The medieval military culture of Japan managed to completely charm the civilized world in the late XX - early XXI century. The boys dreamed of fighting on katanas and eagerly took up the study of martial arts, played ninja and imagined themselves samurai - noble warriors, practically knights of ancient Japan. But, as real chivalry did not at all consist of undoubtedly worthy husbands, so samurai in many ways went beyond the popular image.
WAY WITHOUT FEAR
“When there are two paths to choose from, choose the one that leads to death. Bushido - the way of a warrior - means death. " These frightening words are taken from the samurai code, which originated from the ethical values of warriors of the XII century and was finally formed in the XVI century. By the way, "Bushi" is the main word for samurai in Japan, which means "warrior". "Samurai" comes from the indefinite form of the old verb "to serve", "saburau". Accordingly, the samurai is the one who serves. Serves, daily humbling himself with thoughts of death, and not only happily dying for his master, but also depriving himself of life at an opportunity. "Convenient", of course, can only be considered a rather outstanding case - a shameful failure in the execution of a mission, defeat in a battle … Nevertheless, the now-famous seppuku ritual, aka hara-kiri, was carried out among "servicemen" with alarming frequency. For Europeans brought up on Christian values, suicide by ripping open the stomach for a long time seemed incredible savagery, but for the ancient, and even relatively modern Japanese, there was simply no other way out. Only people of the lowest class, cowards and scoundrels, unworthy to be called "busi" could afford to live in dishonor.
It seems that fatalism, elevated to an absolute, was supposed to negatively affect the military qualities of the samurai, but in reality everything was the opposite. A warrior, marching into battle without the slightest fear of death, remained extremely calm even in the most desperate situation and could survive where those who were shaking for their lives died. Another conversation that it was required not only to survive, but also to win - after all, no one canceled hara-kiri …
FEUDALS AND PEASANTS
The perception of samurai as knights of Japan suggests itself. A military elite armed to the teeth in the service of the supreme ruler, often owning large land plots - the difference is almost zero, right? But no. Even leaving aside the most striking differences associated with philosophy and perception of life, the main thing that does not coincide is the peculiarities of vassal service and initiation into office. Indeed, samurai emerged as descendants of influential families in the middle of the 7th century and for many subsequent centuries remained, if not aristocrats, then at least wealthy people. The "golden age" of samurai is the period from the beginning of the reign of the first shogun - Minamoto no Yeritomo to the Onin war, ie. from 1192 to 1477. Even then, the shogun could appoint any peasant who distinguished himself in battle as a samurai,although this was extremely rare.
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Since 1478, a time of troubles began in Japan, the country was shaken by continuous civil wars, in which each of the provincial governors formed their own samurai squad - for obvious reasons, not from feudal lords. In the middle of the 16th century, Oda Nobunaga tried to end the civil strife, and he almost succeeded, until he was betrayed, forcing him to commit hara-kiri. The first of Nobunaga's generals, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, completed the unification of Japan, and then dedicated all the commoners recruited into the infantry at the end of the campaign as samurai. Hideyoshi himself was born into a peasant family, breaking through from the mud into the shoguns, but thereby finally dispelling the image of the samurai as an aristocrat. The only thing that was required of the "bushi" was unquestioning loyalty to the master, adherence to the bushido code and martial skills. And so something, and the samurai knew how to fight to glory.
TWO SWORDS, ONE WEAPON
The fact that samurai thought about death all their lives did not mean that they went into battle without protection. Their famous plate armor quite reliably protected from enemy swords and arrows, and also allowed the wearer to move freely. Armor was often inherited, like weapons, and did not require a special fit to the figure of the heir. In addition, thanks to the surprisingly well-thought-out thermal insulation, the samurai "armor" was warm in winter and not hot in summer. Samurai did not use shields out of principle, but the reasons for this are still not clear. Either because of the death-oriented code, or because of the shortage of iron ore in Japan, or for greater mobility. But two swords were worn at once - at least in the "golden age" and beyond. They even had a name like a single weapon - "daise no kosimono", "big and small swords."The big sword was the katana, she is daito, the small sword was wakizashi, he is the seto. The first "half" of the weapon was intended for combat, the second - for cutting off the heads of those killed and committing hara-kiri. You might think that with strict bushido rules, the length of swords should be written down to the millimeter, but nothing like that was said there. Samurai carried katanas from 60 to 80 cm long, adjusting the size solely to their own tastes. Another important weapon was the oyumi longbow, which practically did not change shape from ancient times until the end of the samurai era. As in any Japanese bows, the place for placing the arrows was not located in the center, but slightly lower. Samurai fighting on horseback could not do without the yari spear, which, however, was also used by ordinary infantry. The samurai was obliged to bring the mastery of any weapon to perfection,but besides, he could not forget about the traditions connected with that - sometimes truly terrible ones.
BLOOD ON BLADE
The history of the Japanese Middle Ages contains little more wars than the dark ages of any other country. And yet, some of the customs associated with "noble" samurai today cause confusion. The worst of them is tameshi-giri, "the murder at the crossroads." A new sword, which had not yet shed enemy blood, had to be tested on someone, and ordinary people fell under the blow. The samurai did not bear any punishment for killing a commoner - and therefore calmly waited for a victim on the road in order to calmly finish it off in the name of a senseless tradition. And this despite the fact that the sword was actually a religious symbol, the focus of purity, goodness and justice. Only now the peasants and beggars were perceived at the level of insects. Those warriors, whose notions of honor were close to modern ones, gave the sword to the executioners, so that tameshi-giri was performed on a convicted criminal,not an innocent person. Another tradition, not related to weapons, originated in the 15th century. Shudo, the homosexual relationship of adult samurai with young men, was reminiscent of similar relationships from ancient Greece and Rome. For four centuries, among the noble military class, they glorified what is now perceived as nothing more than pedophilia.
However, given the number of samurai at the time of the emergence of shudo, not everyone was inclined to such "joys". After all, the family was also a sacred concept for the warrior, and in the clans most involved in the tradition, even girls were brought up according to samurai customs. They were not given to fight on the battlefield shoulder to shoulder with their husbands, but to protect the house from invaders and even lead the defense of the castle is quite. The disintegration of the samurai class began in the 18th century, finally ending after the disbandment of the Japanese armed forces in 1947. Knights "bushi" survived with a large margin, although there was no talk of any classical weapons in the era of firearms. The samurai gradually disappeared into history, in many ways turning into a beautiful myth, under the surface of which you can still see not dried blood.
Maxim Filaretov