Samurai

Rise & Fall of the Warrior

The samurai was one of the most proudest and feared warriors of all time. They enjoyed a quick rise to power with an equally quick drop to normal society. There undying devotion to there leaders honor, and even more importantly there own, set them apart from any other society. There rise to power, there code of life, there perfected technology, and there sharp downfall are all part of the great reign of the samurai.

The first appearance of the Japanese warrior was during the Heian era (794-1185), they were called bushi. Bushi were assigned to guard the emperor and came to be known as saburai. By the thirteenth century, hereditary warriors, officials serving princes, court ministers, and other persons of high rank, were called saburai. Saburai originally referred only to the higher class of warriors and court officials. Eventually it was changed to samurai to make it easier to pronounce. War played a central part in the history of Japan. Warring clans controlled much of the country. Each clan had its own head; made up of related families. The chiefs were the decendents of Japan's imperial family. The wars were usually about land. To make things worse, only 20% of the land was fit for farming. The struggle for control of that land eventually gave rise to the Samurai. The Samurai rose out of these continuing battles for land among three main clans: the Minamoto, the Fujiwara and the Taira. The Samurai eventually earned there own class between the 9th and 12th centuries A.D. They were called by two names: Samurai (knights-retainers) and Bushi (warriors). Some of them were related to the ruling class. Others were hired men. They gave complete loyalty to their Daimyo (feudal landowners) and received land and position in return. Each Daimyo used his Samurai to protect his land and to expand his power and rights to more land. a system of shugo or "guards" was later established for all of the districts and provinces as a means of keeping order. The position of shugo gradually became hereditary and development the samurai into an elite class of professional warriors. As the generations passed, these warrior families became clans and grew to be more powerful than the hereditary lords they served (most of whom were descendants of noble families from Taira). These shugo gradually split from there lords and formed the shogun, the supreme seigneur of Samurai. One special category of samurai was the hatamoto, the higher ranking warriors who were the shogun's personal guard. During the Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1867), the hatamoto were direct vassals of the shogun, and their annual revenue was fixed at a minimum of 10,000 bushels of rice.

They samurai developed a code based on Confucian and Zen Buddhist principles. The code came to be known as bushido, or the Way of the Warrior. This code was to dictate almost every part of their lives and influence the total culture of the country until modern times. The essence of bushido was total loyalty to the feudal lord; a willingness to give their lives in the defense of their lord, his honor, and their own; a strict regimen of martial training; and a sternly refined etiquette that governed their actions and behavior in all things. Part of the code of the samurai was to commit suicide rather than be captured in war or dishonored by failure. Those who did not carry out this order became known as ronin (masterless samurai) and were shunned by society. Many ronin became beggars, drunks, and assassins, shunned and feared. Many others threatened to carry out the suicide at the houses of wealthy lords; embarrassing the lords into giving them money or food.

Ancient Yayoi warriors developed weapons, armor and a code during the ensuing centuries that became the centerpiece for the Japanese Samurai. Early weapons included bows, arrows and swords. Armor included a helmet that protected head and neck, a breastplate that protected the chest, arm and shoulder protectors, and a belly wrap. Later armor included protection for the legs and thighs. Armor changed as the type of battles changed. A change occurred in the 5th century when horses were introduced to Japan. Perhaps the largest change occurred in the 15th