The Samurai

488 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Chinese civilizations quizlet

Ancient and modern Eastern Civilizations were some of the most influential civilizations in shaping the world. The three major civilizations in the east are China, Japan and the Middle East. The Chinese brought the world the ideas of Confucianism along with powerful dynasties and modern day communism. Japan starting with an isolationist view changed drastically when they adopted a modernized society and later imperialism. The Middle East, lead strongly by religious beliefs is the center of much conflict that affects the world. The Chinese brought many gifts to the world from simple objects and customs to major government ideas. On of the most influential idea to come from China is Confucianism, which is now used worldwide. Confucius …show more content…

In the era of rising use of guns, Japan depended on their protectors, the Samurai. As shown in the educational film “Warrior Graveyard: Samurai Back From the Dead,” the Samurai were fearsome warriors who left horrific wounds on their enemies. The Samurai followed a strict behavioral code and were expected to show reckless courage, discipline, reverence of the gods and fairness. The main weapons of these warriors included a long sword called a katana and a short blade called wakizashi. One of the most well known characteristics of the Samurai is how they believed dying an honorable death is more important than a long life. In the case of being dishonored, the Samurai would commit seppuku, which is a ritualistic suicide, to regain their honor. The decline of the Samurai began when the emperor Tokugawa Shogunate Fell in the eighteen hundreds wanted to modernize Japan so it could compete with the modern world around them. This lead to the Samurai to be no longer needed due to the country a much more modern organized military. Modernization of Japan lead to Japanese imperialism which meant they sought to dominate other countries politically, economically or socially. Japan imperialism reached it peak during World War Two which resulted in atrocities such as the Rape of Nanking and mass killings of many Chinese civilians. In result of the war Japan lost all rights to having military forces but with help from the U.S. to rebuild, Japan became the world's second largest

Show More
Related

  • Japanese Culture Dbq

    2205 Words  | 5 Pages

    Japanese Samurai-What did they wear? What weapon did they use? How were they physically and

    Read More

  • Samurai Dbq

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    As learners of Europe and Japan, the question “ who would win a battle-a samurai or knight” is commonly kept in mind. A samurai and knight are similar in many ways. A samurai would mostly win the battle because they have better weapons, armor, and training. While knights and samurai have many similarities, in a one on one battle, the advantage would be to the samurai and this can be seen in weapons, armor, and training.

    Read More

  • Samurai And Knights Similarities

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    Samurai's core value is not humiliating myself. They would even rather end their own lives if they had to put up with humiliation. For example, if their daimyo died or if they lost a battle, they committed seppuku “stomach- or abdomen-cutting”, which is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. They did this to die in honor. Furthermore, Samurai had to follow some rules called “Bushido”,which means “The way of the warriors”. The rules include fidelity, politeness, virility, and simplicity. While, knight's core value is not to commit a sin. Knights often believe killing himself is a sin, this is because of influence of Christianity. They would rather suffer being alive than to commit suicide. Knights also had to follow a set of strict rules called Chivalry, which puts emphasis on justice, loyalty, defense, courage, faith, humility, and nobility.

    Read More

  • Samurai

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    Musui’s Story is the exciting tale of a low class samurai’s life towards the end of the Tokugawa era. Although one would normally imagine a samurai to be a noble illustrious figure, Musui’s Story portrays the rather ignominious life of an unemployed samurai. Nonetheless, this primary account demonstrates the tenacity of samurai values and privileges present at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. The social status of samurai had been elevated to such a state that even someone like Musui was easily able to gain influence in everyday affairs with his privileges. Not only that, but he had retained his values as a warrior and still kept great pride for his arts in weaponry.

    Read More

  • Japanese Katana

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...h their swords. […] All lived by a code that valued death over defeat. They were the samurai, the elite warrior class who ruled Japan for nearly 700 years, leaving an indelible mark on a land [Japan][…].” (O’Neill 101) This quote taken from a National Geographic publication is one of many others that speak of the tenacity of the samurai. Noble and aggressive, the samurai wield their swords with killing intent, confident that a simple strike from their blades can cause certain death to their foes. This was the primary reason the Katana is made in such a way. It is to create a weapon of absolute destruction. An implement comprising of aspects that symbolize elegance and devastation, the Katana not only is the finest weapon ever made, it is also a beautiful work of art (Yumoto n.p.).

    Read More

  • Influence of the Samurai on Modern Japanese Society

    1723 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout History, there have been many different groups or events that are still widely known today. Groups of people such as the Indians or Vikings are popular groups which are referenced constantly in today’s society. However, none of these groups is more known or referenced than the Japanese Samurai. Originating in 646 AD, these Japanese warriors developed from a loose organization of farmers to the dominant social class in Feudal Japan. Along with their dominant military and political standing, the samurai brought with them a unique code or moral belief that became the core of Samurai culture. Because of this, the Samurai and their principles still affect modern day Japanese society with social customs today deriving directly and indirectly from the beliefs of the Samurai.

    Read More

  • Feudal Europe and Japan similarities and differences

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    Japan lasted from 1185-1603. During that time Japan had emperors, shoguns, daimyos, samurai, and peasants who were all apart of a social class, and all together it was called the Samurai Society. The emperor was just a figurehead for the shogun. The shogun was a powerful military leader that ruled in the emperor’s name. Daimyo were powerful landlords. The daimyo often led armies of samurai. These samurai were trained professional warriors who served daimyo and shoguns. The samurai had to follow a certain code of rules for samurai called Bushido. One of their rules included to always have self-discipline to become a good samurai. The samurai warriors wore light armor, helmets (usually shaped like an animal), and had two swords around their waist. Their armor had a lot of detail and color to it, like their unique helmets. After the samurai comes the peasants, which included farmers and fishermen. They usually always work, then pay takes to the shogun. They usually gave the shogun what they earned from working like food or crops. What made their jobs a bit difficult was their topography. Japan’s topography included many mountains, undersea volcanoes, and barely any flat land to farm on. The Japanese didn’t only work they also practiced their religion. For example, they practiced Confucianism, Buddhism (...

    Read More

  • Japanese Samurai Film Genre

    632 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sword fighting and the use of the katana are symbolic in Japanese samurai films. The katana is the main weapon that samurai use and they carry it on them no matter what they are doing, eating, sleeping and most importantly when they are in battle. In the film you never see any of the samurai without their swords and at the end there is a long shot of the four samurai’s graves showing the katana sticking out of each grave. This shows that all samurai carry their katana with them, dead or alive; they take tradition very seriously and never part with their swords. There is a scene in the film where Kambei draws his katana out from under his clothes when the farmers say that they are not going to help, when Kambei pulls out his sword the villagers cower and run back into line, afraid that they would be hurt.

    Read More

  • what if china discovered america?

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although it was Columbus who discovered the New World in 1492, China could have easily discovered it decades earlier. If China had discovered the New World, the culture of the west would be very similar to that of the east. Chinese culture would probably be the most dominant culture in the world, since China would have control of the east and west. “After freeing itself from it’s conquest by the Mongols, China was seeking to restore and preserve its cultural independence” (Latourette 238). The best way to preserve the fading culture of Buddhism and Taoism would be to spread it throughout the west. If the Chinese had spread their culture throughout the west, we might be speaking Chinese, not have freedom of religion, and we might be limited to Chinese beliefs.

    Read More

  • Samurai vs Knight

    1340 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people often see little similarity between the country of Japan and Europe. However, there are actually several similarities between these two countries. In fact, Reischauer and Jansen note that Feudal Japan had departed so far from East Asian norms that it was more similar to medieval Europe than it was to China. Thus, the knight of Europe and the samurai of Japan despite a lack of contact with one another shared several common elements. This was a result of many similarities social and cultural influences experienced by the two distant countries.

    Read More

  • History of Samurai

    2853 Words  | 6 Pages

    ... in body and mind, to governing of the Emperors, to the study of the martial arts. Their code of honor and loyalty are traditions that all Japanese respect and try to live up to even today. The self sacrifice of ones own life for a common cause was even seen in World War II when Japanese pilots deliberately crashed their planes into United States ships anchored at Pearl Harbor. This was a devastating attack and can show the horror caused by revenge and their belief in sacrifice and honor. They were even called kamikaze pilots after the famous samurai battle of long ago. The influence of the samurai continues to be seen in Japan today in a positive way with the stories and legends of heroic samurai and the bushido as their guide.

    Read More

  • Kamakura Period Research Paper

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    The samurai had existed in modern time for a while before changing. In 1853 the United States came to Japan seeking trade and commercial relationships. It was decided that Japan was ready to give up its old ways and the era of feudal Japan ended in 1868 and the samurai along with it.

    Read More

  • Samurai's Influence On American Culture

    1826 Words  | 4 Pages

    Samurais take the #1 spot for their combat adroitness, they were the champions in the fields of battles. Samurais were not only skilled warriors of battle, moreover they were influential leaders for their armies. The only weapons and armor the samurais took into battle were only two swords, leather plated armor, a helmet, and bow with proper training. Unlike other nations, anyone could become a samurai, no one was obligated to stay with families or to continue jobs their parents did. One of the biggest things samurais followed was there code of conduct, called Bushido “the way of the warrior.” Along with other individuals with authority, samurais had much authority as well; They had to keep peasants in check, check up on the harvests, and most importantly, keep their Daimyo(Lord) save from invaders at all costs. When disrespecting or showing cowardness to their Daimyo, it lead to bringing great shame and dishonor to the samurais whole family. When samurais become dishonorable they often end up leaving and becoming a ronin. Ronin’s were mainly mercenaries that carried out assassinations, spy missions, and sabotage. Although samurais have already come to an end, many still worship their fallen ancestors, some still study the basic practices of samurais to always keep a basic understanding of the training they went through. Along with well skilled warriors, some showed their level of skill not on the battlefield, rather on a piece of

    Read More

  • The Seven Samurai

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    Foreign films are often not as popular, especially among people who do not understand the language being spoken. Viewers claim they would rather watch a film, as opposed to reading it because of the provided subtitles. However, The Seven Samurai is a well done film in which the subtitles are not a distracting and the language barrier becomes unnoticed as viewers are engulfed in the dramatic plot. After a group of bandits make plans to capture a village, the villagers are panicked and request help from a samurai. Agreeing to the villagers, the samurai then finds six other samurai to aid in the teaching of the villagers and the defense of the village.

    Read More

  • Japan and Japanese Culture

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many historical aspects of the Japanese, but the most interesting is the history of the Samurai. In Japans history war played a large role in the country. Controlling clans fought for parts of the land and overall control of the country. These clans were powerful families that resided in the country and who all wanted power and control of Japan for themselves. The families that would be in control were known as Shoguns. These shoguns would have warriors that fought for them if any of the other clan families would try to attack him in order to overthrow him and take his power from him. The Samurai followed a code that developed from Chinese beliefs when in battle. The Samurais code was known as the Bushido. This code was also known as “The Way of The Warrior” which was the main belief s...

    Read More

More about The Samurai

Open Document