The story of the 47 Ronin
Lord Asano Naganori was a Feudal Lord, a Daimyo. He was also the member of 47 Samurai’s. Lord Asano was selected by Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi to come to Edo to help Entertain members of the royal family but Lord Asano was unaware of court etiquette so someone was sent to educate him. Lord Kira Yoshinaka, but he was a difficult man to work with,he often asked Lord Asano to pay him for his services. Lord Asano believed it was his job, not a service, to teach him the etiquette’s of the court so he did not pay him. As a result Lord Kira treated Lord Asano with disrespect and often embarrassed him. Lord Asano took the disrespect honorably until Lord Kira went to far and on the Shogun’s court, Lord Asano drew out his sword on him. This was a breach of protocol and Asano was ordered to commit seppuku (suicide) at once, he was buried in a temple outside Edo. As mentioned before, Lord Asano was the master of 47 Samurai, ranging in age from fifteen to seventy-seven, but without a master they would all become the least honorable form of Samurai, a Ronin. The Samurai concluded that their code of honour demanded revenge. After waiting and planning for two years, the 47 Ronin broke into Kira’s house early on a cold winter morning at the end of January 1703, found him hiding in an outhouse and killed him along with several samurai’s who tried to protect their master. The authorities were in a difficulty. The ronin had acted in accordance with the warrior code, but they had disobeyed the shogun. Eventually they were told to commit seppuku as well and they obeyed.
Effective measures put in place by Ieyasu’s successors (3)
(1) - Alternate attendance, this means that every second year the daimyo were forced to live in Edo. The other year they would live in their domain. The cost of keeping up two homes and moving every year meant that daimyo would not have the time and money to challenge the shogun. Along with that their family members were to be left in Edo.
(2) - Sharing power. The shogunate,had control over important matters such as foreign trade and relations but the daimyo controlled local affairs in their territory.
(3) - The shogunate established strict laws for the Daimyos such as determining their dress and clothing along with marriage. The Daimyos were also required to pay for projects, such as road building in their territories, restricting their wealth.
Shogun’s responsible for Unifying Japan
- Oda Nobunaga
- Toyotomi Hideyoshi
- Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Honour and duty
- The teachings of Confucianism played an important role in the Japanese acceptance of class distinctions.
Confucius was a Chinese scholar whose teachings for moral, that is right, living were brought over to Japan by Buddhist monks. Confucianism taught that everyone had a proper place in society. If everyone accepted their duties and obligations, there would be peace and order. If not, there would be chaos and suffering. - Many of Confucius’s sayings encouraged people to be modest and work and study hard.
-Confucius taught that there were five basic relationships. - In Edo Japan, samurai schools and schools for commoners stressed Confucian ideals of duty, especially what is called filial piety, or faithfulness and devotion to parents.
Increase Shogun power/Decrease Daimyo power
- The shogun enforced a law that banned peasants from owning weapons (shoguns power). Without weapons the peasants would be useless to the local Daimyo who might use them as an ‘army’ (decreasing Daimyo power)
- Secret police was established. Anyone who was accused of threatening the Shoguns power would be considered guilty and would be severely punished (Shoguns power). The Daimyo could not make military alliances do build up a defense especially since they needed permission to marry or alter their castles.
- One quarter of the agricultural land, mines, ports, and cities in Japan were owned by the shogun (Shogun’s power). Loyal daimyo were given villages to govern. It was their responsibility to collect taxes, keep order, and pay for road building and flood control projects in the area.
Government Control
The shogun was responsible for
Controlling
-the social classes
-maintaining order throughout all of the domains
-making national policies.
People’s lives were controlled by the strict rules that governed behaviour in each class. Punishments for disobeying the laws were harsh.
Fuedal Tringle
bottom to top: Non-Human Outcast Merchants Artisans Peasants Ronin Samurai Daimyo Shogun Emperor
Role of each Social Class
Top to bottom:
EMPEROR - ruler of Japan
SHOGUN - rules the government, has the actual power
DAIMYO - rules over a city, like a mayor.
SAMURAI - forbidden to become involved in trade and business, In peacetime they were posted as officers in rural towns and took various duties, including surveying land, collecting taxes, and keeping order.
RONIN - a samurai without a master, the least honorable samurai.
PEASANTS - responsible for the production of rice the most important commodity in Japan and a basic food for the country.
ARTISANS - made objects used for daily life and for decorating homes.
MERCHANTS - bought items from artisans to trade or sell to others. They arranged for the shipping and distribution of food, and stored rice in their warehouses. Because rice was used as currency during most of the Edo period, merchants performed a function similar to that of bankers.
OUTCASTS - forced to live outside of villages and towns. Their jobs were to slaughter animals, dispose and tan animal carcasses, carrying out executions, and removing corpses.
NON - HUMAN - their title was given based on the activities they chose such as fortune telling, begging, acting, and prostitution.
Role of women
- Women were born into a social class and their class determined their responsibilities. For example, women born to the samurai class were expected to give their children a proper samurai upbringing.
- Women were inferior to men
- Women in rural areas had more freedom than upper class women. As well as working in the home, they worked in the fields with their husbands planting and harvesting crops, gathering wood, and raising silkworms
Teachings of Confucius
The teachings of Confucianism played an important role in the Japanese acceptance of class distinctions. Confucius was a Chinese scholar whose teachings for moral, that is right, living were brought over to Japan by Buddhist monks. Confucianism taught that everyone had a proper place in society. If everyone accepted their duties and obligations, there would be peace and order. If not, there would be chaos and suffering.
Five Basic Relationships
Ruler - subject Father - Children Husband - Wife Older brother - younger brother friend - friend
emperor
A person who rules over a country.
daimyo
Someone in Japanese society who rules over a piece of land or a city. Much like a mayor.
shogun
The official head of state like a president.
Bakufu
The higher level of government led by the Shogun.
Han
The local government in each city or domain and is led by the Daimyo.
samurai
Japanese warriors.
Farmers
People who farmed on the land
Artisans
Someone who creates crafts for day - to - day lives.
Merchants
Someone who buys from the artisans and trades with other people.
Outcasts (Eta)
They were forced to live outside of the village. They were usually given the job of slaughtering animals and taking care of the carcass. Their job was hereditary and they rarely moved up in status.
Non-Humans(Hinin)
Their status was not hereditary and was based on the activities they chose. This included fortune telling, begging, acting and prostitution. They were given license to live in a specified quarters.
Ronin
The lowest form of samurai, a samurai without a master.
Shogunate
Also known as the Banfuku, were the federal military government.
