Samurai

Etymology

The term “samurai”, mentioned for the first time in a text of the 10th century, comes from the verb " saburau " who means “to be useful”. Name is largely used in its current direction since the beginning of the Period Edo, towards 1600. Previously, one rather designated the warriors by the terms mono No fu (until the 8th century), then Bushi (武士), which can one or the other to result in “man-at-arms”.

One finds also sometimes the term Buke : it indicates the military nobility attached to the Bakufu (military government), in opposition to the Kuge , the nobility at court attached to the emperor. The buke appeared during the era Kamakura (1185 - 1333)

History

The samurais were then driven out by the emperor.

Origins

The class of professional warriors of the Japan, made up archers assembled on standards, finds its origin in the will of the Empereur Kammu to conquer grounds of the Aïnus at the end of the Period Nara.

Until there, the Japan laid out of an army based on the Conscription, inspired by the model Chinese. The old men from twenty to thirty years conscript, were divided into as many gunki (body of thousand soldiers and officers) that there were provinces and attaches with the service of the kokushi (governor of the province).

This system proved completely ineffective to fight against the “barbarians” Aïnus, frightening riding. The emperor decided in 792 to dissolve it to set up a new system called kondeisei . Kondesei had the advantage of reducing the weight of the military service in the peasants (on whom rested the economy) since it consisted of young rider-archers resulting from easier mediums. This militia, trained of 3964 men started to fall in disuse at the 10th century, but one cannot affirm that it is at the origin of the first samurais, appeared at that time.

Mitsuo Kure, in its book '' Samurais '' (p. 7) quotes several other possible origins for the samurais:

the Korean refugees who had been established in the Kantō with the VI {{E}} and 7th centuries, after the fall of the Japanese colony of Minama (562) and end of the dynasty Paekche (660). These refugees, traditionally stockbreeders of horses, could be the ancestors of the mono No fu , but certain elements tend to reject this assumption: like their continental ancestors, these men assembled Hongre S and not of the standard S, and used small and curved arcs, like the nomads of Asia, very far from large the arc S Japanese.
the Kugutsu , of the nomads which traversed the Japan by living puppet shows and acrobatics, them also considered large rider-archers. It is however impossible to say if they used large arcs.
the contacts with the Emishi , during the combat against them but also during marketing activities or by employing them as mercenaries to protect Kyūshū from attempts at Korean or Chinese invasions, could inspire with the imperial Cour of Kyōto the idea to create a Cavalerie, up to now completely absent from the military history of Japan.

Lastly, Mitsuo Kure states a last assumption according to which the samurais would be at the origin of the guards of the imperial palace at the beginning of the 10th century, basing itself on the first documents mentioning the word will samurai (or rather will saburai , “in service”, which became deformed later in will samurai ). If it rejects this assumption quickly, asserting that the best breedings of horses were in Kantō and the Tōhoku and that the armours o-yoroi were developed on the battle field and not in the peace of the court, this assumption is on the other hand the only origin quoted by Stephen Turnbull in its '' Samurai Sourcebook '' (p. 8).

Dr. Turnbull indicates on their subject that they passed quickly from the imperial service to that of the rich person landowners of the provinces, which were to fight against the emishi , the rival gangsters and landowners. He also specifies that these first clans of samurais went down of modest origins but placed themselves under the aegis of descendants of minor imperial lines, parties to seek fortune in the wild regions. The two more powerful clans of samurais of the end of the era Heian, the clans Will conceal and Minamoto rises from this tradition, going down respectively from the emperors Kammu and Seiwa.

The Heian era

If the era Heian is for the imperial court one period of peace and prosperity, the provinces, on the other hand, were shaken country revolts due to the heavy taxes, repressed by the kokushi (governors of provinces named by the imperial government). The small farmers placed themselves under the protection of powerful families of landowners, who by this fact grew rich and were soon able to recruit private armies, made up of professional warriors but also of simple civilians (country, craftsmen, townsmen).

These armies conferred a certain power and an independence growing with these landowners, rich but disparaged by the aristocracy of Kyōto, and enabled them to defend their grounds against the various threats, but also to extend to depend on their neighbors. Moreover, some tried to be released from the supervision of the central government, which caused revolts to which took share some of the first governments samurais.

First rebellions

In 935, Will conceal No Masakado, governor of the Province of Shimosa, killed his/her uncle Kunika and rejoined with him many warriors, thus gaining the control of the near total of Kantō and autoproclama emperor in 939. The same year, on the coasts of the inland sea, Fujiwara No Sumitomo gathered Wakō (pirate) and also revolted.

The government did not have evil to repress these first revolts samurais, being satisfied to engage of other clans to fight against the first. (See the detailed article Rebellion of Jōhei Tengyō)

In 1028, Taira No Tadatsune also revolted and took the control of the Kantō. The court was then long in reacting, According to Louis Frederic ('' Japan, dictionary and civilization '' (p. 1073), “the too weak imperial forces to intervene effectively against him. ” At the end of four months, however, the court sent against him Taira No Naokata, which was overcome. In 1031, Minamoto No Yorinobu united with the forces of imperial pacification, obliged Tadatsune to go, and took the control of Kantō.

Thereafter, the most influential families of samurais, in particular the Will conceal and the Minamoto, were called at the court to ensure the safety of the emperor and the aristocracy, with whom they wove little by little bonds, although keeping a very low statute. The Jōkō , in particular, were surrounded by bodyguards samurais to residence in his palate, the hokumen No bushi (what one can translate by “samurais on the northern side”.)

Wars in the north of Honshū

In the provinces of the Tōhoku, the northern part of the island of Honshū, more recently colonized and far from the capital, of the lords tried to escape the influence from the court. In 1051, Abe No Yoritoki was raised and the Province of Mutsu was shaken by the confrontations of the First nine year old war, which actually lasted until in 1062, the general of the imperial forces, Minamoto No Yoriyoshi (wire of Yorinobu) having called upon the Clan Kiyohara of the Province of Dewa. The court allotted the goods of the Clan Abe to the latter, and when in 1083 Minamoto No Yoshiie, wire of Yoriyoshi, was named judge in an internal quarrel of Kiyohara, it benefitted from it to what is called destroy them during the Second war three year old. Estimating that it had acted for personal reasons, the court refused to allot a reward to him and it had to take pieces on its own field to pay its men. According to Mitsuo Kure ( Samurais , p. 14), this act which made it very popular and of many families of samurais are reflected with his service.

Intrigues at the court

These first rebellions samurais, actions isolated and carried out far from the court had with final little impact in the come to power at the end of the 12th century. On the other hand, the clans of samurais present at the court benefitted from the power struggle between the emperor Go-Shirakawa and the emperor withdrawn Sutoku in 1156. At the conclusion of what is known like the Rébellion of Hōgen, the influence of the regents Fujiwara decreased considerably and the clans Taira and Minamoto managed to gain important positions at the court.

In 1159, when Minamoto No Yoshitomo and Fujiwara No Nobuyori tried a coup d'etat known under the name of Rébellion of Heiji, Taira No Kiyomori crushed Minamoto, massacring a good part of the clan and started a rise which brought it in 1167 to the station of dajō-daijin , Prime Minister.

However, in 1180 burst the Guerre of Gempei, a war of succession to the imperial throne, Minamoto reconstituted supporting a candidate different from that of Taira. At the end five years of war, them Taira were finally eliminated and Minamoto No Yoritomo set up the first Bakufu , before being named Shogun in 1192. For the first time, Japan was directed by samurais, and until in 1868 remained it.

The advent of Tokugawa

With the pacification of the Period Edo, the fighting function of the warriors decreases and those become civils servant. They will leave the warlike side for the ceremonies, and will start to be interested in arts (especially the writing). Nevertheless, to perhaps give again value, they will codify very strict rules of their caste, under the name of Bushidō (way of the warrior). The ritual suicide of the Seppuku - so known under the name of Hara-kiri (literally “to open the belly " ) - will have to be prohibited at certain periods by the Shogun (military dictator of Japan). Indeed, to safeguard his honor, a samurai was to be made seppuku if it arrived misfortune at his Master, with his family, or simply if it had made an serious error, its lord could order to him from any moment the seppuku if he did not estimate himself satisfied. This rite caused sometimes devastations in the rows of the samurais.

Various types of samurai

A samurai not having fastening with a clan or a Daimyō (feudal lord) was called a Ronin. A samurai who was vassal direct Shogun was called Hatamoto.

However, all the soldiers were not samurais, those constituting an elite are equivalent to some extent to the knight S Europeans; the army, starting from the Period Kamakura, rested on broad troops of basic infantrymen named Ashigaru and recruited mainly among the peasants.

Weapons

The samurai used approximately 40 weapons. The Bushidō taught that the heart of the samurai is in the Katana (large saber) which it carries. When a child had reached the 13 years age, it could obtain a Wakizashi (small saber) and a name of adult at the time of a ceremony called " Genpuku " (元服). At the time of this ceremony, he became samurai. He obtained also the right to carry a katana, but the sword was normally closed with string to prevent the accidents. A katana and a Wakizashi together are called a Daisho (literally: " large and petit").

The Wakizashi was " the blade of honneur" of a samurai and it never left its side. The samurai slept with under his pillow and took along it with him when it entered a house and was to leave his principal weapons outside.

The Tanto was a small dagger, and it was carried some times in the place of the wakizashi in a daisho. It was used when a samurai was to make Seppuku or Hara-kiri (suicide). However, one notes that placed in the Keikogi (" clothing of entraînement"), the tanto proves to be an handgun very much used for the assassinations or the close combats.

The favorite weapon of the samurai was the Yumi (the arc). The yumi remained unchanged until the appearance of the gunpowder and the rifles at the 16th century. The arc with pulleys of Japanese style was not a very powerful weapon in comparison with the traditional arc of Eurasia. Its size made it possible to launch various projectiles like ignited arrows, and arrow-signals of an effective range of 50 meters, and more than 100 meters when the precision was not important. It was usually used with foot behind a tedate (手盾), a large wall of mobile Bambou, but it could even be used with back of horse. The habit to draw with back from horse, Yabusame (流鏑馬), became a ceremony Shintoiste.

At the 15th century, the Yari (Lance) also became a popular weapon. It replaced the Naginata on the battle field when personal bravery became less important, and the battles, more organized. The yari was simpler to use and more mortal that a katana. A load, with horse or ground, was more effective when a lance was used, and offered more than 50% of chances to overcome a samuraï armed with a Tachi, a katana adapted to the assembled combat. In the Battle of Shizugatake, where Shibata Katsuie was overcome by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (or Hashiba Hideyoshi), " seven lances" of Shizugatake (賤ヶ岳七本槍) played a crucial role in the victory.

Some famous samurais

One can also note:

24 generals of Shingen Takeda and others groups of samurais.
Two foreigners in Japan which has been able to become samurais:

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