Samurai is a Japanese warrior. Even the stories of courage and fortitude of the samurai have survived to this day. The class of samurai existed until the bourgeois revolution, and even after that some features in society remained. Samurai is not just a warrior, initially only feudal lords became them. The lifestyle and virtues of medieval samurai are widely reflected in art.
Such popularization led to a distortion of some facts about the soldiers of feudal Japan.
Origin
The meaning of the word samurai can be interpreted as "a person who served." The first samurai appeared in the 7th century. During the reign of Taika, a number of different reforms were carried out. Thus, a privileged class of warriors loomed. Initially, these were people who already held a high position in society and were landowners. Samurai was widespread in the 9th century, when the Japanese emperor Kammu waged war against the Ainu. Over the next centuries, clear dogmas are formed that define the warrior. The Bushido set of rules appears, which states that a samurai is a person who places allegiance to his master above all else. This is the practical difference from European chivalry. “Bushido” also indicated kindness, decency, honesty, but loyalty to the war and the lord still remained in the spotlight.
Ideology
Among the samurai, virtues such as courage, fidelity, lack of fear of death and suffering were most revered. Such nihilism is caused not least by the influence of Buddhism. The path of the warrior (literal translation of "Bushido") also involved moral and psychological development. Many procedures, such as meditation, were designed to maintain the balance and spiritual calm of a person. The main task of the "path of the spirit" was to cleanse oneself of emotional experiences and to become indifferent to worldly fuss.
The lack of fear of death has become a kind of cult. A striking example of such an ideology is Harakiri. This is a ritual suicide with a special knife. Harakiri was considered a worthy death for any samurai. The person who decided to commit it knelt down and then ripped open his stomach. Similar methods of suicide were observed among the soldiers of ancient Rome. The stomach was chosen as the target, since the Japanese believed that it was there that the human soul was located. When a hara-kiri, a samurai friend could be present, who beheaded him after being torn open. Such execution was permitted only for petty crime or deviations from the code.
Who is a samurai
Contemporary art has somewhat distorted the image of samurai. In ancient Japan, a samurai is, first of all, a feudal lord. The poor estates could not belong to this movement. In addition to social prejudices, this was also due to material problems. Ammunition and samurai weapons were very expensive, and training lasted a lifetime. The warrior was brought up from childhood. It was, first of all, hard physical training. The teenager had to work and train constantly. To do this, he had a personal mentor, who was the ideal and spiritual image of courage for the student. Training mainly consisted in the endless repetition of the same combat situations. This was done so that the fighter remembers actions in certain conditions at a reflex level.
Spiritual education
In addition to physical training, there were also moral ones. A father from childhood had to teach his son not to be afraid of pain and deprivation. To temper the spirit of the teenager, they could be awakened at night and ordered to go to a place that was considered damned. Also in their youth, future soldiers were led to watch the executions of criminals. At some stages it was forbidden to sleep or even eat. Such deprivations were supposed to temper the body and spirit of the samurai. Home, family, and children were never a priority for a soldier, according to Bushido. Before being sent to war, he vowed to forget them and not remember until he returned.
Among the samurai there was a special elite - Daimyo. It was believed that these are the most experienced and brave warriors. However, in reality they were simply large feudal lords who actually ruled certain regions. A samurai is not necessarily a man. The story has preserved many memories of female warriors.
Armament
Samurai is, first of all, a man in expensive armor. On the battlefield, this was what distinguished them from the ashigaru, the peasant militia. Samurai armor was difficult to manufacture and could cost more than an entire settlement. Unlike European armor, the samurai consisted mainly of metal plates. Between themselves, they were connected by silk threads and covered with skin. As weapons, the samurai used swords - katanas, something between a saber and a European knight's sword. In addition to the katana, the samurai carried a small dagger with him. Also used were yari - spears with a long sting. Some samurai used bows.
With the advent of firearms, armor lost its practical use and was used only as an attribute of high status. Some elements of armor were used as a manifestation of military rank in capitalist Japan. In the Russian film "Priest," the samurai is shown in modern society, which is not uncommon.