Editing Bushido (section)

== Usage ==
For centuries the samurai adhered to multiple types of the code of which the interpretations varied per samurai clan and per member of the military nobility.<ref name="thecollector"/><ref name="nippon-bushido"/><ref name="cleary"/> This encompassed morality, their role in society, and how to live a life with honor and virtue. The samurai had some common values, but they did not have a single definition or path that all samurai were required to abide. The samurai were as practical on the battlefield as any other warriors.<ref>[[David "Race" Bannon]], "The Dawn of the Samurai: Warrior Legends in Japanese History", Asian Pacific Quarterly, Vol 26, No 2 (1994): 38–47.</ref> These concepts, codes and ideals were ingrained in the samurai since they rose to power in the [[Kamakura period]] (1185–1333).<ref name="kawakami"/><ref name="heilbrunn"/><ref name="EnciclopediaTreccani"/> At certain eras, there were prevalent rules and unwritten customs such as the "Way of the Bow and the Horse" (弓馬の道, kyūba no michi) since the 12th century and, in the [[Edo period]], the code of the samurai was formalized with specific virtues and laws by the ruling [[Tokugawa Shogunate]].<ref name="nippon-bushido" /> Notable samurai, such as [[Miyamoto Musashi]] (1584–1645) and [[Yamamoto Tsunetomo]] (1659–1719).,<ref name="musashi-five-rings"/> wrote extensively about their interpretations of bushido. In the 1870s, the [[Meiji restoration]] abolished the samurai class and they were transferred to professional, military and business classes.<ref>{{cite journal| author=Harry D. Harootunian |title=The Economic Rehabilitation of the Samurai in the Early Meiji Period |journal= Journal of Asian Studies |date=19 April 1960 |pages=433–444 |doi=10.2307/2943582|volume= 19|issue=4|jstor=2943582 |s2cid=154948569 |url=http://www.bakumatsu.ru/lib/The_Economic_Rehabilitation_of_the_Samurai_in_the_Early_Meiji_Period.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118062121/http://www.bakumatsu.ru/lib/The_Economic_Rehabilitation_of_the_Samurai_in_the_Early_Meiji_Period.pdf |archive-date=November 18, 2017}}</ref> However, the former samurai and their descendants continued to be influential in Japanese society because they occupied important positions. Bushido has continued to exist in various types. Additional concepts and ideas were added to bushido so that it could evolve with the times. It was used in the [[Armed Forces of the Empire of Japan]] and symbolically by the successor [[Japan Self-Defense Forces]]. In the [[Taisho]] period, bushido was advocated as the way of the merchant.<ref name="Odagiri & Goto"/> It can be dormant for years and revived during geopolitical instability. Centuries of rule by the samurai class has left a deep impact on Japanese society. Thus various forms are still used today in e.g. Japanese culture, business, martial arts and communication.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/><ref name="teng-hui"/><ref name="communication 301"/><ref name="samurai-spirit"/><ref name="BunrakuMTV"/>

===Myth and reality===
Bushido is often described as a specific moral code that all members of the [[samurai]] class were obligated to follow. However, historically, the samurai adhered to multiple warrior codes and the interpretations varied per samurai clan, individuals and eras.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/><ref name="cleary"/><ref name="shoshinshu"/><ref name="ikegami"/><ref name="thecollector"/> These codes and philosophies changed dramatically during the different eras. The earliest proto-bushido type existed since the [[Kamakura period]] (1185).<ref name="kawakami"/><ref name="heilbrunn"/><ref name="EnciclopediaTreccani"/> The degrees of devotion and interpretations varied between individuals.<ref name="thecollector">{{cite web |title=Bushido: The Samurai Code of Honor |date=January 27, 2022 |author=Michael Smathers |url=https://www.thecollector.com/bushido-code-samurai-warriors/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429000217/https://www.thecollector.com/bushido-code-samurai-warriors/ |archive-date=April 29, 2022}}</ref> Since at least the [[Sengoku period]], samurai didn't have compunction to use certain weapons.<ref name="thecollector"/> Retreating from battles did occur if it was unwinnable while others chose to fight till the end.<ref name="thecollector"/> Samurai did not actively seek an honorable death.<ref name="thecollector"/> However, it was honorable to die in the service of a [[daimyo]] only while furthering the daimyo's cause.<ref name="thecollector"/>

Samurai had dark customs, the most notable: ''[[Kiri-sute gomen]]'' was the right to strike lower class who dishonored them.<ref name="thecollector"/> ''[[Seppuku]]'' was ritual suicide, to die honorably or restore one's honor.<ref name="thecollector"/><ref name="pun"/> ''[[Tsujigiri]]'' (crossroads killing) to attack a human opponent to test a weapon or skill became rampant in the early Edo period until a ban was issued.<ref name="thecollector"/><ref name=weblio1>{{cite web |url=https://www.weblio.jp/content/辻斬り |website=Weblio |title=つじ-ぎり【×辻斬り】|date=May 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720125456/http://www.weblio.jp/content/辻斬り |archive-date= July 20, 2017}}</ref> The exact frequency of tsujigiri is unknown and it was never officially condoned by any samurai clan.<ref>{{ubl|{{Cite journal|last=Sand|first=Jordan|title=Tsujigiri: Mary Midgley's Misleading Essay, "Trying Out One's New Sword"|date=January 2019 |url=https://www.academia.edu/40029018|journal=Academia.edu|language=en}}|{{cite book |last=Midgley |first=Mary  |author-link=Mary Midgley |date=1981 |title=Trying Out One's New Sword }}}}</ref> However, it and other types of samurai-committed murder did happen enough to become a point of complaint among Europeans.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |date=2019-07-05 |title=Samurai |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Samurai/ |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=[[World History Encyclopedia]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":42">{{Cite book |last=Clements |first=Jonathan |title=A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun |publisher=[[Tuttle Publishing]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-4-8053-1389-3 |location=North Clarendon, Vermont |pages=152–153}}</ref>

Samurai did ''head collection'' with a ritual to beautify severed heads of worthy rivals and put on display.<ref name="Gaskin, Carol 2004">Gaskin, Carol; Hawkins, Vince. Breve historia de los samuráis (Juan Antonio Cebrián, trad.). London. Nowtilus S.L., 2004. Print. {{ISBN|8-49763-140-4}}. pg. 56.</ref> The samurai applied various cruel punishments on criminals. The most common capital punishments up until the [[Meiji Restoration]] were (in order of severity): decapitation, decapitation with disgraceful exposure of head post-death, [[crucifixion]] (for e.g. [[parricide]]), and [[death by burning]] with incendiaries.<ref name="pun" /> Members of the samurai class had the privilege to perform [[hara-kiri]] (suicide disemboweling).<ref name="pun" /> If it was not lethal then a friend or relation performed decapitation (kaishaku).<ref name="pun">{{cite web |title=Felice Beato Execution 1868 (ca) |website= Luminous Lint |url=http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/vexhibit/_PHOTOGRAPHER_Felice__Beato_Japan_01/6/28/35155412931703564320/ |date=June 28, 2001 |archive-date=August 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814063418/http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/vexhibit/_PHOTOGRAPHER_Felice__Beato_Japan_01/6/28/35155412931703564320/ }}</ref> In 1597, [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] ordered the prosecution of [[26 Martyrs of Japan]].<ref name="martyrs1">{{cite web|title=Martyrs List|url=http://www1.bbiq.jp/martyrs/ListEngl.html|publisher=Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum|access-date=2010-01-10|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214135648/http://www1.bbiq.jp/martyrs/ListEngl.html|archive-date=2010-02-14}}</ref> They were tortured, mutilated, paraded through villages and executed by [[crucifixion]], tied to crosses on a hill and impaled by lances (spears).<ref name="Aleteia">{{cite web |title=Saint of the Day: St. Paul Miki and Companions |date= 6 February 2022|url=https://aleteia.org/daily-prayer/sunday-february-6/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814065118/https://aleteia.org/daily-prayer/sunday-february-6/ |archive-date=August 14, 2022}}</ref> In the 17th century, the [[Tokugawa Shogunate]] executed over 400 Christians ([[Martyrs of Japan]]) for being more loyal to their faith than the Shogunate.<ref name="martyrs1" /> The capital punishments were beheading, crucifixion, [[death by burning]] and {{nihongo||穴吊るし|[[Ana-tsurushi]]|lit. "hole hanging"}}.

Bushido has been described as Japanese [[chivalry]],<ref name="thecollector" /> and samurai in general have been described as being like [[Western world|Western]] [[knight]]s.<ref>Nitobe Inazō, Bushido: The Warrior's Code (Ohara Publications, 1979), p. 14. Bushido is available on the Internet as a Google book and as part of Project Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12096</ref> There are notable similarities and differences depending on which bushido type is compared with chivalry. [[Christianity]] had a modifying influence on the virtues of chivalry,<ref>{{harvp|Keen|2005|p=56}}</ref> whereas bushido was influenced by [[Japanese Zen|Zen Buddhism]], [[Shinto]], and [[Edo neo-Confucianism|Confucianism]].<ref name="britannica" /><ref name="nippon-bushido" /><ref name="britannica-groups" /> Bushido is commonly associated with the moral norms of Nitobe Inazō's ''[[Bushido: The Soul of Japan]]'' (1900), because his book popularized the term bushido internationally. However, it is a romanticized interpretation of bushido which differs from other historical literature by samurai. Thus, the morals defined by Nitobe do not represent all of bushido. Some researchers claim that chivalric bushido as defined by Nitobe (a.k.a. Meiji Bushido) was invented in the 19th century. However, there is a plethora of historical literature about Japanese warrior codes, practices, philosophies since the [[Kamakura period]]. These types can be categorized by era into Sengoku, Edo, Meiji and Contemporary Bushido.<ref name="nippon-bushido" /><ref name="xavier" /><ref name="musashi-five-rings" /><ref name="shoshinshu" /><ref name="britannica" /><ref name="Samurai" /><ref name="samurai-spirit" /><ref name="teng-hui" /> Therefore the term ''bushido'' can be used as an ''overarching term'' for all the codes, practices, philosophies and principles of samurai culture.<ref name="thecollector"/><ref name="pambianchi">{{cite web |title= Bushido: Military and Modern Socio-Cultural Significance |author=Jayson Gold-Pambianchi |website=Studocu |date=September 14, 2018 |url=https://www.studocu.com/in/document/andhra-university/foundation-of-physical-education/bushido-wayof-the-warrior-for-life-skills/20901231 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220133512/https://www.studocu.com/in/document/andhra-university/foundation-of-physical-education/bushido-wayof-the-warrior-for-life-skills/20901231 |archive-date=Feb 20, 2024 |quote="Despite John Newman’s blunt terminology in reference to the Hagakure, he interprets Bushido as characterized by a diverse range of practices, not comprehended through one overarching set of principles"}}</ref><ref name="newman">{{cite book |title=Bushido the Way of the Warrior Paperback |last1=Newman |first1=John |publisher=Magna Books |page=157 |year=1989|isbn=1854220306}}</ref>

Chinese politician [[Dai Jitao]] acknowledged the historical legitimacy of bushido and said it originated as a theory of a social order, but it had evolved considerably.{{r|riben-lun|p=14-15.}} In the [[Tokugawa period]], bushido was used to describe an ethical theory and it became a religious concept based on [[Shinto]].{{r|riben-lun|p=14-15.}} In the Meiji period, bushido absorbed European ideals and formed the foundation of Japan's political ethics.{{r|riben-lun|p=14-15.}} Chinese writer [[Zhou Zuoren]] supported the historical legitimacy, although it was thought to be altered and corrupted in the modern period.