In fact, the meaning of "samurai" was "military attache" from the beginning, and the Japanese rule of law was implemented in Heian period (Sui and Tang Dynasties in China). With the national legal system, there will naturally be a more formal army. Before peace, all free men except slaves had the responsibility and obligation to be drafted by the emperor. This professional army should be self-sufficient, so many people can't go back to their hometown, but choose to settle in the local area. This is the so-called "defense against the people", which was abolished in Emperor Kanmu in the early days of Heian because of its poor defense against the people, which brought great burden to farmers.
Japanese people often disguise themselves as "samurai". What is the existence of Japanese samurai in history?
Wu Hengjian set up a relatively regular army, but in ancient times, the feudal supreme rulers often only cooperated with the rich, and so did the Japanese. The Emperor sought help from the local aristocratic families, and proposed that the title of "foreign general" be awarded to any local force that could take the place of himself to crusade against the northern part of the state (where the Yamato regime has not yet ruled and is controlled by the local indigenous Xia Yiren). These aristocratic families, who were good at bowing horses, soon became the tools used by the emperor to eliminate resistance.
Not everyone is qualified to be a soldier now. Japan's samurai system, full-time soldiers, has become popular. In addition, a bunch of aristocratic families also have their own armed guards to defend the manor of the lords, and their status is naturally higher.
At the end of the Yuan-Japanese War, Japanese samurai were always in charge under the bullets of the Yuan Army. (Mongolian Painting, painted by Takezaki Yoshimasa 1293, a samurai of Kamakura shogunate)
It is worth noting that it is almost the practice of classical regimes to recruit elite troops from aristocrats, such as Hualang in Silla, "Beijing Camp" in Ming Army, and aristocratic officers in European countries ... Because in a hierarchical society, military power must be monopolized by the ruling class, and rulers can rest assured.
Due to the special situation in Japan, the military family began to control the political power, and the emperor gradually became a "virtual monarch." At the end of 12, Yuan Laichao, the warrior leader, became a "foreign general" and founded a shogunate to direct the military and political affairs in the world, marking the arrival of the samurai era, that is to say, the "samurai" became the ruling class from the "official" profession.
As we all know, the basic economic system in the feudal era was that the landlord class controlled land resources and farmers. Japanese samurai are actually a bit like China's "landlord class", and Japan's supreme ruler "shogun" (also the highest-ranking samurai) is the big landlord (as is Emperor China).
Due to Japan's national conditions (many mountains, wide gap between departments and weak centralization), there are many famous families and famous names. These people were divided into samurai groups one by one, and these warriors mastered the land resources and became the de facto landlords.
This is not only Japan, but also Europe, but Europe is not called "samurai" but "knight".
Theoretically, Japanese samurai must be both civil and military. Besides being good at Japanese swordsmanship, equestrian, archery and other martial arts, I also need to read books, learn Chinese, practice calligraphy and make a big fuss. Especially Sun Tzu's art of war and military strategy. Morality, integrity and courage should also be evaluated.
What should some Bushido masters do if they suffer? If a samurai loses his master, he will become a "ronin".
What is the greatest feature of a samurai? Many people may say "Mountain City", "Bushido" and so on, which is true. In Japanese history, except for nobles, only warriors can wear long knives, and ordinary civilians have no right to use them. The so-called bushido is actually the "morality" followed by the ruling class. But this is not the most fundamental feature of samurai. The most fundamental feature of samurai is complete unemployment.
Speaking of "ninjas", ninjas do not belong to the samurai class, but are only nominally employed, and generally only have civilian status. Senior ninjas are equivalent to corporal, so their social status is lower than that of samurai. Although some ninjas do have the status of staff sergeant, strictly speaking, they only belong to shogunate agents or leaders of ninja organizations.
But? As we all know, things change. If many standard-bearers in China in the late Qing Dynasty also lived in poverty, some Japanese samurai would be miserable. After the Edo era, many middle-and lower-class warriors also had no food and clothing (many small and medium-sized landlords in China went bankrupt). They live as rural teachers and doctors, and some people are forced to become monks. Of course, theoretically, their social status is still very high. Because samurai are basically of noble birth, in the Edo period, the ranks of samurai were divided into sergeant and corporal. Sergeant (superior warrior) includes nobles with official positions and territories, such as generals, names, flags, princes, etc. This is very similar to knights, while corporal (inferior warrior) is the descendant of those declining nobles (townspeople) or a ronin who was dismissed by his vassal government. Although he is of noble descent, he has been ignored, just like a civilian.
Japanese drama Sakamoto Malone once showed the difference between "sergeant" and "corporal". Corporals only have the right to have surnames (civilians don't have surnames) and the right to carry status symbols such as knives. He shouldn't be where he lives. For example, the residential floor can only be a "waiter's house", not a high-rise "Wu Jia's house", and you can't wear an umbrella or silk at ordinary times. Because they can be promoted by military exploits, their way out and status are still far higher than that of civilians. Therefore, there are still many corporal keen to enter the officialdom, preferring farming rather than seclusion.
Usually ninjas in movies and comics are assassins who wear black night clothes and have all kinds of strange abilities. They look magnificent. But the history of ninja is very different from that in movies and comics. In feudal Japan, ninjas usually belonged to the lower samurai class and were often employed as spies by samurai and celebrities.
What was the ancient Japanese ninja? A group of despised inferior people.
After all, because people all over the world are using spies and assassins, it is difficult to confirm the appearance of the first ninja. In Japanese folklore, ninjas are descendants of demons.
Most data show that ninjas began to develop between 600 and 900 AD. When the Tang Dynasty collapsed in 907 AD, some generals of the Tang Dynasty fled to Japan, which brought new tactics and war ideas to the Japanese at that time, and then trained the first batch of so-called ninjas.
It was first formally established by Jingdao Music in12nd century. Jing Daole used to be a samurai, but in a battle, he was at a disadvantage. He ran away, giving up his land and samurai title. Under normal circumstances, the samurai may commit suicide by caesarean section, but Jing Daole didn't. He chose to live.
1 162, Jing Daole went into hiding, looking for revenge. Later, he met a monk, so Jingdaole gave up his bushido rules, and together they put forward a new sneak attack theory called Ninjutsu. Later, the descendants of Jingdaole founded the first ninja school.
The identity of a ninja
Most ordinary ninjas are not of noble birth. On the contrary, these low-level ninjas are generally farmers who do whatever it takes to survive, and they are usually assassinated with poison. Female ninjas also often appear. Female ninjas can usually sneak into the enemy's heart to steal information as dancers, concubines or servants, and sometimes even play the role of assassins.
The rise and fall of ninjas
Ninja developed rapidly during the turbulent period from 1336 to 1600. In the continuous war, ninjas are very important to all parties, and the internal power struggle is carried out through ninja stealing information and assassination.
Later, Tokugawa Ieyasu became a shogunate general in 1603, and some ninjas joined Tokugawa Ieyasu's army. However, with the decrease of war frequency, the number of ninjas decreased greatly. In Edo Japan, stability and peace became the main theme, ending the story of Ninja. But the skills and legends of ninjas have been preserved and beautified, and they are active in today's movies, games and cartoons.