Samurai promoting peace in East Asian Civilization

Samurai promoting peace in East Asian Civilization

Introduction

The Japanese warrior class dominated military affairs, politics, and civilian culture from the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate in 1185 until the end of the Edo period in 1868. During this nearly 700-year period, warriors controlled Japan's government, promulgated a military code of behavior, and fostered distinctive art forms that memorialized soldierly virtues and exploits. Warrior involvement in court affairs increased as government officials, aristocrats, and religious institutions relied on military bands to enforce order in the provinces. Military rule fostered advances in weapons technology and battle tactics, as well as innovations in fortifications. Martial values including a strict code of conduct and a pledge to attain honor in both life and death distinguished Japanese warriors and fueled transformations in feudal religion, philosophy, and lifestyles. Warrior patronage resulted in revitalization of visual and performing art forms. Military ideals captured in colorful tales of heroic battles and other accomplishments immortalized leaders and inspired future soldiers.

Traditionally, the medieval Japanese warrior symbolized rigor and austerity in contrast with the indulgent, courtly ideals of the Heian period. Naturally, soldiers honed their military skills, yet the warrior classes also pursued civilian arts long linked with aristocratic refinement. Recent scholarship has noted persistent court influence in the era of military government, which may have spurred warriors to cultivate elite art forms. Further, warriors required cultural and literary knowledge in order to function as successful leaders. Many authorities now question the longstanding notion that the aristocrats and the warrior class were diametrically opposed, citing instead numerous parallels between nobles who pursued military training and professional warriors who refined their abilities in the civilian arts. Ultimately, even though aristocrats cultivated military skills, they remained unable to prevail in martial training. Meanwhile, by the Edo period, members of the samurai class gradually achieved mastery of literary traditions and administrative procedures, accomplishments that had long been considered critical resources for statesmen (Holy Mtn, 2013).

Discussion

The Advent of Samurai

The term samurai is used here to describe professionals employed for their martial skills. However, this word does not indicate a specific rank, nor does it describe the social status of a military retainer. Readers are advised that the function and socioeconomic rank of samurai fluctuated a great deal during the medieval and early modern epochs. An armed warrior of a particular era might lack some accomplishments or aspects of samurai behavior considered below. Still, the martial training and ethical codes essential to soldiers remained relatively consistent (at least in principle) throughout the feudal era in Japan, and therefore merit close examination as a unifying component of military culture.

Rise of the Military Class

Japanese warriors are known as samurai, bushi, and buke. These terms reflect some distinctions in the function of military figures in Japan over time, differences that are considered below in the section "Warrior Terminology." The most familiar term for a warrior, samurai, dates from the Heian period. Including military figures from various class levels over several hundred years, ...