Bushido or Bull? A Medieval Historian's Perspective on the Imperial Army and the Japanese Warrior Tradition
1994; Society for History Education; Volume: 27; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/494774
ISSN1945-2292
Autores Tópico(s)Chinese history and philosophy
ResumoIt would be difficult to find any facet of Japan's cultural heritage that exercises as powerful a hold on the world's popular imagination as the samurai.1 For the most part, the image of the samurai and the tradition he represents is positive. Japanese warriors are the heroes of movies, TV shows, and novels, and the role models for hundreds of thousands of martial arts students around the globe. But for many among the generation that fought Japan in the Pacific War, for much of the political left in Japan, and especially for many of the peoples and governments of the lands that were occupied by Japan in the course of the war, the legacy of the samurai also has its sinister side. The samurai tradition is often cited as the source of both the mind-set that launched Japan's war against China, Southeast Asia and the United States and of the norms and values of the soldiers and officers who fought it. Both are said to have been conditioned by and derived from an ancient code of warrior behavior called bushid---literally, the Way of the Warrior. In the words of military historian Arthur Swinson:
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