以前写过关于武士道的文章，恰好此书也讲到了47 samurai的故事就发在这里吧。
(Written on September 25th, 2009)
The story of 47 Samurai took place in Japan at the start of the eighteenth century. It is one of the three most famous revenge stories in Japan and now is still very popular in Japan. This true story was popularized in Japanese culture as a symbol of spirit for bushido that emphasizes loyalty, sacrifice, persistence and honor till death and as a reflection of tragedy complex both in Japanese culture and history. The sword is a symbol of Bushido and the cherry blossom is a central image of Japanese culture.
The story tells that a daimyo named Asano Naganori, and how he was forced to commit ritual suicide for assaulting a direct retainer to the Shogun and master of ceremonies at the Shogun’s court named Kira Yoshinaka. Then the samurai of Asano decided to avenge for their master by waiting and planning for over a year to kill Kira. The leader of the 47 samurais was Oishi Kuranosuke, chief steward to Asano, who planed the whole vengeance on Kira. After finishing the revenge, the 47 samurais were themselves forced to commit suicide for committing the crime of murder.
Statler explained the background of the story in his book Japanese Inn:
It had been almost a century since there had been any warfare…pleasure seeking and dissipation were in vogue…the warrior was facing bankrupt, and most daimyo had a hard time making ends meet…at the moment the national goal was easy living and the national mood was gay… It was against this background that the Ako ronins pledged themselves to redeem the honor of their lord. (Statler)
In this society, the pure spirit of loyalty appeared more precious than ever, making the story more touching and significant. The story became popular was not because it had significantly historical effect but because it expressed the inner eager of people that they wanted to be as loyal, sacrificial, persistent and honorable as the samurais.
Bushido, developed between the 9th and 12th centuries, was defined as a unique philosophy that spread through the warrior class and was affected by both Confucianism and Buddhism. And the sword, the weapon of samurais, showed the character of loyalty and honor, the basic elements of Bushido.
In my opinion, the core of Bushido is loyalty. By pursuing Bushido to express their loyalty to a master, they are sacrificing not only their own lives, but also their relatives’ lives. For them, death is an access to get eternity honor of loyalty. In the story, the 47 samurais sacrificed their lives, even abandoned their fathers, sold their wives and killed their sons. The samurais’ performances showed a deep loyalty to their master Asano. Although Bushido implies samurai should not fear death, not all of Asano’s retains select to take the revenge when facing deaths. In this story, the samurais tried to do two things for master to express their loyalty. One was to try to restore the clan under Asano’s young brother and the other was to take vengeance on Kira. When they killed Kira, they cut his head, washed it and placed it before Asano’s tomb (Statler). This action showed they finished the revenge for their master, meaning they fulfilled the spirit of Bushido, loyalty. But they must fulfill another important spirit, sacrifice, and so they faced the death which was the punishment for murder.
Because Bushido was affected by Buddhism, samurais can face their destinies calmly and accept their fates no matter how bad the ending would be. They prepare to sacrifice without feeling sad or fear. To win reputation and honor, life is so cheap that they can give it up any time if they need to do so. The master of 47 samurais chose to suicide too. But the sacrifice of forty seven people was more solemn and stirring that they all select to suicide to express their obedience. This scene, revealed the attraction of death to Japanese, especially honorable death, and impressed people so much that they created many literature works, woodblock paintings and kabuki to display the courage of fearless samurais. Even now, novels, TV shows and movies of this story are still popular, meaning the traditional Japanese Bushido would never fade in Japan.
Besides loyalty and sacrifice, persistency is another important element of Bushido, and is a necessary ability to win honor. People can easily get inspired when they see the 47 samurais spent over one year to achieve the final goal and overcome countless difficulties, even they were misunderstand by their families and society. Many popular Japanese movies and books have hot-blooded scenarios in common, reflecting the determination and persistency to achieve success by showing that they insisted their own decisions and tried so hard to pursue their destinations. In this story, Oishi is more wise than brave, because he organized the retainers who were truly loyal and then designed the whole revenge plan. He has become one of the most famous righteous people in Japanese history. The story is in fact a story about honorable death by wisdom and persistency. People can acquire different inspirations from multiple aspects of the story.
Honor is an ideal of samurais that can make them choose to give up other things, including mundane love for their families and life. The reason that they do not care their lives is that they live in the honor of their masters and have deep appreciation for their masters. To pay back their masters, they can abandon their lives feeling honorable. Although the era of samurai had passed, the spirit is still under the skin of Japanese people. In World War II, the success of many battles of Japanese army was more because Japanese soldiers did not fear death and they were pleased to dedicate their lives to the so-called honorable ideal. For them, revenge and suicide are two great things in Bushido while revenge is about taking others’ lives and suicide is about taking their own lives. The story of 47 samurais materialized this point perfectly and that is why the story got so popular.
Other than the traditional Bushido spirit in this story, the preference to tragic heroes also determines the popularity among Japanese people. Every tragic hero in various countries received more attentions and esteems as well as in Japan. Japanese prefer tragedy and this story reflect the preference well. In Japanese culture, beauty is kind of things transient, as cherry blossoms which last only a few days in spring before the first rain or a strong wind would destroy them. The cherry blossom is a central image of Japanese culture which reflects the taste of tragedy in Japan. The 47 samurais are like the cherry blossoms. After their revenge which was the blossom of their lives, they just ended their lives as cherry blossoms wither in the cold wind of early spring, having a sense of beauty in fading. People sign for the ending of the story but praise their suicide. From these heroes, they find that death is a form to finish the ultimate beauty and get touched by the pure fine souls of samurais. The tragedy cannot be avoided as the loyalty and justice could not be fulfilled at the same time so it seemed to be foreordination which makes the story more desperate. As Japan is an island country, and the resources in Japan are limited, Japanese people are always pessimistic. And the frequency of earthquakes and volcano eruptions make people in Japan feel like life is more fragile than in other countries. So it is obvious that Japanese appreciate the beauty in tragedy, causing the popularity of this legend over many years.
The story of 47 samurais provides a possibility to explore the inner thoughts of Japanese and the possibility determines its popularity. Every culture has its unique spirit which related to its environment and history. The legend of forty seven Samurais represents the essential spirit of Bushido and the preference to tragedy in Japan. The spirit, which related to loyalty, sacrifice, persistency and honor, is symbolized as sword. And the tragic short beauty is as pretty as transient cherry blossom. The story is popular because it combines the spirit of sword and the beauty of cherry blossom, inspiring more and more Japanese people pursue them.
Reference
Statler, Oliver. Japanese Inn. Univ. of Hawaii Press, 1982.