So You Want To Be Samurai

 

So
you want to be a samurai, eh? When I ask people who revere the
samurai “What is it about the samurai that you find so great?”
The most common answer is that they are impressed by the bushido
code. There is a lot of good stuff found in what is termed the
bushido code. Most
of it predates the bushi by 1500 years or more, and the rest was
added in the early 20th century when the term “bushido” was first
widely used.  Most
of the stuff about sacrificing oneself for one’s lord other such
more extreme was only added in the early 20th century.

The
parts of “bushido” that weren’t added by fascist military
promoters in the 20th century are quite good. It’s just that they are
basically the
5 virtues of Confucius.
I have a piece of calligraphy in my living room done by my budo
teacher, Kiyama Hiroshi Shihan, that lists them in this order:

智 
仁  義  礼  信

In
Japanese they are read:

Chi
智
or
“wisdom”.

Jin
仁
or
”benevolence”

Gi
義
or
“righteousness” 

Rei
禮
or
“ritual propriety”

Shin
信
or
“Trust”

 

 These
all seem like really good virtues, especially if you understand a
little about Confucian thought. I can’t think of anyone who would
argue that chi,
or wisdom, is a bad thing. Developing wisdom requires having some
understanding of the world, so study and learning is encouraged as a
means of acquiring wisdom. This includes active, lifelong studying
for self-improvement. Once you have some wisdom and understanding,
you have to act on it. Wisdom without action isn’t really wisdom.

Jin,
or “benevolence” can be a tougher sell for some people until they
begin to understand the context. Jin
includes
acting in a way that makes the world better for everyone, not just
for yourself. It’s not giving charity blindly. It’s actively
making the world around you a better place. In some situations that
may mean giving charitably. In others it may be buying a quieter lawn
mower so you don’t disturb your neighbors when you cut the grass.
It could be volunteering to help kids with their homework or to just
give them a safe space to be kids. Take a CPR class. Begin
composting. Donate blood. Take an art class and improve yourself.
There are infinite possibilities for benevolent action.

Gi,
or
“righteousness” sometimes makes people uncomfortable because they
associate righteousness with self-righteous people who already have
all the answers and know exactly how everyone should behave.  In
this sense though, gi is about doing what is right in any situation
rather than what you want or what benefits you as a person, and it
has almost nothing to do with telling others how to behave. It means,
and this was critical for the samurai, doing whatever you have to to
fulfill your responsibilities and duties in society. This is
something that is usually overlooked when talking about the samurai.
The samurai were all about meeting their responsibilities. 
Ideas of personal rights would have been considered the ultimate in
selfishness. Choosing to do the right thing has always been
difficult. Confucius and the philosophers of ancient China were
debating what is right and how to do right 2600 years ago. For
Confucians, being righteous has always been about right action first
and foremost. The samurai was expected to be quiet and demonstrate
his righteousness through action. 

Rei,
or “ritual propriety”,
in
Confucius’ time could be read as literally meaning “rites” as
in ritual actions. Confucius used it in that sense, but in a much
broader sense as well. He was not only talking about religious rites,
or formal ceremonies of state. He was also talking about the proper
etiquette you have learned and should use in each situation. These
are rei
as
well. Saying “Good morning” when you walk into the office.
Shaking someone’s hand in a way that is neither trying to crush
them nor just making a show of touching their hand without any sense
of connection. It’s remembering to announce that you’re home so
no one is surprised because they didn’t know you were home. It’s
helping clean up the table after a meal instead of rushing back to
your game. It’s etiquette, but more than just the formal bits. It
is also seen as a means of self-cultivation. By behaving according to
propriety, you learn to guide your heart/mind to propriety so that
the ritual ceases to be ritual. It becomes sincere action.

Shin,
or trust, is about others being able to trust you. In the dojo that
means your partners can trust you to do the exercises that are being
practiced that evening, and not suddenly go off and do your own
thing. In kata they are confident that you will do the kata correctly
so they can get the maximum benefit from the practice. You don’t
overwhelm those who are less skilled, and you do your best when
working with the seniors. You can be trusted to keep your word and to
honor implied agreements like the agreement in the dojo that no one
tries to hurt or injure anyone, that everyone helps each other to
learn to the best of their abilities.

These
are the real samurai values. They are at the core of nearly
everything that was written and believed about how samurai should
conduct themselves. The best of samurai embodied these values in how
they lived. The samurai were as human as anyone else, and they had
all the faults and shortcomings of humans. The more you see leaders
and thinkers of the samurai writing about the value of a particular
virtue, the less likely you were to find that virtue being displayed
at that time. Throughout the civil wars leading up to the Tokugawa
shogunate, loyalty was praised loudly. It shouldn’t be a surprise
that betrayal was common. None of the Confucian virtues are easy.
Virtues never are. I know I fall short of anything like being a wise,
righteous, benevolent man of proper action and trust. These values
are worthy goals, but they don’t belong just to the samurai.
Confucian scholars began promoting them in China 2600 years ago, and
the Japanese recognized their value.

Rather than just parroting the
virtues, I suggest studying them a little.  For an enjoyable
introduction to Confucius, try Confucius
Speaks.
It an excellent introduction to Confucius by Taiwanese cartoonist
Tsai Chih Chung. Two good places to go a little deeper are The
World Of Thought In Ancient China
by
Benjamin Schwartz and The
Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About The Good Life
by
Michael Puett. There is also a free
class you can take with Puett
about
this at EdX.  These two cover more than just Confucius, but they
both start with him. Everything else they go into was also important
in any discussion of values and ethics by the samurai. 

Samurai
values weren’t platitudes. They weren’t (usually) jingoistic.
They were values and ideas that real people struggled to understand.
How should these values be manifested in the world? People struggled
with living up to what they found was good and right. If you really
respect the samurai and their values, find out what things they
studied and study them yourself. You can do worse than by starting
with what
Confucius had to say.

What
does all this have to do with budo? If you’re really learning any
form of Japanese budo, but particularly koryu budo, these values
shape everything within the budo world. Koryu budo ryuha are built on
Confucian values. That’s part of why you can’t learn koryu budo
without a teacher. Part of being a member of ryuha is learning the
behavior that is expected and the responsibilities that go with being
part of the ryuha. The techniques and kata are the physical part, but
there is much more to be learned about relationships,
responsibilities and right action. That is all part of koryu budo.
It’s not just about how to win a fight. It’s about learning to
fulfill your duties in the ryuha and society so that perhaps fighting won’t be
necessary.

My thanks to Kevin Tsai, PhD. for his assistance in expressing the Confucian values accurately in understandable way. Any errors are mine.

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