HISTORY OF SAMURAI

MGT 417

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS ARTICLES BLOG ASSIGNMENT (DIS 2010-APR 2011)

FOR: SIR MOHD HARUN BIN SHAHUDIN

ARTICLE FOUR: HISTORY OF SAMURAI

SAMURAI

"Any man can be prepared to kill, a Samurai is prepared to die"

THE ORIGIN OF SAMURAI

The Samurai, a class of highly skilled warrior, gradually developed in Japan after The Taika Reform of 646 A.D. The reforms included land redistribution and heavy new taxes, meant to support an elaborate and Chinese-style empire. As a result, many small farmers had to sell their land and work as tenant farmers.

Meanwhile, a few large landholders amassed power and wealth, creating a feudal system similar to medieval Europe's. This top-heavy system proved unwieldy, and crumbled within a few centuries.

As in Europe, the new feudal lords needed warriors to defend their riches. Thus, the samurai warrior or "bushi" was born.

Early Feudal Era Samurai

Some samurai are relatives of the landowners, while others were simply hired swords. The samurai code emphasized loyalty to one master, even over family loyalty. History shows that the most loyal samurai were usually family members or financial dependent of the lords.

In the 900's, the weak emperors of the Heian Dynasty (794-1185) lost control of rural Japan. The country was driven by revolt, the emperor soon wielded power only within  the capital. Across the country, the warrior class moved in to fill the power vacuum.

By 1100, the samurai effectively held both military and political power over much of Japan.

End of The Heian Era / Rise of Samurai Rule

The weak imperial line received a fatal blow to its power in 1156, when Emperor Toba died without a clear successor. His sons, Sutoku and Go-Shirakawa, fought for control in a civil war called the Hogen Rebellion.

In the end, both would-be emperors lost, the imperial office lost all its remaining power.

During this civil war, the Minamoto and Taika samurai clans rose to prominence. They fought one another in Heiji Rebellion of 1160. After their victory, the Taira established the first samurai-led government, or shogunate, with the emperor as a figurehead.

The defeated Minamoto were banished from the capital at Kyoto.

HEIAN FASHION (1083)

Man in dark red blue uniform: Courtier in formal uniform

Man in white red uniform with high hat: Noble in daytime costume

Man with Long Bow: Palace Guard, duty uniform

Lady in dress: Court lady in formal attire

TAIRA ARMY

Man on horse: Taira Army Cavalry

Man with no horse: Taira Army Infantry

MINAMOTO ON HORSE

MINAMOTO ACTION FIGURE ARMOR ATTIRE

Kamakura Period

The two clans fought once more in the Genpei War (1180-1185), which ended in victory for the Minamoto.

Minamoto no Yoritomo established the Kamakura shogunate, which ruled much of Japan until 1333. While Kamakura was powerful, they never conquered northern and western areas of the country. The shoguns also faced periodic resistance from other samurai clans.

*Shogun: The title for a military commander in ancient Japan (8th century to 12th century A.D), and later for a ruler of shogunate Japan (12th century to 1868)

In 1268, and external threat appeared. Kublai Khan, the Mongol Ruler of Yuan China, demanded tribute from Japan. Kyoto refused. The Mongols invaded in 1274 with 600 ships, but a typhoon destroyed their armada. A second invasion fleet in 1281 met the same fate.

Fall of The Kamakura / Early Muromachi (Ashikaga) Period

Despite such an incredicle help from nature, the Mongols attack cost the Kamakura dearly.

Unable to offer land and riches to the samurai leaders who rallied to Japan's defense, the weakened shogun faced a challenge from Emperor Go-Daigo in 1318. The emperor was exiled in 1331, but returned and overthrew the shogunate in 1333.

This Kenmu Restoration of imperial power lasted only three years.

In 1336, the Ashikaga Shogunate under Ashikaga Takauji reasserted samurai rule, but it was weaker than the Kamakura had been. Regional constables called "Daimyo" developed considerable power, meddling in the shogunate's succession.

KAMAKURA SAMURAI WARRIORS

Later Muromachi Period

By 1460, the daimyo were ignoring orders from the shogun, and backing different successors to the imperial throne. When the shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, resigned in 1464, a dispute between backers of his younger brother and his son iginited even more intense bickering among daimyo.

In 1467, this squabbling erupted into the decade-long Onin War. Thousands died, and Kyoto was burned to the ground.

The Onin War led directly Japan's "Warring States Period", or Sengoku. Between 1467 and 1573, various daimyo led their clans in a fight for a national dominance. Nearly all of the provinces were engulfed in the fighting.

MUROMACHI SAMURAI WARRIOR WEARING TIGER SKIN AS SYMBOL OF BRAVERY

Azuchi-Momoyama Period / Restoration Order

The Warring States Period began to draw to a close in 1568, when the warlord Oda Nobunaga defeated three other powerful daimyo, marched into Kyotom and had his favorite, Yoshiaki, installed as shogun.

Nobunaga spent the next 14 years subduing other rival daimyo and quelling rebellions by fractious Buddhist monks.

His grand Azuchi Castle, constructed between 1576 and 1579, became a symbol of Japan reunification.

In 1582, Nobunaga was assasinated by one of his general, Akechi Mitsuhide. Hideyoshi, another general, finished the unification and ruled as kampaku (regent).

Hideyoshi invaded Korea in 1592 and 1597.

ODA NOBUNAGA

AKECHI MITSUHIDE

HIDEYOSHI TOYOTOMI

Tokugawa Shogunate (Edo Period)

LARGEST SAMURAI GATHERING FOR BATTLE IN HISTORY

Hideyoshi had exiled the large Tokugawa clan from the area around Kyoto to the Kanto region in western Japan. The Taiko died 1598, and by 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu had conquered the other western daimyo from his stronghold castle at Edo (The future Tokyo)

Ieyasu's son, Hidetada, become shogun of the unified country in 1605, ushering in about 250 yearsof relative peace and stability for Japan.

The strong Tokugawa shogun domesticated the samurai, forcing them either to serve their lords in the cities, or give up their sword and farm. This transformed the warriors into a hereditary class of cultured bureaucrats.

IEYASU TOKUGAWA

Meiji Restoration and the Decline of the Samurai

EMPEROR MIKADO MEIJI

In 1868, the Meiji Restoration signaled the beginning of the end for the samurai.

The Meiji system of constitutional monarchy included such democratic reforms as term limits for public office and popular balloting. With public support, the Meiji Emperor did away with the samurai, reduced the power of the daimyo, and moved the capital from Kyoto to Tokyo.

The new government created a conscripted army in 1873, many of the officers were drawn from the ranks of former samurai.

In 1877, angry ex-samurai revolted against the Meiji in the Satsuma Rebellion and the samurai lost the Battle of Shiroyama, and the Era of Samurai was over.

THE LAST SAMURAI MARCHED TO THE LAST WAR

THE LAST SAMURAI BATTLE AGAINST THE NEW CONSCRIPT ARMY OF JAPAN

The Culture and Myth of the Samurai

Samurai Culture

The culture of the samurai was grounded in the concept of Bushido ("The way of the Samurai"). The central tenets of bushido are honor and freedom from the fear of death. A samurai was legally entitled to cut down any commoner who failed to honor him (or her) properly. A warrior imbued with a bushido spirit would fight fearlessly for his master, and die honorably rather than surrender in defeat.

Out of this diregard for death, the Japanese tradition of seppuku evolved: defeated warriors and disgraced goverment officials would commit suicide with honor  by ritually disemboweling themselves with a short sword.

Samurai Weapons

Early samurai were archers, fighting on foot or horseback with extremely long bows (yumi). They used swords mainly for finishing off wounded enemy.

LONG BOW AND HOW TO USE

After the Mongol invasion of 1272 and1281, the samurai began to make more use of swords, as well as poles topped by curved blades called Naginata, and spears.

NAGINATA CURVED BLADES

Samurai warriors wore two swords, together called daisho- "Long and Short". The Katana, a curved blade over 24-inches long, was suitable for slashing, while the wakizashi, at 12-24 inches, was used for stabbing. In the late 16th century, non-samurai were forbidden to wear the daisho.

DAISHO - KATANA AND WAKIZASHI 

Samurai wore full body armor in battle often including a horned helmet.

The Samurai Myth

Modern Japanese honor the memory of the samurai, and bushido still infuses the culture. Today, however, the samurai code is invoked in corporate boardrooms rather than on the battlefield.

Even now, everyone knows the story of 47 Ronin, Japan's "national legend".

In 1701, the daimyo Asano Naganori draw a dagger in the shogun's palace and tried to kill Kira, a government official. Asano was arrested, and forced to commit seppuku. Two years later, forty-seven of his samurai hunted down Kira and killed him, without knowing Asano's reasons for attacking the officlal. It was enough that they wanted Kira dead.

Since the Ronin had followed Bushido, the shogun allowed them to commit seppuku instead of being executed.

People still offer incense at the graves of the ronin, and the story has been made into a number of plays and films.

Sources:

Ansart, Oliver (2007) "Loyalty in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Samurai Discourse", Japanese studies, 27:2, 139-154.

Collcutt, Martin (1996) "The 'Emergence of the Samurai' and the Military History of Early Japan," Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 56:1, 151-164.

Hooker, Richard (1996) "Warring States Japan"

HOPE YOU ENJOYED READING =)