108
pages, Tuttle Publishing, ISBN-13: 978-0804815352
The Code of the
Samurai: The Spirit that Drives Japan was originally written by Daidoji Yuzan
(1639–1730), a samurai and military strategist of Edo period for the novice bushi, whom he feared would lose their
basic purpose and essential character (this edition was translated by the late Arthur
Lindsay Sadler, the one-time Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of
Sydney, Australia). I found this book educational, comical, and well worth
reading; in a hundred pages or so it taught me a lot about medieval Japan. In a
time of peace – specifically, during the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1867) – the
Samurai extended their duties into the administrative class, developing from
mere warriors and attendants into philosophers, scholars, physicians and
teachers, creating along the way a concise system of mental and moral training.
This class influenced the country’s culture in profound ways which continue to
be felt and seen in modern-day Japan. The book includes subjects ranging from
education, familial duty, frugality, courtesy and respect, laziness,
discretion, military service, vassalage, loyalty, and how to deal with one’s
superiors. What is so invaluable about this book for the modern western reader
is that it provides age-old ethical guidelines that are exceedingly practical
and relevant to the present day, even to decadent foreign devils like myself. Central
to the Samurai philosophy is the notion of concerning oneself daily with death;
as Yuzan emphasized from the outset, “[a]s long as you keep death in mind at
all times, you will also fulfil the ways of loyalty and familial duty” (in
other words, everything else follows from this basic attitude: a long life and
a character that will improve and virtue that will grow). This makes sense, of
course, because as the author points out, when you think your time here will
last, you’re inclined to take it for granted, thereby saying things you
shouldn’t say and letting important matters slide because “…it can always be
done tomorrow”. What I enjoyed most about this work, however, is the way in
which Yuzan’s voice comes shining through in the text, even after all the years
and the translation from one language to another. His condescension, his
bluntness, his matter-of-fact statements, all make for a hilarious introduction
to the mind of the samurai. Some of the statements that come out of Yuzan’s mouth
are a world apart from what we hear in textbooks today, as he has no problem telling
the student that he is lazy, a moron, a coward…unless he applies himself and
becomes exactly what a warrior should be. Beneath it all, there is timeless
wisdom here.
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