Those of you who know me might know that I wear a chain. Most of you (and anyone who doesn't know me) will not know what is on it. I'm going to explain what it is and what it means. There are four Japanese characters on it, 四十七士, or forty seven ronin. The Story of the forty seven ronin is the most famous tale of bushido, the Japanese way of the warrior. It happened over the years 1701 and 1703 (as a comparison, more than 80 years before Australia existed as a colony of the UK). It involves a large group of samurai who are left dishonoured after their master is forced to perform Seppuku (ritual suicide) after assaulting a court official, and the way that they try and regain their honour. To do this, they hunted down the court official and killed him. The penalty for this (which they already knew) was death. The problem arose that they followed the rules of bushido by avenging their master (meaning that they had honour), but they broke the law to do it (meaning that they didn't). Court officials decided to allow them to perform seppuku and in doing so, they regained their honour. So the question now rises, why do I, a white man not in a situation anything like the one that they found themselves in, have this on a chain around my neck? There are 4 main reasons.
Before I give you these reasons, you must understand the situation that they were in. After the death of their master, they were dishonoured. This was a major thing for them. It meant that they were untrustworthy, they couldn't get a job as anything related to their experience as a samurai (they would have been able to hire as mercenaries or tradesmen otherwise they were fairly limited to being bandits) and they were all but reviled by everyone.
The first reason that I wear this is to remind myself that honour is an ideal to aspire to. In this tale, there are 47 men who decided that it was better to die for the purpose of gaining honour than to live without it. I mightn't go that far, due to my being able to regain it later through different means or in different circles. However, it is always something to aspire to have. It is probably easier understood as a good reputation, although, it is much stronger than that.
The second reason is to remind myself that patience is a virtue. These guys decided to wait almost two years for this. Those of you who have known me for a while probably know that in the past, I was aggressive with a quick temper. These guys, despite having more reason than I'll probably ever have to get angry waited long enough that their target decided that they weren't a threat and forgot about them. This is a lesson that I'm still trying to learn and probably will be for a long while yet.
The third reason is to remind myself that the needs of my companions may well be outweigh my needs. The leader of the bunch, Ōishi Kuranosuke Yoshio, had to dishonour himself further to cast off suspicion from the rest of the men. To do this, he acted completely unlike a samurai should have. He frequently got drunk and visited geisha houses, once to the extent that the next day he passed out and was completely unable do defend himself from a traveller who insulted him and kicked and spat on his face while he was unconscious. He also divorced his wife so that she wouldn't get in trouble over the affair. This shows an amazing commitment to the cause that he allowed himself to sink below anything that was really permissible in his society in order to let his compatriots to survive without suspicion
The fourth and final reason is to remind myself that there is something greater than myself. For these guys, it was two fold; their honour, and the honour of their master (which they gained by avenging him). For me, it is roughly the same; honour for my Lord and master.
Before I give you these reasons, you must understand the situation that they were in. After the death of their master, they were dishonoured. This was a major thing for them. It meant that they were untrustworthy, they couldn't get a job as anything related to their experience as a samurai (they would have been able to hire as mercenaries or tradesmen otherwise they were fairly limited to being bandits) and they were all but reviled by everyone.
The first reason that I wear this is to remind myself that honour is an ideal to aspire to. In this tale, there are 47 men who decided that it was better to die for the purpose of gaining honour than to live without it. I mightn't go that far, due to my being able to regain it later through different means or in different circles. However, it is always something to aspire to have. It is probably easier understood as a good reputation, although, it is much stronger than that.
The second reason is to remind myself that patience is a virtue. These guys decided to wait almost two years for this. Those of you who have known me for a while probably know that in the past, I was aggressive with a quick temper. These guys, despite having more reason than I'll probably ever have to get angry waited long enough that their target decided that they weren't a threat and forgot about them. This is a lesson that I'm still trying to learn and probably will be for a long while yet.
The third reason is to remind myself that the needs of my companions may well be outweigh my needs. The leader of the bunch, Ōishi Kuranosuke Yoshio, had to dishonour himself further to cast off suspicion from the rest of the men. To do this, he acted completely unlike a samurai should have. He frequently got drunk and visited geisha houses, once to the extent that the next day he passed out and was completely unable do defend himself from a traveller who insulted him and kicked and spat on his face while he was unconscious. He also divorced his wife so that she wouldn't get in trouble over the affair. This shows an amazing commitment to the cause that he allowed himself to sink below anything that was really permissible in his society in order to let his compatriots to survive without suspicion
The fourth and final reason is to remind myself that there is something greater than myself. For these guys, it was two fold; their honour, and the honour of their master (which they gained by avenging him). For me, it is roughly the same; honour for my Lord and master.
No comments:
Post a Comment