Ideals of the Samurai: Writings of Japanese Warriors.
by William Scott Wilson
Review by: Carl Steenstrup
Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Autumn, 1983), pp. 342-343
Published by: Sophia University
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342 MonumentaNipponica,xxxviII: 3
Ideals of the Samurai: Writingsof Japanese Warriors. Translated by William
Scott Wilson. Ohara Publications, Burbank, California, 1982. 143 pages. $5.95.
THIS book is a usefuland unpretentious to a largeand difficult
introduction theme:the
developmentof self-consciousness and religiousand politicalideas among the ranksof
warriorswho governedJapanfrom1160to 1868and whoseswayleftan indelibleimprint
on thenationalcharacter.Wilson'smaterialsare theclan precepts(kakun)and political
testaments (yuikai)whichhave come down to the presentday. By way of introduction,
he discussesthe originof the warrior,the view of the warriorin literature,and the
warrior'sview of literature.He thenpresentstranslationsof a dozen clan preceptsand
politicaltestamentsas found in Yoshida Yutaka, Buke no Kakun, 1973, datingfrom
about 1250 to about 1600,withthe oldermaterialgivensome preponderance.Wilson's
graspof ancientand modernJapanese,and his abilityto expresshimselfin crispEnglish,
are beyonddoubt.
But perhapsthebook wouldhavebeenevenmoreusefulhad thetranslator workedless
in isolationfromthemainstream ofbushiresearch.In thechapter'OriginoftheWarrior',
one missesa discussionof warriorbands, how theyoriginated,and how the warriors
weresocializedwithinthem.Such topicshave been studiedby Yasuda Motohisa,Uwa-
yokoteMasataka, Haga Norihiko,Nagahara Keiji, and Toyoda Takeshi,to mention
just a few.Amplematerialsare also foundin theworksof Asakawa Kan'ichi, F. Jouon
des Longrais,and Jeffrey Mass. NakamuraYoshiharu,Buke no Rekishi,1967,describes
most of the peculiarsocial structures thatbred those qualities-iron discipline,loyalty
to superiorsand comrades,a pragmaticoutlook-which enabledthe bushito take over
the statesystemand, aftersome floundering, runit withsuch brio forsuch a long time.
Wilsonhas it all, but owes the readersome explanationof the interplaybetweensocial
structuresand dominantideas.
In thechapter'The View of theWarriorin Literature',thereis littlediscussionof how
gunkiliteratureactuallydeveloped,but the chapter'The Warrior'sView of Literature'
shows the author at his best, offering new ideas worthconsideringby historiansof
politics,manners,and literature.This themeindeeddeservesbook-length treatment while
topic is by now ratherhackneyed.In 'Basic
the traditionalwarrior-as-seen-in-literature
Readingand ReligiousBackground'we are not told how warriorideologytranscended
the veryelements(Shinto,Confucianism,mater/man loyalty)that had engenderedit.
One would also like to know whetherthe bushicreed was actuallycomposed of very
archaicelementsand whatthewarriorsmade of Confucianismbeforetheriseto power
of the Tokugawa. In all probability,Shintoinspiredthe bushimore than the Chinese
militaryclassics ever did. But again the author'sbold, brieftreatmentopens up areas
whichshouldbe further investigated.
As regardsthe translationsformingthe bulk of the book, Wilson followsYoshida
Yutaka, a pioneerin bushistudies.But it mustbe pointedout that Yoshida took his
textsfromkakun-hen of thelate-MeijiNihonKyoikuBunko,againstwhose inaccuracies
(by modernstandards)Kakehi Yasuhiko, ChuiseiBuke Kakun no Kenkyu,1967, now
the standardwork on clan precepts,warns.Had Wilson consultedthis work (I don't
know whetherhe did, forthe titledoes not appear in his bibliography), he would have
foundup-to-datetreatment of clan preceptsas historicalsources,variouscaveats (some
preceptshave been reworkedby laterhands and as a resultare misleadingas to con-
temporaryconditionsand outlook), and meticulouslycorrectedand annotatedtexts,
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BOOK REVIEWS 343
such as the GokurakujiLetter,the Imagawa Letter,Asakura Toshikage'sSeventeen
Articles,and Hojo Soun's Twenty-One Articles.Sir GeorgeSansom translatedAsakura's
articles(in A Historyof Japan, III).I did the otherthreeintoEnglishin MN duringthe
1970s,makinguse of Kakehi's book.
One can't quibble with a competitorabout the relativemeritsof translations,but
largechunksof textin theGokurakujiLetterare missingin theYoshida editionand thus
in Wilson's translation;nor does the new translationcontain the concludingpoems,
even thoughtheyare foundin Yoshida's edition.One may mildlyquerythe wisdomof
spendingso mucheffort on whathas alreadybeen done by others,particularly whenthe
earlierwork was based on a text which providesa philologicallysecurerbase for a
Westerner to workon. As forthe othertextsin thepresentbook, KokushoSomokuroku
stillin mostcases referswould-betranslators to NihonKyoikuBunko,and hereWilson's
translationshave pioneeringmeritand will stand untilJapanesescholarsmake better
textsavailable in print.
But a more seriousquestionlurks.Is it worthwhile to studythe kakunand yuikai?
I discussedthismatterin Hojo Shigetoki(1198-1261),1979,but reachedno definite con-
clusion then.But I am now convincedthatmost such documentsare relevantonlyto
literatureand linguistics,and in facttellus muchless of whatthe warriorsactuallyfelt
and did thando theclan laws (kaho). And in turnthekaho tellus less thando thejudg-
ments(saikyo)of warriorcourts.And thesaikyorarelycan matchas sourcesthe deeds,
dispositions,and other documentsnow being graduallymade available to Western
scholarshipby Jeffrey Mass and his students.One of the few kakunwhichringsun-
hypocritically trueis Shigetoki'sLetterto His Son Nagatoki,ca. 1238-1245,forwhose
textual originsand English translationsee Acta Orientalia,XXXVI,1974. But most
writersof kakunand yuikaiwereold foxes,fame-focused and death-fearing,
and com-
pared to the above typesof sourcessuch opuscula show us onlythrougha glass darkly
whatwarriorsactuallyfeltand did.
Withthesereservations, it mustbe said thatWilson has done a usefuljob and that
thebook is certainlyworthbuying.Whereelse can we findpithyEnglishversionsof the
sayingsof such centralfiguresas Shiba Yoshimasa, Takeda Nobushige,Nabeshima
Naoshige,Torii Mototada, Kato Kiyomasa,and Kuroda Nagamasa?
CARL STEENSTRUP
ScandanavianInstituteof Asian Studies,Copenhagen
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