There are slight differences between these words: "soldier", a person whose profession is war; "shi", a guard of the nobility; "warrior", a warrior in the political power. Japanese scholars believed t

There are slight differences between these words: "soldier", a person whose profession is war; "shi", a guard of the nobility; "warrior", a warrior in the political power. Japanese scholars believed that these three words reflected different aspects of the same entity, and by the 12th century the three were unified into "samurai". The above is the etymology of "Samurai".

Samurai as an object of scientific research should be clearly defined. There are two definition methods among Japanese scholars. A definition based on function, for example: "A person who specializes in martial arts" (Wanwan Encyclopedia), "A person who specializes in martial arts and combat" (World Encyclopedia). However, the samurai were not only a functional group, but also a political and social group. Obviously, this method of defining functions cannot fully reflect the status of warriors, so additional explanations are needed. For example: "Exerting power as a ruler in the feudal era" (Wanda Encyclopedia), "Later it became the name of a status class or its members" (Wang Encyclopedia). However, it is not clear who the ruler is and what his identity is. Another definition is based on class, for example: "local lords who possess force and live in the countryside" (Modern Encyclopedia), "people who rule the place by force and serve in the government" (Shogakukan Encyclopedia). Although these definitions pointed out the class nature of samurai, they were limited to "local lords" and "local rulers." In fact, after the Kamakura shogunate, samurai established their own political power and became national rulers. Therefore these definitions only apply to the Heian period and not to the post-Kamakura shogunate period, especially the Edo period. Obviously this definition lacks universality as a definition.

The samurai appeared in the tenth century, and the Kamakura shogunate was established more than 200 years later. The samurai regime lasted for nearly 700 years until the Meiji Restoration. During these nearly 1,000 years, samurai warriors were not static. So what time point should be used as the benchmark for definition? The problem with the above two definition methods is that the time base for the definition of samurai is not clear. I think the definition of samurai should be based on the samurai as a class or class, and its formation as the benchmark for definition. As a class or class of warriors, their formation should be marked by the establishment of the warrior regime. Based on the above considerations, I think samurai should be defined from the following four indicators. First, economically, he is a lord, which can be either a manor lord or a feudal lord; second, socially, martial arts and war are his professions; third, politically, his goal is to control political power; fourth, ideologically, he is a master. From relationships to ethics. As a political group and a social group, the samurai class should have the above four indicators, especially the second and third points are the most basic. This definition distinguishes samurai from general professional soldiers and mercenary soldiers, and is applicable to both the samurai formation period and the samurai regime period. Of course, these indicators are not so typical in the samurai's formative years, but these factors are already there. Although the samurai regime went through changes, it remained true to these basic points.

In the following, we will consider the samurai as a class and take the establishment of the samurai regime as a symbol of its formation to examine the formation of samurai.

Phase

The formation of a class of samurai and the establishment of political power went through a tortuous process of nearly three centuries. This process can be roughly divided into five stages:

The first, the indigenous expansion stage, before the Pingjiangmon Rebellion in 939;

The second, the confrontation with the imperial court stage, the Pingjiangmon Rebellion ----Pingzhongchang Rebellion in 1028;

Third, in the hawk-dog stage, Pingzhongchang Rebellion----Baoyuan Rebellion in 1156 and Pingzhi Rebellion in 1159;

Fourth, the stage of forming a new aristocracy, the rebellion of Baoyuan and Taira - the Taira clan was destroyed in 1185;

The fifth, the stage of establishing the shogunate, the Taira clan was destroyed - in 1192 Yoritomo was appointed as the general who conquered the barbarians.

The following uses the growth and decline of power of the Taira and Minamoto clans and related major events as clues to describe the basic conditions and characteristics of each stage.

Indigenous expansion

The ancestor of the Huanwu Ping clan, King Gaowang, was given the surname Ping in 889, was appointed as the chief minister, and sent to Bandong (Kanto). Bando is the advanced base for suppressing Ezo and is a backward frontier place. "Thugs form gangs and thieves fill the mountains."

King Gaowang's devolution to Bando was a deployment taken by the imperial court to strengthen border defenses, but it provided an opportunity for the Taira clan to settle and take root in Kanto and expand their power. Because the border was far away, the court was beyond its reach and had weak control.

There are four levels of state officials: Shou, Jie, Feng and Mu, with four-year terms. After his term of office expired, King Gaowang did not return to Kyoto, but settled in Bando in order to expand his power. By his descendants, his power had reached Shangzong, Xiazong, and Changlu. Among the eight sons of King Gaowang, three were appointed as generals of the garrison (the eldest son, Guoxiang, the third son, a good general, and the fourth son, a good grandson). In addition, Kunixiang was appointed as the first general manager of Hitachi, the second son was appointed as the lower general manager, Liangsun was appointed as the upper general manager, the seventh son was appointed as the upper general manager, and the eighth son was appointed as the third general manager of Hitachi. By his grandsons, the power had expanded to include Shimono (Ryoshigeko Ryomasa Nomsuke), Sagami (Ryosho Shobumi Nomori), Musashi (Ryokane Komasa Nomori), Mutsu (Kunikako Sadamori, Shigege Nomori). ) and other places. Before the Taira Shomon Rebellion broke out, the Taira family had dominated Bando for three generations.

The Taira family's method of expanding their power is to marry into local wealthy families, such as Guoxiang and Hitachi Tōgenho, who are related by marriage. Yuanhu is the Yuan clan of Ga'e, and he is also given the surname of the royal family. This is a peaceful means. Non-peaceful means were private fights. For example, in 931, a war broke out between the son of a good general, Jiangmen, and his uncle Liangjian over the "women's theory" (the latter's daughter was the wife of Jiangmen). Four years later (935), Shomon fought again with Hitachi Takamoto Gengo and his uncle Kunika, killing Minamoto Gomo and Kunika, and then fought with Kunika's son Sadamori and others. Both parties complained to the court. First, the imperial court issued official talismans of Taizheng to hunt down the generals. After the generals went to Luo Chen Bian, they also issued official talismans to hunt Liang Jian, Zhen Sheng and Yuan Hu. Zhensheng was dissatisfied and went to Luo to make a speech, and the imperial court issued a Taizheng official talisman to question the generals. Both sides attempted to use their connections with the court to turn the fight in their favor.

In the middle of the tenth century, the Taira clan had built enough strength to launch a rebellion in Bando. As far as Taira Shomon is concerned, he established a stronghold in Toyoda-so, the Lower Sovereign, and his sphere of influence extended to Soma and Sarushima counties. He also built a camp in Ishii Township, Sarushima County. The camp is not only a resting place for generals to go on patrol, a residence for people from all over the world to come and go, but also a warehouse and fortress for storing weapons. The general has his own armed force, about a thousand people, called "drivers" (probably personal soldiers) and "subordinates". In addition, it can also mobilize and command the armed forces of other local wealthy families called "Banlei" with about 8,000 people. As mentioned above, he also has his own backing among the central aristocracy. The generals not only engaged in secret fights among their own clans, but also interfered in the fights between wealthy families and state ministers in other places. For example, in 939, there was a dispute between King Musashi Gonmori Koise and Musashi Takeshi, the governor of Adachi County. King Koise violated the custom and led his troops to forcibly enter Adachi County, confiscated and sealed the property and houses of the people. "The general was anxious to hear the reason and sued him. Lei Yun: Although Wu Zhi is not my close relative, I want to calm the chaos between us." So he led his troops "toward the Musashi Kingdom" and together with Musashi, he accused the government.

In short, after three generations of expansion for forty to fifty years, the Taira clan has formed the strength to dominate Bando and be strong enough to launch a rebellion. Obviously, once the time is right and their energy is released, it will inevitably form a great rebellion that shakes the whole country, and its conductor is the oppression of the government.