Samurai identity

Was a samurai only classified by his sword, or could he be
considered a warrior in our modern world. Is what made a samurai not
the quality of his sword, but the state of his mind and soul in
everyday life. Sorry this question is so corny but i couldnt think of
any better way to type it. At first this doesnt sound like history but
i suppose it could be if you consider edo period samurai in the
question. Also i cant ask a question straightforward.

bacetech wrote:

>
>
> Was a samurai only classified by his sword, or could he be
> considered a warrior in our modern world. Is what made a samurai not
> the quality of his sword, but the state of his mind and soul in
> everyday life. Sorry this question is so corny but i couldnt think of
> any better way to type it. At first this doesnt sound like history but
> i suppose it could be if you consider edo period samurai in the
> question. Also i cant ask a question straightforward.

I'm not sure if I understand the question, but it seems to
smack of Hollywood myth backgrounds.

A samurai was a member of an elite social class. It was a
social CASTE. A sword was a weapon. NSome non-samurai had
swords, some samurai used weapons other than swords.


Tony
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Anthony J. Bryant
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Hi.

On the issue of swords. Pretty much all samurai had swords, but they
frequently had something else as their primary weapon. Also, as Tony
pointed out, before the sword hunts at the end of the sixteenth
century, lots of peasants had swords. Further, before the end of the
sixteenth century, the distinction between peasant and samurai could
be a bit blurry as the "ji-samurai" engaged in farming.