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Interlude: Bushido

Bushido was to the samurai what chivalry was to European knights: a myth created to channel and control the destructive energies of strong men with sharp weapons. During the chaos of the warring states period, myth took a back seat to the practicalities of killing ones enemies. Of course what constituted good and bad behavior for samurai had been defined long before 1600 but with the enforced inactivity of Tokugawa peace, the samurai had a lot of time to think about the moral development of their class. The samurai code of conduct they developed is known as bushido (the Way of the Warrior). Basically it combines the self-discipline of Zen Buddhism with Confucianisms emphasis on loyalty and knowing your place. According to bushido, a samurai must be ready to die at every moment and put the good of his lord above all else. In theory, the samurai must also be a medieval boy scout: compassionate, honorable, pious, etc. In reality, constantly thinking about death made many samurai rather cold-blooded. Samurai ethics were not confined to the samurai. Bushido also deeply influenced the peasant population. Townsfolk resisted this temptation by enjoying life in the cities and just saying "no" to living austere lives. Even many of the samurai forgot about self-discipline after 200 years without war, but bushido remained important even after the end of the Tokugawa era because of its firm hold on the peasant class.


next up previous contents index
Next: Ieyasu's grandson Iemitsu Up: The Tokugawa Period Previous: Tokugawa Ieyasu and his   Contents   Index