Like many nations, Japans history is filled with brutal wars, heinous atrocities, and struggles for power, but from Japan’s brutal past was born perhaps the most skillful, feared, and revered warrior the world has ever known, the Samurai. Since their emergence the Samurai have been the elite warrior class of Japan, who served their Lords loyally and lived and died by their swords. Modern Japanese pop culture has turned the Samurai into symbolic icons of strength, honor, loyalty, skill, and battle. You can’t go anywhere nowadays without seeing the latest Samurai anime or manga. Even though there is so much Samurai paraphernalia floating around, very little is revealed about what the Samurai believed and what they historically did. I have greatly admired the samurai ever since my early childhood, and I want to find out what these legendary warriors valued and what possible religion would condone the violence that these men wrought on the battle field.
The Japanese warrior itself has been around since the late Yamato Period (c. 200-500 CE) of Japanese history (King, page 37). It was during this time that the early clans began to form, the most important one being the Yamato clan which eventually became the imperial family of Japan, who to this day have not had a break in the imperial lineage (King, page 38). In order to become Japans imperial family the Yamato clan had to have more wealth, political power, and military power than all the other clans who also wanted to reign supreme. Mercenary soldiers were recruited to fight for and protect the clans, and over time these soldiers would eventually evolve into the Bushi or as we know them, the Samurai.
The Samurai first appeared on the battle field during a war between the Minamoto (Genji) clan and the Taira (Heike) clan called the Genpei War in the start of the 12th century (King, page 44). The Heike Monogatari gives a vivid introduction to these new warriors in the character of a young warrior shouting at his enemies. He says, “A man of no title or rank such as I may risk the wrath of the gods when he draws his bow against the prince of the royal house. Nevertheless let the god of the bow judge who is in the right. May his sympathy be with Heike! Here I stand, ready to meet any among the men of the third court rank nyudo Yorimasa. Who dare to face me? Come forward and fight (Heiki Monogatari, pg 269).” Sadly the god of the bow was not with the Heike, because they were defeated by the Minamoto clan (King, page 43). Even though the Minamoto clan was nearly wiped out entirely prior to the Genpei War, two survivors of the Minamoto clan, Yoshitsune and Yoritomo, who threw the succession of leadership controlled clan loyalty, still posed as a great threat to the Taira clan (King, page 43). Yoritomo rallied an army together and completely annihilated the Taira clan, and in 1192 the emperor bestowed the title of Shogun on Yoritomo, which gave birth to the age of the warrior ruling class in Japan (King, page 44).
Eventually the powers of the shogun would far outweigh those of the Emperor, causing a drastic change in power over Japan. In 1336 CE, which was the beginning of the Muromachi period (1336-1373 CE); the Ashikaga clan became the shoguns and moved the seat of the shogunate back to Kyoto, where they controlled Japan through the Emperor (King, page 51). Even though there was still an Emperor, Japan become divided into warring feudal states with its leaders, the Daimyo, each wanting more power than their neighbors (King, page 52). These feudal lords would often go to war with each other, and attempt to conquer one another; this time period was called the Warring States Period or the Sengoku period (1460-4173). It was during this era that the Samurai became their own class of warrior revered not only for their skills in combat but also for their skills in the arts, and it was these warriors that would rule until the late 19th century (King, page 52).
The bushi, described by the Heiki Monogatari, did not have the same values as the Samurai who were born out of the Sengoku period. Those men were always thirsting for glory, and were stern, rough, honest, and looked down upon the court life which was deeply involved in things like poetry, and calligraphy (King, page 53). The later still kept the same hard core warrior spirit as its predecessors, but these samurai composed poetry, participated in tea ceremonies, and enjoyed the finer things in life, and were still able to pick up their sword and engage in mortal combat (King, page 54). A samurai’s worth was determined by his skills in combat, especially his swordsmanship. The samurai’s sword, or katana, is his primary weapon and is said to contain the samurai’s spirit- the nature of who the samurai was inside (King, page 61). Young warriors to be were often trained at from the age of five with wooden swords, gradually working their way up to the full length steel blade in their early teens (King, page 95).
A samurai’s code of conduct is called bushido; the way of the warrior, and can be summarized briefly as loyalty, self-control, and evenness of mind under stress (King, page 125). This code came into use during the late 16th century a little before the beginning of the Tokugawa peace era (King, page 125). Bushido is in reality not a strict ethical conduct at all, it is the West’s way of summarizing the popular beliefs of the samurai. That is not to say that the samurai did not live a moral life, but the samurai’s moral beliefs may have in fact been predetermined from the time of birth (King, page 124-125). A samurai would very often live his life prepared to die at any moment, which gave them extreme dedication to duty, and there lords for whom they were prepared to die, or take another’s life if they so asked it of them (King, page 129). If they failed in their duties, or were defeated in combat, the only honorable choice for the samurai would be to commit ritual suicide, or seppuku. They essentially viewed themselves as tools; to be used for in whatever way was necessary. One samurai vassal told his son, “The duty of a warrior like that of a monk, is to obey orders…He must consider his life not his own but a gift offered to his lord (King, page 30).” This makes you wonder what kind of spiritual mindset these men had to have to believe that no matter how bad an act they may commit, that there was still salvation for them. There was a saying during the Kamakura era in Japan that stated, “Tendai is for the imperial court, Shingon for the nobility, Zen for the warrior class, and Pure Land for the masses (King, page 30)”.
Zen Buddhism is a form of Buddhism that concentrates on an individual’s personal effort to try and achieve enlightenment, by following the example set forth by Shakyamuni Buddha, of seated meditation (Yusa, page 52). The word Zen is derived from the Chinese word Chan, which is a phonetic approximation of the Indian word for concentration meditation, which is dhyana (Yusa, page 52). Zen was introduced to China from India around the year 520 (Yusa, page 53). Chan Buddhism flourished and branched out all throughout China, and eventually found its way to Japan. Today those who practice Zen Buddhism account for about ten percent of Japans Buddhist population.
In total there are three major Zen schools in Japan, which are Rinzai, Soto, and Obaku, each branching off into several lineages (Yusa, page 53). A common trait of all the Zen schools is the practice of seated meditation, or zazen, in which the person sits in the “lotus position” focusing on controlling thought and breathing (Yusa, page 53). The point of zazen, if there is one, is to attain a “breakthrough” or kensho, which will then help the practitioner attain enlightenment, or satori. Zen masters do not consider kensho or satori to be the goals of Zen, but rather the beginning of real practice. Many Zen masters even argue that a life time of practice is in itself enlightening (Yusa, page 53). The Zen master Dogen who founded the Soto Zen School, wrote a doctrine called the Lancet of Seated Meditation. In it he promotes a style of meditation popularly referred to as the practice of “just sitting” in which, “the practitioner is advised to abandon all strategies of mental control and pretense of spiritual advancements and to abide simply in the mysterious state known as ‘body and mind sloughed off’ (Bielefeldt, page 220).” This is referring to that state of mind that you would get when you are extremely bored and “zone out”. You’ve cut yourself off from the physical world and are sort of swimming in your own mind, and thinking of absolutely nothing. A small excerpt from Dogen’s doctrine says, “…A monk asked him, ‘What are you thinking of sitting there so fixedly?’ The master answered, ‘I am thinking of not thinking.’ The monk asked, ‘How do you think of not thinking?’ The master answered, ‘Nonethinking.’(Bielefeldt, Lancet of Seated Meditation, page 223).” There are other schools of Zen, like Rinzai, that give their students riddles of sorts called koans, in order to quicken the kensho process. An example of a koan that would be given to a young student would be something like, what is the sound of one hand clapping? These riddles are made so that the student will break from subjective thinking, and enter a mental state of subject-object unity (Yusa, page 53). Zen ultimately focuses on the individuals abilities and commitment to attain the real teachings of the Buddha that no words can give them, but that only their true Buddha nature can give them, and only by finding this original true Buddha nature in one’s true self can a Zen practitioner truly attain buddhahood.
Zen was able to firmly plant its roots into the Japanese culture during the fourth Hojo regent (1227-1263), in which it captured the attention of Hojo Tokiyori who had himself become a convert, and supposedly attained enlightenment (King, page 29). From that time on Zen was considered the unofficial-official practice of the warrior and ruling class (The daimyo, and Shogun) (King, page 29). The warrior-rulers were the perfect patrons of Zen because it was during this time period, that the power of the Emperor began to dwindle and the power of the Shogun began to increase, as well as the power of daimyo’s. These rulers were fronting the money for Zen to not only grow as a sect but as an institution as well, which would spread throughout all of Japan by the mid-fourteenth century (King, page 29). Zen temples were constructed in all the prefectures, leading eventually to The Five Mountain system of precedence, by which five large first-rank temples were constructed around Kyoto, as well as another five first-rate temples around Kamakura (King page, 29, Yusa, page 67). These locations were where Zen began to greatly influence the Japanese culture. Zen masters introduced summie (India ink) ink paintings, also called suiboku (water and ink creations), as well as poetry, calligraphy, architecture, rock gardens, the tea ceremony, flower arrangements, and noh drama (Yusa, page 67).
Zen was from the start largely embraced by the warriors-class, and not just the warrior- rulers, it even appealed to the rank-and-file samurai. It’s hard to imagine that warriors like the samurai, whose lives revolved around death, combat, and duty, would chose such a peaceful and spiritual practice like Zen Buddhism. But maybe it was that violent lifestyle that pushed the samurai to adopt Zen. From the beginning the samurai were attracted to Zen’s focus on meditation and discipline which complemented the lifestyle of any samurai, weather they were high rank or low. For years the ruling warrior class kept its distance from the Kyoto court life, in order to not only avoid losing political power, but to also avoid being tainted by the effeminate nature of the court. They distained and distrusted the soft, and cultured life because of its supposed ability to corrupt the more hardened virtues of life (King, page 30). Little by little these warriors, who knew nothing but conflict and war, became attracted to the aesthetic and peaceful beauty that Zen introduced to Japan. It gave these men a new outlook on life, where they could have peace within themselves, and the world around them. The warriors found a new love for noh theater, tea ceremonies, and art that was introduced to them by Zen monks who were chosen to be tutors of sorts to the warrior-class. Zen allowed the samurai to have moments in between battle in which they were able to peacefully reflect, relax, and enjoy themselves. Zen was not only able gave the samurai peace of mind and soul, but it even gave them the means to become more efficient at killing.
Although Zen never promoted the samurai’s violent profession, it was still able to sustain them morally and philosophically. “Morally, because Zen is a religion which teaches us not to look backward once the course is decided upon; philosophically, because it treats life and death indifferently (Suzuki, page 62).” Zen is perhaps the most flexible of the Buddhist practices in existence because it has no doctrine, no set of concepts, and no intellectual formulas, it only tries to release one from the cycle of life and death. This allows Zen to easily adapt to any moral conduct, or philosophy. Zen meditation is simple, direct, and relies on self; which goes perfectly with a warrior’s spirit. It taught the samurai to always be single-minded and focused in their actions, with only one objective in site; crush the enemy. Zen is a religion that requires a lot of will-power in order for one to practice it properly. It also promoted intuition over intellection because, “…intuition is the more direct way of reaching the Truth (Suzuki, page 62).” Will-power, enlightened by intuition gave the samurai an iron will that was necessary for them to be ferocious and focused warriors.
Zen and the military have always been tied very closely to one another, ever since Hojo Tokiyori first adopted it over 700 years ago. As time went on Zen soon began to support Japans military actions, most recently during World War II. Of course by the time the Second World War came about, the samurai were no more, but the samurai Zen spirit was still said to be alive in the Japanese military. Zen and Japans Imperial had become so closely tied that the influence of Zen monastic life everywhere- even down to a soldier’s mess kit.
By no means was Zen coincidently the practice of choice by Imperial soldiers, a lot of Zen monks enlisted in the Imperial Army and many soldiers who were not practitioners of Zen became converts. Brian Daizen Victoria author of Zen at War, and Zen War Stories shares a trip he took in 1999, to the Shoinji temple, a famous Rinzai Zen temple, where he met the abbot Zen Master Nakajima Genjo who was the last living Zen master to have served in the military. “I could not help but wonder what Genjo would have to say about his own role, as an enlightened priest and seasoned warrior, in a conflict that claimed the lives of so many people (Victoria, page 3).” The samurai may no longer have been around during World War II, but the Japanese army was every bit as brutal, or more, than the samurai of old. The massacre at the city of Nanking is a perfect example of the brutality of the Imperial Army during the war. Even though Master Genjo wept upon recalling the horrible things he’d seen during the war, he still says “I have heard people claim that a great massacre occurred took place in Nanjing, but I am firmly convinced there was no such thing. It was wartime… (Victoria, page 7).” That was spoken like a true warrior, Nanking was not a massacre, it was simply part of war, and WW II was the last war in which the world witnessed the Bushido spirit. After the allied forces occupied Japan General MacArthur was so moved by General Imamura Hitoshi’s (who was revered by his troops for having a true warrior spirit) concern for his troops and comrades that he said, “This is the first time since coming to Japan that I feel I have encountered the true Bushido spirit (Victoria, page 108).” This is a reminder that the spirit of the samurai was still alive in Japan, but it also foreshadows to the end of the Zen-samurai ideals.
After World War II, Japan was not only stripped of its military, but it was also stripped of the Zen-warrior ideology that had guided Japans armed forces for 700 years, but it may have been for the best. Buddhism is not a violent religion, in fact it is one that abhors the idea of harming another human being or any living creature, and for years Zen Buddhism promoted an incredible amount of pain, and unnecessary death. At some point Zen became more of a military lifestyle and guide to becoming a more efficient killer, instead of a guide to peace and enlightenment. However if it weren’t for Zen the world may have never known who the samurai as it know them today. They may have been ruthless warriors, but they were honorable men who lived and died by their own codes and faithfully defended Japan for over 700 years.
Bibliography
Bielefeldt, Carl “Dogen’s Lancet of Seated Meditation”. In Tanabe ch 22
Heike Monogatari ( The Tale of the Heike). 1975. Trans. Hiroshi Kitagawa and Bruce T. Tsuchida. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press
L., King, Winston. Zen and the way of the sword arming the samurai psyche. New York: Oxford UP, 1993. Print.
Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro. Zen and Japanese culture. Princeton, N.J: Princeton UP, 1970. Print.
Tanabe, George J., Jr. Religions of Japan in Practice. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999.
Victoria, Brian D. Zen war stories. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002. Print.
Yusa, Michiko, Japanese Religious Traditions. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2002. Print.
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