English Essay on Eight Virtues of Samurai

Billy fountain
Nuth
Global Studies English
April 26 2012
Code of Life for the One Who Serves
                The samurai of Japan live by a strict code of conduct, the Bushido Code.  The samurai, or Bushi, are the elite warrior class of feudal Japan.  These warriors must always abide to the Eight Virtues of Bushido: Rectitude, Courage, Benevolence, Politeness, Sincerity, Honor, Loyalty, and Self-control.  One cannot call themselves a samurai if they do not live their lives by these virtues.  Most people have an idea of what these words mean, but they don’t actually understand the true meaning of expressing these virtues.  Samurai are the true embodiment of proper expression.  Using Bushido, the Soul of Japan written by Inazo Nitobe, I have transcribed the teaching of expression by a samurai from the words of Nitobe into a more understandable sense for those in the dark.
                Rectitude: Morally correct behavior or thinking; righteousness.  This is the dictionary definition of rectitude.  The samurai definition of rectitude has the same core meaning, "Rectitude is the power of deciding upon a certain course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering,--to die when it is right to die, to strike when to strike is right” (Nitobe 23).  A man who lived by the definition of rectitude would be granted the title of Gishi, which literally translates to: a man of rectitude.  Gishis were men considered to be of high stature, so they were put in the right place to best benefit their lord.  Rectitude was an important trait for all people during Feudal Japan, not just for the samurai.  The samurai had simple recognized the true importance of rectitude.  Rectitude is still scarcely noticeable today in the Japanese people, but it still thrives in the samurai of today.
                Courage: Strength in the face of pain or grief.  This is the most accurate of the different dictionary definitions of courage.  According to Confucius, as quoted in Bushido, the Soul of Japan, he states, “Perceiving what is right, and doing it not, argues lack of courage" (qtd. in Nitobe 29).  When comparing the two definitions to one another, it’s hard to believe that they’re derived from the same word.  The dictionary definition could be used as an extension to the true definition that Confucius stated, not merely as the whole.  To the samurai, courage is to not even be considered as one of the eight virtues, unless expressed in the cause of righteousness.  Courage is one of the main virtues for the children of the elite warrior class to learn in order to forge their soul into one of a samurai, “Valour, Fortitude, Bravery, Fearlessness, Courage, being the qualities of soul which appeal most easily to juvenile minds, and which can be trained by exercise and example, were, so to speak, the most popular virtues, early emulated among the youth” (Nitobe 30).  The forging of a samurai is a long road: one of the first steps on this path is to exercise true courage.
                Benevolence: Disposition to do good.  This dictionary definition of benevolence is simplified from the samurai’s definition.  Nitobe states benevolence as, “LOVE, magnanimity, affection for others, sympathy and pity, were ever recognised to be supreme virtues, the highest of all the attributes of the human soul” (Nitobe 36).  Benevolence is a virtue that a samurai must always express.  Without benevolence, one could not call themselves a samurai. The samurai were the living embodiment of their lord’s laws, but they must also abide to their own knowledge of what was benevolent.  The samurai had a word to explain this, "’Bushi no nasaké’--the tenderness of a warrior--had a sound which appealed at once to whatever was noble in us; not that the mercy of a samurai was generically different from the mercy of any other being, but because it implied mercy where mercy was not a blind impulse, but where it recognised due regard to justice, and where mercy did not remain merely a certain state of mind, but where it was backed with power to save or kill” (Nitobe 42).  For the samurai, benevolence must come first before their lord’s orders
                Politeness: A courteous manner that respects accepted social usage.  This can be seen in every inhabitant of Japan, not just in the samurai. Nitobe explains how this virtue can become hallow, unless exercised properly, “Politeness is a poor virtue, if it is actuated only by a fear of offending good taste, whereas it should be the outward manifestation of a sympathetic regard for the feelings of others.”  However, Nitobe also states how powerful politeness is when expressed correctly, “In its highest form, politeness almost approaches love” (Nitobe 50).  To everyone of Japan, especially for the samurai, politeness shapes their lives, “How one must bow in accosting others, how he must walk and sit, were taught and learned with utmost care. Table manners grew to be a science. Tea serving and drinking were raised to ceremony” (Nitobe 51-52).  Even an act as simple as drinking tea, had become the ceremony Cha-no-yu.  Those about to participate in the ceremony must first leave behind their frame of mind for a battlefield, along with their swords, before even entering the tea room in order to set aside their differences and discover a bond of friendship (Nitobe 55-57).  The bitterest rivals of feudal Japan, even in modern Japan, would be able to face one another in a non-combative manner in order to uphold their virtue of politeness.
                Sincerity: Earnestness; an earnest and sincere feeling.  For the samurai, sincerity must be exercised in every virtue, because without which the virtue is Kyo-rei, empty form.  For example: if you wish to uphold politeness by sacrificing the truth (Nitobe 64).  Nitobe quotes the apotheosis of sincerity by Confucius in Confucius’ Doctrine of the Mean, "Sincerity is the end and the beginning of all things; without Sincerity there would be nothing" (qtd. in Nitobe 61).  To Nitobe, commerce in feudal Japan was the most baron terrain for sincerity (Nitobe 64).  Merchant was the lowest occupation in feudal Japan, because of its conniving ways to gain better business.  The feudal structure of Japan’s empire was not a fertile place for commerce to grow.  Some samurai had retired their ways to pursuit a merchant’s life: for many of whom, their sincerity became Kyo-rei.
                Honor: High respect; esteem.  Nitobe states how samurai are the definition of honor, “THE sense of honour, implying a vivid consciousness of personal dignity and worth, could not fail to characterise the samurai, born and bred to value the duties and privileges of their profession” (Nitobe 72).  At an early age of education, the children of the elite warrior class were taught of the sense of shame, Ren-chi-shin.  The samurai fears anything that might threaten his honor!  If the samurai even suspected that a single word he spoke would disgrace him, he would go on the offensive to prevent this retched possibility (Nitobe 73-75).  There are many ways to uphold one’s honor, the most drastic of which is Seppuku.  Seppuku, or stomach-cutting, is the formal method of suicide for a samurai if he has performed an action that would devastate his honor.  For the samurai, there is no surrendering in battle.  If the samurai was captured, he was given the right to perform seppuku so that he may retain his honor.  If a samurai’s honor was past the point of restoration in this life, then he would restore it in the afterlife.
                Loyalty: A strong feeling of support or alliance.  This implication of loyalty is somewhat the same as the samurai’s.  The difference of a samurai’s loyalty is that a samurai pledged his loyalty only to an individual, never to a single venture (Nitobe 82).  Of course, any venture of the individual that holds a samurai’s loyalty, that venture now becomes the samurai’s as well.  Nitobe states how western philosophy separate family loyalties, for example: father and son, husband and wife, so on and so forth.  For Bushido, the interest of a family member becomes the interests of all members.  No matter what the interest may be, it is to be coated, instinctively, with affection by all of the family (Nitobe 87).  Directly put: the loyalty of a samurai is the same as the instinctive loyalty of an animal.
                Self-control: controlling your impulses.  Self-control is one of the most important virtues to perfect, also one of the most difficult.  Normally, self-control should be achievable with ease, but there is a thin line for self-control.  In one instance, self-control is needed to keep all the other virtues in check.  Eventually a samurai’s self-control for these virtues is completely automatic.  On the other side of the thin line, Nitobe states, “It can well repress the genial current of the soul… It can beget bigotry, breed hypocrisy, or hebetate affections” (Nitobe 110).  Carefully stride amongst this virtue, for the line may easily be crossed from one side, but not so much vice versa.  Stay on the noble path of this virtue, or be lost as a samurai forever.
                Becoming a samurai is a long path that must be tread wisely.  The virtues of the samurai are also a path that must wisely be walked and never strayed from.  More people today can learn a great deal about these virtues by studying, if not joining, the way of the samurai.  The samurai express these virtues to the highest possible level of their capabilities.  If you wish to study the way of Bushido, you don’t need to read any history books: Bushido is still practiced today and could teach you a great many things about yourself.
Work Cited
Nitobe, Inazo. Bushido, The Soul of Japan. 1905. Http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/bsd/index.htm. Web. 9 May 2012.

17 comments:

  1. Appreciate definition. As a moral code for life I identify with bushido. I know if I follow the simple code I will take the best path. Good luck with your studies.

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  2. feeling inspired. thank you for the article.

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  3. An inspiration and thank you. Endeavouring to follow the noble path

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  4. Very cool, Billy! I admire your efforts. Good luck to you in the future. Onegaizemashita! 🙏

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  5. Thank you ! A very useful for anyone seeking a noble path!

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  6. yes this a great website it helped me finish my project

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  7. thank you this helped me so much for a school project ( ° ͜ʖ °)

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  8. cant read the text poor design of a website

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  9. change ur text color so others can read it, but other than that it's good.

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  10. yeah it hurts mine eyesss

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  11. The text color is a little too much so if you could change it please?
    Otherwise it is very good!

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