The rise of samurai: entering the shogunate era
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In the 8th century, the central government of Japan gradually declined, and powerful nobles and local strongmen rose one after another, which created conditions for the birth of the samurai group. 1 192, the yuan dynasty established the kamakura shogunate, and the era of samurai authoritarianism officially came.
▲ The first generation of foreign generals of Kamakura shogunate came from Lai Dynasty.
Various norms and systems of samurai have also been improved over time. The first is the royal system, which is somewhat similar to the feudal system in medieval Europe. Warriors should be loyal to their benefactors and serve in the army, and benefactors should also protect them to some extent. Since then, the shogunate has further strengthened the code of conduct and spirit of samurai by promulgating the programmatic document "Ten Eyes of True Courage".
The prosperity of samurai groups depends on their "good luck". The two invasions of the Mongolian empire failed; Go Daigo's "strong army" also failed to really shake the rule of the shogunate.
▲ Japanese samurai fought against the Mongolian army.
In the era of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa shogunate, the privileges of samurai were further expanded. Toyotomi Hideyoshi vigorously promotes the separation of soldiers and farmers and the identity system. In addition, there is a decree called "Knife Hunting Order", which requires that all weapons in farmers' hands be confiscated, so that farmers can concentrate on farming in their time.
The Tokugawa shogunate constantly preached the particularity of samurai, and its founder, Tokugawa Ieyasu, promulgated "Konka 100 Lesson" to show the noble status of samurai. Farmers and peasants must respect samurai, and samurai also have the right to "shoot".
▲ Japanese samurai equipment
The samurai group occupied a high position in the pyramid of Japanese society, but the Tokugawa shogunate under the "national lock order" gradually fell behind in the modern historical trend and faced a serious crisis.
Samurai Awakening: The Way to Respect the King and Resist Japan
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The "Black Ship Incident" on February 1854+0 1 day was a great shame for Japan. The closed-door Tokugawa shogunate was unable to stop the fleet led by American Perry.
Under the threat of American military force, the Tokugawa shogunate had to sign the Kanagawa Treaty, which humiliated the country and humiliated the country. Since then, it has been "open to the outside world". Subsequently, Britain, the Netherlands, France, Russia and other countries took advantage of the fire to rob, and weak Japan had to sign the "Five-nation Treaty on Angola". It seems that the bad luck faced by the Qing Empire will also befall Japan.
▲ Black Ship Incident
Powerful foreign enemies forced people of insight to think about the way out of the country, and the warriors of the four princes in southwest China became representatives. They deeply realized that only by getting rid of the bad policies of the shogunate and learning from the world can Japan be saved.
Yoshida Shōin tried to follow Perry's fleet to study in the United States. He believes that the Japanese are in crisis because all the officers and men of the shogunate have ulterior motives and cannot die for the loyalty of the country. On the other hand, Sasaki Xiangshan and others put forward the theory of "harmony with souls and different talents", arguing that while learning western skills, we should pay attention to maintaining Japanese traditional culture and reconcile western technology with eastern morality.
In addition, Kurosaka Xuanrui, Takayama Shinzuo and others put forward the "recklessness theory", which made ideological preparations for overthrowing the Tokugawa shogunate. Many schools of thought came together to form the movement of "respecting the king and rejecting the foreign countries".
The thoughts and reforms in Southwest China aroused the dissatisfaction of the shogunate authorities. Minister Naoki Inoue launched "Anzheng Prison", executed Yoshida Shōin and others, and triggered a more radical "closing movement". Iwakura Tomomi, Saigō Takamori, Morito Longji, Kubojun and others made up their minds to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and force Tokugawa Yoshinobu to return the big government to the newly enthroned Meiji Emperor Mu Ren.
However, this is just a plan of the Tokugawa shogunate to slow down the troops. Disgruntled vassal armies launched a war to conquer Tokugawa, and were completely defeated in the battle of Bird Feather and Fujian. The Japanese shogunate era is over, and a new era will be opened by Emperor Meiji and a group of people with lofty ideals.
▲ Inverted curtain movement
The decline of samurai: Meiji Restoration Reform
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With the establishment of the new government, everything is ready, many complicated problems need to be solved urgently, and drastic reforms are imperative. The "Five Pledges" issued by the Meiji government clearly expressed the determination to reform the old feudal system and revive the Yamato nation.
First, the Meiji government abolished the feudal system. The move to abolish vassals and set up counties has seriously weakened local celebrities who were difficult to control in the past and strengthened the authority of the central government. In the initial reform, the samurai group became the focus of the reform.
Abolish the feudal identity system and samurai privileges, and strive to implement "equality among the four people." Samurai privileges include: sovereignty, feudal property rights, military power monopoly, and the right to "shoot" civilians. The reform of the government is a great blow to the samurai, but it's not over yet.
▲ Emperor Meiji
1876, the government issued a "golden bond" scheme to redeem the feudal property privileges enjoyed by warriors. Warriors' salaries became public bonds, and warriors who lost their economic resources began to sell their labor and become small businessmen and freelancers …
The above measures are only preliminary measures. From 65438 to 0873, after Iwakura Tomomi, Ito Bowen, Kubojun and others returned to China from the west, the Meiji government formulated three policies: "developing the industry by fostering", "educating" and "enriching Qiang Bing".
The Meiji government used state power to develop capitalism and vigorously supported capitalists closely related to the government. Vigorously promote westernization, and a large number of traditions have been abandoned. "Enriching Qiang Bing" is the top priority of the reform. Yamagata Aritomo advocated a "conscription system" and established a larger-scale "imperial army" loyal to the emperor as a standing army. In this way, the greatest function of samurai is also forbidden.
▲ Japanese imperial army
Saigō Takamori, who has been committed to maintaining the status of samurai, is also quite helpless. He never hesitated in the struggle for the emperor, but when the "sword" of reform was cut at the samurai, he was extremely angry and dissatisfied. He once actively advocated conquering Korea and finding a way out for the "idle" warriors. This proposal was mercilessly denied, and the Meiji government believed that internal affairs took precedence over conquest.
If samurai's life is like cherry blossoms, then at this time, Saigō Takamori also clearly saw the honor that they cherish more than cherry blossoms. At this time, he has fallen down gently, and he chose to resign from the government.
Samurai Elegy: The Battle of Kagoshima
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A series of reforms made the samurai extremely dissatisfied and rebelled. Kagoshima is the most famous one. As a Japanese veteran, Saigō Takamori knows the power of modern army. He started a "private school" in his hometown of Kagoshima Prefecture.
We don't teach arithmetic composition and painting music, but we teach shooting and practice marching array every day! Moreover, the students enrolled in Guangkai Branch are local gentry who hate the government, and the middle and lower-level officials in Kagoshima County are also part-time cadres in private schools in Saigō Takamori, creating a country within a country.
1876, the Meiji government issued a "scraper order", and no one was allowed to carry weapons except the army and the police, which completely angered the samurai class. Saigō Takamori seized the opportunity, complied with the "public opinion" and launched a struggle with the Meiji government. The Meiji government showed no mercy to these down-and-out warriors. Yamagata Aritomo led more than 60,000 troops to quell the rebellion.
▲ Battle of Kagoshima
At the beginning of the war, the warriors with inferior numbers once dominated, and the "sword-drawing team" composed of experienced warriors launched surprise attacks many times to break the enemy soldiers. However, the government forces also quickly adjusted their strategies, relying on the advantages of weapons and equipment to win in Kumamoto, and slowly and steadily entered Kyushu Island.
1877 August 15, the two sides ushered in the Armageddon. There are only about 3,500 samurai left, fighting to the death with more than 50,000 loyal ministers. The result was self-evident, and they were soon surrounded by loyalists. Saigō Takamori ordered, "Today, there is only a decisive battle, and we will fight to the death. Teams will surrender if they want to, and die if they want to ..."
Most of the defeated soldiers surrendered to the loyalist, and the remaining more than 1000 people followed Xixiang to death. Saigō Takamori led these thousands of dead men to break through the weak encirclement of loyalists, and then attacked 400 kilometers in 14 days, even killing back to their hometown of Kagoshima Prefecture, but it was a spent force. Desperate Saigō Takamori committed suicide by caesarean section, and the government forces wiped out the "anti-thieves" at the cost of losing more than 60,000 people.
▲ Saigō Takamori Statue
A few years later, Emperor Meiji built a statue of Saigō Takamori for future generations to pay tribute to. Meiji WeChat aims at modernization. The feudal samurai who had made great achievements could not bear the drastic changes, and the government did not introduce supporting resettlement measures, which created the tragedy of the samurai.
Samurai Survival: Bushido Spirit
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Although the samurai has become history, its spirit has been passed down to this day, and the Bushido spirit has always influenced the Japanese. The imperial army established by the Meiji government strongly advocated loyalty to the Emperor, dying in battle and being buried by Ma Su as their highest honor. The Japanese army attaches great importance to spiritual strength, and the wild guards at the Tawei Station in Araki-Sasaki Road die naked, redeem the wild and chase the murderer, and live in the wilderness and hunt in the wilderness. The big prairie wolf is bright green, and the name of the royal prime minister's mansion, Hwang Bo Hye Jung's imperial mansion, is the splendid palace pearl in the crown. The Royal Ontario Museum in Albert Hall, an avid militarist, believes that the spiritual strength of the Japanese army will never be afraid of material strength.
Non-capitulationism is deeply engraved in the minds of Japanese soldiers. The ratio of Japanese surrenders to those killed in World War II is surprising, which was as high as 1: 120 during the North Myanmar War.
▲ The movie "The Last Samurai"
Although the samurai class has long since disappeared, the behavior and spirit of the Japanese have been deeply influenced by it. Finally, I recommend the movie The Last Samurai. Although the film is slightly different from the real history, it generally reflects the last history of the samurai.