The Heart of Bushido
The heart of bushido was designed to provide a set of principles, values, and guidelines that govern the behaviour and actions of warriors. Serving as a moral compass or a code of conduct, helping warriors to maintain discipline, honour, and integrity in their roles as protectors or even now martial artists. The specific contents of a bushido code can vary across different cultures and eras. Showing principles including courage, loyalty, honour, duty, self-discipline, and respect.
The article will provide you with everything you need to know about the Bushido code, history, and modern Bushido. So let’s jump right into it .
WHAT IS THE BUSHIDO CODE?
Bushido – The Way of the Warrior is a Japanese word that literally means “warrior way”.
The Bushido code is a list of rules that Samurai warriors followed during the eighth century till modern times. The principles of Bushido consists of characteristics such as honour, courage, skill, and loyalty. However, the codes of Bushido evolved throughout the different eras. The tenets of Bushido were formed for the first time into law under the Tokugawa Shogunate.
8 PRINCIPLES OF BUSHIDO
JUSTICE (GI)
A popular Bushi once described Rectitude-Gi as the strength of acting with reasons. As rectitude is the power to decide what to do in certain situations, like he says, “Die if it is right to die and to strike if it is right to strike.”
After feudalism weakened and peace prevailed, warriors moved toward gentle arts. Even then, a man of rectitude was more prestigious than any other who has learned any skill. For a samurai, it’s a must to have.
COURAGE (YU)
Bushido Code states that the Samurai is fearless. Instead, it calls the warrior to be courageous. There is a distinct difference between being fearless and courageous. Living a fearless life is not realistic. Living a courageous life, this where you instead of walking away from facing challenges. Instead you face it head on with confidence in your abilities. This is the heart of Bushido.
COMPASSION (JIN)
Compassion is a rare quality in today’s world, where the younger generations want instant gratification. Bushido Code required samurai’s to practice skills such as patience, love, and empathy. This gentle reminder that we embrace the characteristics such as compassion and aggression. In order to balance each our life.
RESPECT (REI)
Bushido Code reminds us to acknowledge the feelings, rights, and traditions of those who may be different than we are or “lower” than we are by the world’s standards. A true warrior should be respected by not only his battle strength but also his code of conduct.
INTEGRITY (GI)
In order to practice many of the other characteristics listed, one has to maintain integrity. This means living with honestly and sincerely.
HONOUR (MEIYO)
Honor involves holding oneself to a high standard of personal and professional conduct. It’s about having a strong sense of moral character and being respected by others because of it. A person with honor is trustworthy, responsible, and lives according to a code. They take 100% responsibility for their actions and resist making excuses for failures in their lives. This is the heart of Bushido.
LOYALTY (CHUGI)
Loyalty is all about allegiance and having a devoted attachment to something or someone. This might be a devotion to an idea, one’s country, or family and friends. To be loyal, one must first stay true to themself. Then, they can be loyal to people and things outside of themselves. Loyalty is easy to claim in life, but we often find out how loyal we are to the people and ideas in our lives when things get tested. When challenges and trials come, loyalty is confirmed or denied in our lives.
SELF-CONTROL (FISEI)
In the Bushido Code , the concept of self-control means following the bushido Code at all times. Being able to control your emotions and also your actions is an essential characteristic we all need in our lives. This is especially important when life throws you a curveball. Our ability to make decisions, avoid actions we will regret, and control our impulses is what separates us as humans from the rest of the animal kingdom.
ORIGIN OF BUSHIDO
The word “bushi,” a synonym for warrior, serves as a root for the word “Bushido.” The word Samurai roughly translates to “those who serve,” To understand the foundation of the Bushido code, one must examine the history of the Samurai.
The history of the Samurai began in the eighth century, when the daimyo governed Japanese lands, their power greatly depended on the samurai they had at their command. Samurai were made take an oath to show their loyalty to the daimyo. While also protecting his lands from robbers and rebels. They battled on behalf of the daimyo during conflicts. Samurai, therefore, needed to be ready to go into battle at a moment’s notice.
THE SAMURAI
These samurai were often housed in their lord’s castle or in their own residences, not in military barracks as you might have thought. If the daimyo became more rich and powerful he was able to purchase more samurai. Ultimately, the most successful daimyo even used their samurai armies to seize control of Japan from the emperor himself. The Japanese emperor was forced to create a new military position to recognise the most powerful daimyo: the shogun.
Following a period of unrest, when Mongol invasion destabilized the government leading to the end of the Kamakura period towards the end of the 14th century, there was a long era of peace under the Tokugawa Shogunate. During this period of peace and prosperity, the Samurai were no longer required to provide military force; instead, they were asked to lead civil governance. Slowly, their role transitioned from being a type of knight to encompassing the responsibilities of a government official.
ORGIN OF BUSHIDO CONTINUED
In the Tokugawa period, popular Japanese arts began to flourish amongst the samurai’s. These included things like tea ceremonies, rock gardens, flower arranging.
The ordinance of the Military Houses or the Buke shohatto, was issued in 1615 and the Samurai were called upon to train not only in strength, but also in civility and politeness. It was during this time that the Bushido principles emerged as the code of conduct for Japanese people. This was influenced heavily by the Samurai as well buddhism and Confucianism. The notion of the Samurai was cemented as the epitome of refined manhood.
Overall, the heart of Bushido called for everyone to show an appreciation and respect for life, but it also teaches us that we should lead by example, express compassion and show mercy to those less fortunate.
MODERN BUSHIDO
In the early 1900s, Shinto became a state religion of Japan and the Bushido code was its moral guidelines. If you looked closely you would see the strong sense of honor, discipline, loyalty and devotion is still being displayed by the Japanese culture today.
Following World War II, the country was able to rebuild in part by drawing on Bushido principles, emerging as a great economic and industrial power. As the Samurai transitioned from warriors to esteemed gentlemen, at times residing in both plains, lessons are still applied in today’s society and are upheld by many leaders across the world.
When Japan got defeated in the Second World War, it seemed samurai values would come to an end. However, its population again started to use the Bushido principles again, after the country became a superpower in 1980. The essence of this principle now symbolises hard work, devotion, and loyalty to their companies and employers.
HOW THIS SHAPED TODAYS CULTURE
You might be thinking now. How exactly does Bushido affected modern culture in the 21st century. Well, today, it has paved its way into various industries such as entertainment, sports, and even medicine. In sports such as baseball, Japanese baseball calls out their players as ‘Samurais.’ They often refer to this term indicating fair play, hard work, and spirit.
Martial arts in Japan has transformed from ‘Bujutsu’ to modern ‘Budo’ due to Budisho spiritualism. While in the medical profession, the staff has to maintain a code of conduct similar to the 8 virtues of Bushido like remaining doctor/patient confidentiality, devotion and remaining respectful to their patients.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE HEART OF BUSHIDO
While Bushido has evolved throughout Japanese history from military practices to their social culture. Overtime japan has held onto its philosophical beliefs by showing using the heart of Bushido to strengthen its citizens and culture. Even when it’s applied to the business world it’s greatly beneficial.
We all go about our life’s with a code of ethics or core values that we want to apply in order to become the best versions of ourselves. Just like the bushido code begin fusing it into your daily life. Then live it out every day to the best of your ability. When you get knocked down, get back up again. When you never give up on yourself, you be amazed just by how far you can go.
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