Editing Samurai (section)

==Samurai ranks==
The samurai class was highly stratified. Rank was determined by a variety of factors such as the rank of one's lord and the size of one's stipend. Individual domains also made their own distinctions. The domain of Choshu had forty strata for the military class. The highest ranking Tokugawa vassals were the daimyo, who had at least 10,000 koku. Next came the hatamoto, who were distinguished by the right of audience with the shogun, followed by the gokenin. Samurai with a large enough stipend had their own retainers who were also samurai, called baishin. Each daimyo had his own retainers that were divided into many ranks. They were roughly divided into shi and sotsu. The highest ranking shi could have a larger stipend than some daimyo. These were usually cadet branch of the domain's ruler or [[karo]] families.<ref name="Craig, A">{{cite journal |last1=Craig |first1=Albert |title=The Restoration Movement in Chōshū |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |date=February 1959 |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=187–197 |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/2941681 |doi=10.2307/2941681}}</ref> Most samurai were hizamurai (ordinary samurai) who had an average stipend of 100 koku, and typically were mounted. Under them were the kachi who were on foot and were sometimes not considered samurai. Ashigaru were the lowest ranking members of the military class, although they carried two swords they are often not considered samurai, although they are sometimes listed as lower samurai.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jansen |first1=Marius |title=Sakamato Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration |isbn=9781400879656 |ref=Jansen}}</ref><ref name="Bloomsbury Publishing"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lidin |first1=Olof |title=Ogyu Sorai's Discourse on Government |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=9783447040754 |ref=Ogyu}}</ref>