What is Japanese Bushido?

First, Bushido-the ideological origin of Japanese militarism

Modern Japanese militarism originated from ancient and medieval Japanese samurai, samurai governing the country and bushido. Bushido is the main component of Japanese militarism, which was transformed into modern military spirit after Meiji Restoration.

Japanese samurai came into being in the 1980s and 1990s, which is the product of the economic development and the change of class relations in Japan's feudal society. The word samurai first appeared in an imperial edict of Jacky 72 1 (five-year pension). This imperial edict officially recognizes the existence of samurai, mentions samurai and martial arts, and advocates and encourages the spirit of martial arts. In the early days of heian period (794- 1 19 1), feudal manors began to appear. By the 10 century, the manor system had been formed and established. The emergence and development of feudal manor further promoted the relaxation and destruction of the public security system and the Sakata levy system after the Dahua reform (646) to collapse and collapse, and the society was in turmoil. The development of the manor led to the emergence of samurai and their entry into the political arena.

From the 1 1 century, the Japanese samurai class began to enter the political arena. 1 192, Yuan Laichao was appointed as the "general who conquered foreign countries" by the emperor who lost power and influence, which marked the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate. The samurai have mastered all levels of state power from the central government to the local government. Kamakura shogunate was the first samurai regime in Japanese history. Since then, the samurai class specializing in war has become the ruling class. 1336 The Muromachi shogunate was the second Takeshi regime, while the Edo shogunate established by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603 was the third Takeshi regime. The samurai class in Japan, whose occupation is attacking and killing wars, is naturally an advocate of militarism that emerged from the ancient Middle Ages and a maker and promoter of militaristic policies. However, the shogunate era in which the Japanese samurai class held the real power of the central and local governments lasted for 676 years. Due to the needs of political and social life, Bushido gradually formed.

Bushido, that is, samurai spirit, is not only a Japanese samurai's outlook on life and world, but also a samurai's obligation and responsibility, including loyalty to the monarch, advocating martial arts, loyalty, courage and absolute obedience, and paying attention to feudal moral norms and codes of conduct such as "faith" and "shame". Japanese Bushido, which originated from Shintoism, Buddhism, Confucianism and theocratic superstition, has experienced three stages of development: the old Bushido before the Edo era, the new Bushido in the Edo era and the Bushido transformed into the modern Bushido spirit after the Meiji Restoration.

The old Bushido is nothing but a crude "samurai habit", "the way of fighting" and "the way of practicing". It is the ethical standard of combatants, advocating and attaching importance to the master-slave relationship, emphasizing and attaching importance to revenge and martyrdom. It is a bushido that transcends reason, does not distinguish right from wrong, and only advocates dedication to the Lord. Musashi Miyamoto, a typical representative of the old Bushido, is a famous swordsman. He is dominated by the traditional bushido spirit. In his life, he showed the traditional bravery, cruelty and extreme cruelty of the Japanese samurai class, and he was easy to kill. These have been performed in Japanese classical operas for a long time, and his legendary stories are widely circulated. Before the war, a novel about him, Musashi Miyamoto, was published and became a best seller. Article 35 of Sun Tzu's Art of War, written by Miyamoto, expounds in detail his life's practice, thrilling duel experience, the essentials of the new school of kendo and the secrets of Sun Tzu's Art of War. Later, Japanese militarists often advocated and publicized Miyamoto's practices and spirit to serve the war of aggression.

In the Edo period, Bushido was systematically summarized, and a lot of Confucianism was absorbed, and Bushido was established with Confucianism as its theoretical framework, that is, "Bushido". This new "scholar-Taoist" theorist is mainly manifested in the behavior of Shan rusu, which is both related and opposed to the old Bushido theory.

Amber Su Xing, the pioneer of Japanese ancient school, devoted his life to establishing a new theoretical system of Bushido. His complete works are called "the authority of national morality and the true meaning of Bushido spirit" in Japan. He discussed Bushido with Confucianism, and his works are numerous, including at least 600 volumes, such as The Complete Collection of Martial Arts, Notes of Takeshi, Questions and Answers on the Art of War, etc. He gathered to give lectures and was also a famous military scientist with more than 4,000 disciples. One of his son's protege is the ancestor of Yoshida Shōin, the pioneer of Meiji Restoration, so Yoshida Shōin called Shan Lusu a "teacher" and taught Su Xing's military science in Matsushita Village School. Many people with lofty ideals in Meiji Restoration were influenced by Su Xing's thought. Su Xing found the "theoretical basis" of Bushido from Zhu's study in Japan. Advocating adherence to Confucian ethics such as "loyalty", "martial arts" and "righteousness" shows the so-called "warrior spirit" of "till death do us part". He regards "obedience to destiny" and "loyalty to filial piety and righteousness" as the content of samurai's cultivation, and regards "loyalty to the winner" as the bounden duty of samurai, instilling in samurai the thoughts of "loyalty to the monarch" and "regardless of misfortune and happiness", and also having the courage to repay kindness, self-denial and face death without wavering. And stipulated a complex set of moral norms, rules and etiquette. Bushido is widely publicized as the basic pillar of Japanese social ethics. The theory of Bushido was used by Japanese militarists, who often enslaved the army with the spirit of Bushido, the thought of "fighting for glory" and the deeds of "loyalty, courage and benevolence", making it cannon fodder for the war of aggression to conquer the world. Amber Suxing also has a strong Confucian thought of respecting kings and Japanese centralism of Shinto. He called Japan "China" or "China", and advocated that the Japanese emperor "can be the king of all ages", "God and God live side by side, and the emperor is continuous" and "infinite with heaven and earth" in order to maintain the "state system" of the eternal system, which also had a far-reaching adverse impact on future generations.

In the late Edo period, Matsuji Yoshida, a Japanese Yangming scholar and pioneer of Meiji Restoration, put forward the theories of "seven rules and seven laws" and "loyalty to the soul is immortal" on the basis of Amber and Su Xing's Bushido theory.

Yoshida Shōin's theory of "faithfulness is immortal" said that Nangong (Kusunoki Masashige) was preached seven times to serve the country and did not die. After Nan Gong, he was resurrected more than seven times. Seven lives was originally a Buddhist term, which means that it can be reincarnated seven times, which means forever. In order to support Emperor Zhongxing, Kusunoki Masashige wanted to regain power from the shogunate and restore the emperor's rule. 1336 (the third year of Jianwu), fought against Luchuan Army in Hyogo (near Kobe today). After the defeat, he and his younger brother Nanben were stabbed to death. Before he died, he said that he would always be loyal to the emperor and "serve the country VII." Later, Kusunoki Masashige was honored as a model of Bushido, and set off a movement to establish a shrine dedicated to Cheng Zheng. In the fifth year of Meiji (1872), the Seed Kawasaki Shrine was established in memory of Cheng Zheng. Yoshida Shōin also hung a banner on the wall of his cell, which said that if you read more than three books, you will destroy thieves in VII. He believes that when ordinary people die, their souls will be destroyed, while loyal souls will live forever. Song Yin himself wrote "Leaving the Soul" before being executed; My body is hidden in the wild, and Yamato's soul will never die. This "theory" and its practice had a far-reaching impact on the ideological trend of respecting the emperor and loyal to the monarch after the Meiji Restoration, and played a great role in advocating militarism to die for the emperor and deceiving the Japanese to blindly serve as cannon fodder for the war of aggression.

Because the Japanese Bushido society lasted for nearly 700 years, the samurai class was in power and served the war, and the militarism that advocated war and war has been accompanied by samurai and Bushido from the beginning. The samurai are practitioners of militarism; Bushido is the ideological origin and spiritual tool of Japanese militarism.

Second, Bushido-the spiritual pillar of Japanese militarism

1868 After the Meiji Restoration, Japan was transformed into a modern capitalist society. Bushido has been transformed into modern military ethics and expanded into universal national morality and code of conduct, becoming the most important spiritual pillar of Japanese militarism.

Meiji Restoration is a turning point in Japan's transition from feudal society to capitalist society, and it is a great social change involving economic, political, military and cultural fields. In a series of bourgeois reforms, the new Meiji government, headed by Emperor Mu Ren and with reformist fighters in real power, carried out three policies of "enriching Qiang Bing", "fostering" and "civilization" in order to develop capitalism.

"Enriching Qiang Bing" is the first of the three major policies of the Meiji government (the other major policy is to develop industry and educate), in fact, it is "enriching Qiang Bing". Its main measures are to reform the old military system, establish a new modern army and soul, actively expand the army and prepare for the war of aggression. The Meiji government abolished the samurai status and property privileges by means of redemption, and the samurai class also disintegrated. However, the samurai spirit, Bushido, still plays a role in the rule of Meiji regime, so Bushido did not die with the death of the samurai class, but was transformed into the spiritual ethics of modern soldiers and the Bushido that expanded into the universal moral ethics of the people. In order to build a modern army, in military system, 1870 announced that the national army would adopt the French system (because France was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War, 1878 changed to the German system) and the navy would adopt the British system. The Meiji government issued a modern conscription order in June 65438 +0873 +65438 10, and established a modern standing army and expanded it continuously. At the same time, 1874 established a modern police system. The modern standing army established in Japan is called "imperial army" rather than "national defense force", which emphasizes loyalty to the emperor. 1878, Yamagata Aritomo, minister of the army, issued a military discipline admonition in the name of the army province (equivalent to the Ministry), asking soldiers to worship the emperor as a "god" and instill in the army the idea of absolute respect for the emperor; It also advocates the bushido spirit, and the three fundamentals of the military spirit are loyalty, courage and obedience. 188 1 established the gendarmerie system, 1882 issued a military aid order in the name of the emperor, reaffirming once again that soldiers should absolutely abide by the loyalty, courage and etiquette of bushido. 1890, the Imperial Imperial Imperial Letters on education was issued, which advocated that all Japanese people "bravely perform their duties to help the boundless imperial fortune" and considered the emperor as a "loyal minister", thus establishing the Bushido in the Meiji era.

Bushido in Meiji era is still based on Confucian ethics and influenced by Buddhism, Zen and Shinto. However, the Bushido in the Edo era was sublated and reformed, and the content of Bushido was abandoned, preserved and developed greatly. Its reservation contents are as follows: First, based on loyalty and filial piety, it respects Confucian ethical principles such as five ethics and five permanents. The imperial edict requires "loyalty and filial piety" for education, and it is linked with the Zhao Guohong Yuan in Huang Zong, which is called "the essence of modern Japanese national system" and "the source of education". There is also a conscious propaganda of the concept of home and country, and Emperor Fengtian is the highest parent. With regard to the five virtues and five permanents, the imperial edict also requires subjects to "be filial to their parents, be friends and brothers, live in harmony between husband and wife, and be trusted by friends". The second is to advocate both civil and military skills, but put martial arts in the first place and emphasize the "martial spirit." As one of the three major policies, "enriching the people" is the route of establishing the country by military in Meiji era, and it is advocated that "martial arts" is the "national character" of strengthening soldiers. Catch-up stipulates that "going forward bravely, taking the lead, and taking risks can achieve great things" is one of the three fundamentals of military personnel. "Soldiers' Letters" stipulates that soldiers "must be brave" and declares that "bravery is the most remarkable feature of Japan since ancient times. As a Japanese, if you are not brave, it is shameful to be a Japanese subject "and so on. The third is to emphasize the sense of loyalty to the public. Military orders list loyalty as one of the three fundamentals of the army, emphasizing that "Japanese samurai have been loyal and brave since ancient times" and "today's soldiers are no different from samurai, even if they are not hereditary. Therefore, we must follow the practice of martial arts and focus on loyalty and courage. " The imperial edict for soldiers also requires that "soldiers must be loyal to the festival". Even if they die in battle, "this festival cannot be destroyed" and they should be "loyal to the festival wholeheartedly". The "educational edict" requires all Japanese to be "loyal to the public".

Bushido in Meiji era is the sublation and transformation of Bushido in Edo era. There are three main aspects of its abandonment: first, it abandoned its former loyalty to the independent monarch, and instead emphasized that all Japanese people only loyal to the emperor, that is, from diversification to reunification. The emperor holds the divine right, the overall power of the country, all the people and the system of "one monarch and all the people", and the emperor becomes the only loyal object of the whole country. Bushido in Meiji era centered on "loyalty to the monarch and patriotism". "Military remonstrance" requires officers and men to "obey the sacred objects" and "do not relax their respect". "Soldiers" have sworn to "support the emperor and be loyal to the court" since they joined the army, so they should be "loyal to the country". "Imperial edict of soldiers" declares that "the Japanese army will be commanded by the emperor from generation to generation", and the responsibility of soldiers lies in "defending the country and safeguarding national rights". The Imperial edict on education requires Japanese subjects to "assist the boundless imperial luck" on the battlefield. The theory of state system in Meiji era preached that God created Japan, and the emperor was a "modern god" and had the right to rule Japan according to "God's wishes". The Constitution of the Great Japanese Empire is the fundamental law of the country, and its core is the theory of emperor sovereignty, which stipulates that Japan is "ruled by emperors of past dynasties" and "the emperor is the commander-in-chief of Lu Haijun". Therefore, serving the country is loyalty to the emperor, and loyalty to the emperor is also reflected by serving the country. The second is to break the traditional bushido concept of valuing righteousness over profit, and put forward the policy of "being a scholar and a businessman". The "scholar's soul", that is, the soul and spirit of a warrior, is centered on the concept of "loyalty to the monarch and patriotism"; "Businessmen" are business talents. Third, during the Edo period, the way of being a saint advocated by Amber and Su Xing was completely obliterated and abandoned, and servility, ignorance and barbarism were developed to the extreme, worshipping cruelty and praising martyrdom, which became the spiritual weapon and spiritual pillar of the Japanese invaders and became the way of aggression and murder. The Meiji government set Japan as the goal of "confronting all nations". In 1868, the Emperor published the imperial edict of Chen Han, announcing that he would "inherit the great achievements of his ancestors" and "open up the waves of Wan Li and spread the power of the country in all directions". The military regulations call the army "the earth city of the country", and the military edict advocates that the army should "defend the country and defend the country" under the command of the emperor, so that "the greatness of Japan is known to the world." In particular, Bushido, marked by the issuance of imperial letters on education, was initially applied only to samurai and expanded to all Japanese nationals. In the noise of expanding national strength and publicizing national prestige, Bushido has been brought into the track of modern militarism, becoming the most important spiritual pillar of militarism and the main spiritual tool of militaristic aggression.

The key to the bad influence of Bushido is militarism. The ironclad historical facts tell us mercilessly that when Bushido leans towards evil, ugliness and darkness, that is, it is the day when the people of Asia, especially the people of China, suffer.

After the Meiji Restoration, only the capitalism with strong feudal remnants remained in Japan: the modern emperor system in politics, the semi-feudal landlord system in economy, the historical view of the emperor in thought, the samurai characteristics in society, and especially the nationality branded with Bushido. Bushido did not end with the end of Bushido politics, the disappearance of status hierarchy and Japan's entry into modern society. On the contrary, it further penetrated into the blood of the Japanese nation. Bushido, the builder of old Japan and its products, is still the guiding principle of transforming Japan. The vicious expansion of Bushido became the core of Japanese national morality in modern times, which led to a hotbed of militarism, and then completely contributed to militarism.

The leaders of Meiji Restoration were mostly samurai (especially junior samurai), and the real power of leaders at all levels of the newly established Meiji government was almost in the hands of samurai. From 187 1 to 1986, among the "Qing" and "Fu" (ministers and deputy ministers) in 93 provinces, there are 4 Chinese, 88 gentry and only 1 civilian. Among the 33 army generals in Meiji period, there were 4 royalty, 28 gentry and civilians 1 person. There are 1 royalty and 14 gentry among the navy generals, but there are no civilians. Among the government officials before 1940, 86.25% came from gentry, and 1.25% came from the old name. It is not difficult to see that the new government has been the base camp of samurai from the beginning, and only those who are qualified to guide the new government are samurai. As a result, the whole state organs are permeated with the power of samurai. These people hold power, control ideas, formulate policies, control the country and restrict society.

One of the central tasks accomplished by samurai leaders is to make Bushido expand viciously: First, to instill Bushido in soldiers, and in 1878, military orders were issued in the name of military province, taking "three virtues" as the bounden duty of modern soldiers, and instilling Bushido spirit of "loyalty", "courage" and "obedience" in soldiers. Later, samurai doctrine evolved into "militaryism", and in 1882, the "Military Oracle" was promulgated in the name of the emperor, stipulating that soldiers should abide by the norms of loyalty, courtesy and courage, and further developed Bushido into the creed of modern soldiers. Therefore, Bushido is deformed and developed under the new situation, becoming the Bushido in the new period-"budo". Finally, Bushido was popularized, and in 1890, the imperial edict on education was promulgated in the name of the emperor, which summarized the national moral standards into two major programs: "filial piety and faithfulness" and "* * * patriotism". In this way, the "loyalty" of the subjects to the emperor is endowed with the meaning of "patriotism", and the spirit of Bushido is put on the coat of "patriotism", which embodies the modern national consciousness. So Bushido became the soul of modern Japanese education policy openly, and it was instilled in Japanese teenagers from generation to generation. In fact, the "educational edict" goes far beyond the scope of schools and integrates schools, families and society. As the moral standard of all Japanese people, it controls people's ideology and restricts people's speech and action.

Through these decrees, the Meiji government made all the people "want families, schools and military camps at ordinary times, just to learn the lesson of dying for the emperor, and I don't know anything else." Emphasizing the consistency of Bushido with the spirit of soldiers and national morality, the practical morality of samurai has evolved into the practical morality of all citizens. In this way, Bushido has been successfully grafted on the so-called "Japanese spirit" that cares about and respects the Japanese national system, maintains the emperor's eternal family rule, and requires Japanese nationals to be loyal to the monarch and patriotic. Thus, a modern national morality with Bushido spirit and nationalism as the core and loyalty to the monarch and patriotism as the content is constructed.

"In the early Meiji period, Qiang Bing's policy of enriching the country began with the establishment of the central army and the support of the military industry. From the perspective of rectifying household registration, compulsory education system, strengthening police network, preparing transportation network and enriching bureaucracy, it is all for building a powerful military country. " 1 1 It is not difficult to see that the frame of reference of "rich Qiang Bing" is capitalism, colonialism and imperialism in western countries. The Japanese militarist's view of virtue once said that "the monarch and the people are virtuous, and the whole country is United with imperialism, that is, the internal populism, foreign imperialism and the centralization of the royal family have always ruled the two." That is, to establish militarism centered on the emperor system. This thinking track is "losing Europe and taking Asia" and then "merging all countries in the world". "If this way of thinking is just a few learning lunatics or ronins, it's no big deal. It will never distort Japanese culture, but the danger is that this way of thinking is not crazy in the wild, but the Japanese army and political leaders. Therefore, it can not only be transformed into Japanese realistic thoughts, concepts and strategies, but also directly become a practical activity of Japanese politics and production. " This mode of thinking became the dominant mode of thinking in modern Japanese society through the samurai in power at all levels of government, and the thought produced by this mode of thinking also became the dominant thought in modern Japan. Finally, this thought finally distorted the ideology of fascism.

"In the whole process of modernization, Bushido and Shinto in Japanese traditional culture have changed their functions to meet the needs of' enriching Qiang Bing'". These ideas are deeply rooted in Bushido's militaristic morality of advocating force. Under the banner of "loyalty", all people automatically gathered around the emperor to serve him. It is precisely because of the hotbed of Bushido that the Mikado system easily turned modern Japanese capitalism into aggressive militarism. Bushido has become the soul of Japanese fascist militarism, getting deeper and deeper on the road of serving fascism, and Bushido has evolved into the Bushido of fascist militarism.

The biggest feature of Bushido is that it is not a simple belief, but a practical morality that must be practiced. Bushido can become a weapon of militarism because it is a warrior, and then it is the practical morality practiced by all Japanese people. Secondly, the core of Bushido is unconditional loyalty to the Lord, and the concept of loyalty to the Lord is above all other ethics. Selfless dedication is the highest obligation and ultimate behavior of samurai. Therefore, Bushido is both a "loyal" religion and a "dead" religion. In the military sense, only "loyalty" and "death" can best reflect thorough dedication.

In thousands of years of human history, only Bushido has successfully armed the army with his "loyalty" to the Lord and his life. This army is a desperate army, ready to give their lives for the lords and emperors. This desperate army is not only brave and tenacious, but also the most cruel and inhuman army. In the shogunate era, this army was composed of warriors; After the Meiji Restoration, all subjects were soldiers.

Bushido dominated by militaristic ideology, as a spiritual tool, poisons and controls the thoughts of Japanese people; Externally, it embarked on the road of aggression against Asian countries. This opened the evil curtain of militarism and serving the war in modern Japanese history. Occupy Taiwan Province Province, annex Ryukyu Korea, invade China, provoke the Pacific War, and completely fascist Japanese militarism. Bushido was used by the war policy of fascist militarism and served it. The spirit of Bushido is getting deeper and deeper in the service of war and fascism, which makes the Japanese regard the war of foreign aggression as a "holy war" against the "imperialist countries", take pride in being cannon fodder, and voluntarily become a member of the "Kamikaze Team" and "Special Attack Team" to carry out suicide attacks as suicide bombers. Bushido led the Japanese nation to war disaster, devoured millions of innocent Japanese youth, and brought greater and deeper disasters to people in Asia and China. The atrocities committed by the Japanese aggressors are appalling and shocking in the whole history of human war. As Professor Feng Wan said, all this makes people in China and Asia feel disgusted, disgusted and deeply disgusted at the thought of Bushido, the sun flag and saber, the Nanjing Massacre, burning, killing, raping and committing all kinds of crimes, which shocked the world.

Historical witness: the worst influence of Bushido is militarism that serves the war, helps others to kill and harms human peace; Armed with bushido, the army is always ready to devote itself to the monarch and emperor. This army is made up of desperate people, and its fighting capacity and destructiveness are rare. In the Second World War, the bad influence of Bushido was exposed completely. The disaster brought by Japanese fascist militarism to the people of Asia and China can only be described truthfully with the words "one bamboo is difficult to write a book". Bushido has been deeply rooted in the national spirit of Japan, and the militarism that goes hand in hand with Bushido has not completely disappeared. Therefore, the people of the world must always be vigilant to prevent the revival of Japanese militarism and endanger human peace.

In a word, Bushido is the ideological root of Japan's denial and even beautification of militarism. Bushido's chronic illness invaded the Japanese nation, poisoned national consciousness, protected militarism, and even led to the tendency of Japanese militarism after the war. This is particularly worrying and deserves the world's vigilance!

Of course, the peace-loving people of China also have a good idea, which is to do what Comrade Deng Xiaoping said. Comrade Xiaoping said: "We should not only criticize and expose this militaristic tendency, but also do something to develop friendly relations between our two countries and peoples, deepen our friendship, deepen our understanding and deepen our feelings."

From World History, No.4, 1999.