Upholding the Samurai Giri (Seppuku)
In the early olden times of Japan, it was made known quite well that they were living the good life. However, after the beginning of Buddhism, with the premise of the transient nature of life and the splendor of fatality, did the Seppuku (sape-puu-kuu) developed.
Seppuku is the Japanese ritual term for suicide (Hara-kiri) which was an important part during the time of feudal Japan. It became an extension of the bushido code and the samurai warrior class discipline.
The samurai were very powerful in many ways as they were men of great honor, extreme courage, and loyalty. Their strong will to follow their code was a demonstration of their character that when seppuku was ordered as penalty or of preference to a shameful death at the disposal of the opponent, was an unquestionable expression of their will to uphold their name as a samurai.
The samurai’s concept of life was upholding their giri (another word for duty), being reputable and shameless always. Their strong belief in preserving their integrity as this encompassed maintaining a decent and honorable life. Honor for them was as important as life. That even when they committed something accidentally that disgraced them, suicide or self-destruction would be the only right thing to right their wrong.
Hara-kiri when translated in English meant “stomach cutting”. The ritual was an excruciating method of self- destruction which the Japanese was totally oblivious to until the appearance of the professional warrior class of the samurai. The ritual required keeping composure without recoiling during performance of the disembowelment. It was a ceremonial ritual that held much preparation. The location for the formal procedure was usually at the temple, in the garden or villas and inside homes. Size of the area was as important as it reflected the high rank of the samurai.
The whole ceremony is to be carried out in a detailed manner. The assistant, termed kaishaku (kie-shah-kuu) in Japanese is the one who cuts off the victim’s head after cutting the abdomen open is commonly the associate or close acquaintance of the damned.
When ordered by a feudal lord or the shogun (who were high on the hierarchical structure of feudal Japan) demanded an exceptionally official rite which required certain decorum, the presence of witnesses and substantial preparation. However on the battleground, they would perform hara-kiri without hesitation.
But these were not only the reasons why seppuku was practiced by the samurai. There were other reasons as well why a samurai deemed justice in committing seppuku. These were to show disrespect and hatred towards the enemy, a demonstration of protest against discrimination as a means of getting their superior to reassess his decision or as a way of saving others.
However it wasn’t practiced by all Japanese samurais. Nevertheless because it was very brutal it was finally issued a proclamation forbidding the performance of hara-kiri to both secondary and primary retainers. However, hara-kiri was still being performed by others even with the release of the decree.
Hence, the shogunate administration deemed it well to release another issue still barring the ritual but engraining the initiative of punishment for those caught disobeying. Even with joint efforts to prohibit the performance of the act, still it continued throughout the Tokugawa reign but eventually slowly declined with the passing of time.
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