Real Samurai will answer to your questions
Please let him know if you have any questions about Samurai, Ninja, anything...
Please let him know if you have any questions about Samurai, Ninja, anything...
Q: How was the samurai's ethics and moral ideas born and
inherited without a scripture or bible?
A: The philosophy of Bushido was born in a very special environment.Japan was an island nation, rarely invaded by other countries like Europe, and Japanese lived in the same language, values and ethics in the village community. also if you don't act the same thing as other people do, it will difficult to live in the village. Therefore, they understand each other without exchanging words are required, reading the atmosphere and between the lines. In that context, the ethics of Bushido became established as a true and ideal samurai figure, not as “written rules” but as “voluntary manners”.
Western chivalry had a contract but samurai didn't. only verbal promise. In fact, in the old days of Japan, merchants did business only by verbal, not by contract.
Bushido became popular not only in the samurai class but also in the general public. Samurai were not only solders but also politicians and teachers, so the Bushido included social ethics, and ordinary people were to follow.
and how was it inherited?
The most famous book, Bushido, was written by Inazo Nitobe in the modern age (Meiji period )
it was not written when samurai were active, Bushido has been changing in the era by era.
For example, in the battle era(Sengoku) there were only battles so the actual skills of winning was important, and the other hand, Edo period, it was peaceful and philosophy ad aesthetics were created because the samurai were in a position to organize the general public as a powerful person.
In the late Edo and nearly Meiji eras, Black ship came from abroad and it was good to have a global perspective as a nation than a domestic one, and samurai with global perspectives such as Ryoma Sakamoto and Takamori Saigo were main players.
In this way, Bushido has changed with the times, so it may be better to say that it was created by necessity rather than by lore.
This is probably because Bushido wasn't based on empty theory, but rather closely related to Japanese life.
Western chivalry had a contract but samurai didn't. only verbal promise. In fact, in the old days of Japan, merchants did business only by verbal, not by contract.
Bushido became popular not only in the samurai class but also in the general public. Samurai were not only solders but also politicians and teachers, so the Bushido included social ethics, and ordinary people were to follow.
and how was it inherited?
The most famous book, Bushido, was written by Inazo Nitobe in the modern age (Meiji period )
it was not written when samurai were active, Bushido has been changing in the era by era.
For example, in the battle era(Sengoku) there were only battles so the actual skills of winning was important, and the other hand, Edo period, it was peaceful and philosophy ad aesthetics were created because the samurai were in a position to organize the general public as a powerful person.
In the late Edo and nearly Meiji eras, Black ship came from abroad and it was good to have a global perspective as a nation than a domestic one, and samurai with global perspectives such as Ryoma Sakamoto and Takamori Saigo were main players.
In this way, Bushido has changed with the times, so it may be better to say that it was created by necessity rather than by lore.
This is probably because Bushido wasn't based on empty theory, but rather closely related to Japanese life.