Samurai, the Great Warrior Caste
The transcendence of military culture to a military ‘caste’ is a very subtle transition, but if one needs a definition of a military caste to work with, then look no further than the Samurai. When observance of the rituals of military culture become interchangeable with the rituals of religion, and when military regalia and weaponry became an artistic statement in themselves, then that is a military caste – and that remains very much the methodology of the Samurai.
Samurai, as just about everyone knows, originated in Japan, and today forms the bedrock of the nation’s political and business elite. The origins of Samurai can be traced to the Japanese ‘Heian Period’, between 794 and 1185 CE, during which time the term simply described the private armies of wealthy landowners. The word ‘Samurai’ translates roughly to ‘Those Who Serve’, and early Samurai were no more than a group of armed retainers with simple and violent tendencies.
As was the case with the Mamluk, however, it was not long before a kind of group cohesion began to develop, gradually elevating the Samurai towards something a bit more than the sum of its parts. By the 12th century, the power balance in Japan began to shift away from the imperial court towards the heads of dispersed families and clans, and this inevitably led to war. Between 1180 and 1185, what was known as the ‘Gempei War’ was fought. All that we need to know about this is that it projected a particularly gifted Samurai warlord, Minamoto Yoshitsune, to political power.
Japan then effectively became a hereditary military dictatorship, under a system of government known as a ‘Shogun‘. Under numerous Shogun dynasties, the institution of Samurai became a virtual knighthood of privileged elites, practicing a stylized and heavily ritualized system of military and combat discipline. Into the equation, at about the same time, came Zen Buddhism, the essential ideological elements of which blended very well with Samurai. Austerity and simple ritual, along with a belief that salvation comes from within, quickly became the center of Samurai expression.
As its essential symbol, the Samurai sword gained great symbolic relevance, far beyond its utility as an implement of war. The honor of a Samurai resides in his sword, and the artistic accomplishment in the production of an individual sword is of no less importance.
From this higher form of martial expression came the code of ‘Bushido’. Bushido is the defining moral code of Samurai, and of the Shinto region. Shinto is a wholly Japanese religion emphasizing the veneration of nature, of ancestors and great historic heroes, and the divinity of the Emperor.
Samurai, therefore, morphed over centuries from a band of hired enforcers to a finely tuned military culture that still holds dear its treasured rituals and artifacts, and adheres religiously to tradition.