himself - and the person he should aspire to be was founded on Confucian
ethic of service to the state. - precisely because the Tokugawa did not want a military
class with such a strong sense of self-determination and self-reliance.

Thus the occasions when samurai were brought before the court for acting 'properly' - the
instant redress of perceived offence - always put the bakafu in a difficult position - they
wanted a samurai bound by his code of honour, but they were stuck then when he acted
without asking their permission first.

Just a personal view, but it seems to me the bakafu always 'fudged' the issue when faced
with the question of self-determination v subjugation to the state.

Just some thoughts...

Thomas

Great points. I'm not a history expert. But from what I've read and seen, it
seems that the Tokugawa shogunate was one of the most effective
authoritarian governments that ever existed. It survived for 250+ years. One
of the ways it survived was in "taming" the samurai class, once there were
no longer any wars. The daimyo were "tamed" by the system of every other
year having to live in Edo and his wife and children basically being kept
hostage there. The "common" ordinary retainers were "tamed" by instituting
codes of conduct that emphasized an interpretation of Confucian thought
where serving the bakufu was what a "superior man" must do. The bakufu
appears to have discouraged self-reliance and even discouraged service to
one's daimyo unless it also meant service to the bakufu. As you said,
sayings such as "the sword is the soul of the samurai" were used to shift
the emphasis away from the samurai as an individual toward having the
samurai subsume his individuality to serve the best interests of the
Tokugawa state.

The huge "sword of Damocles" that the Tokugawa shogunate held over the
daimyo and their retainers was the threat of clan abolishment, where the
fate of the clansmen was either seppuku (mostly for the daimyo and higher
officials) or for retainers, being thrust into the essentially non-person
status of ronin.

Nina

-----Original Message-----
From: samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com [mailto:samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Thomas Davidson
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2005 1:00 PM
To: samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [samuraihistory] The 'Image' of the Samurai

[snips]

I wonder, however - if Ieyasu could have done away with the sammurai after
the bakafu was safely established - would he have done so?

To me 'the sword is the soul of the samurai' shifts the emphasis away from
the man, and is all part of the 'cult of the Tokugawa' in that the man now
has something to live up to outside of himself - and the person he should
aspire to be was founded on Confucian ethic of service to the state. -
precisely because the Tokugawa did not want a military class with such a
strong sense of self-determination and self-reliance.

Thus the occasions when samurai were brought before the court for acting
'properly' - the instant redress of perceived offence - always put the
bakafu in a difficult position - they wanted a samurai bound by his code of
honour, but they were stuck then when he acted without asking their
permission first.

Just a personal view, but it seems to me the bakafu always 'fudged' the
issue when faced with the question of self-determination v subjugation to
the state.

Just some thoughts...

Thomas





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In a message dated 10/20/2005 1:02:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
tom.davidson@... writes:
Thus the occasions when samurai were brought before the court for acting
'properly' - the
instant redress of perceived offence - always put the bakafu in a difficult
position - they
wanted a samurai bound by his code of honour, but they were stuck then when
he acted
without asking their permission first.
Thomas! Can you are do you have some historic examples of Samrai do these
acts with ot seeking permission first. I would be very interested in hearing
them. I am thinking that there would be others new to this; who wold also
like to hear. So looking forward to another great post... although this one
was interesting; hmm it raises questions. Thanks Robert


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I'm not Thomas. But a prime example of this is the famous revenge of the 47
former Ako retainers. Mainly, they conducted a vendetta without official
permission. There were provisions in bakufu law where a person who sought to
avenge the death of someone else could seek a permit from the government.
However, these permits would put the enemy on notice that a vendeta was
being sought. The 47 ronin realized that by seeking a permit, they would
alert Kira, their enemy, who had far superior manpower. They depended upon
the element of surprise so they planned and carried out their vendetta
without the lawful permit.

After the attack, there was a rather heated debate about what their fate
should be. Some argued for executing them as common criminals because of
conducting a vendetta without government sanction. Others thought that,
because they avenged their lord's death following cherished Confucian
principles, that they should be exonerated completely. A compromise was
struck and they were ordered to die, but could die by seppuku rather than
being executed as common criminals.

Nina

-----Original Message-----
From: samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com [mailto:samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of seikei7248@...
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2005 3:46 PM
To: samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [samuraihistory] The 'Image' of the Samurai

In a message dated 10/20/2005 1:02:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
tom.davidson@... writes:
Thus the occasions when samurai were brought before the court for acting
'properly' - the instant redress of perceived offence - always put the
bakafu in a difficult position - they wanted a samurai bound by his code of
honour, but they were stuck then when he acted without asking their
permission first.
Thomas! Can you are do you have some historic examples of Samrai do these
acts with ot seeking permission first. I would be very interested in
hearing
them. I am thinking that there would be others new to this; who wold also
like to hear. So looking forward to another great post... although this
one
was interesting; hmm it raises questions. Thanks Robert


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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http://www.samurai-archives.com/writcon2.html

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