School & Teacher Programs
Online Gallery
Bushido: They Way of the Warrior
Classroom Activities
Social Studies:
“Education”
Warriors stand in a position above the other three castes, and are supposed to be
professional administrators, so they need to study and gain an extensive understanding of the
principles of things.
Even so, warriors in times of warfare invariably participate in their first combat by the age of
fifteen or sixteen, doing their work as knights, so they practice martial arts from the age of
twelve or thirteen. For that reason they have no time for study, and are naturally illiterate.
During the Era of the Civil Wars, there were any number of warriors who couldn’t even look up a
word in the dictionary. That was not necessarily because of their own negligence, or because
their parents raised them badly, but because their immediate need was to concentrate on
military arts.
As for warriors born in the present era, when the land is at peace, I wouldn’t say it doesn’t
matter if they care little for military arts, but since this is not a world in which they absolutely
must go into combat from the age of fifteen or sixteen, they should be taught classical literature,
reading, and writing, from the age of seven or eight. Then when they are fifteen or sixteen, they
ought to be taught to practice archery, horsemanship, and all the other martial arts. This should
be the basic aim of educating the children of warriors in peaceful times.
Illiteracy among warriors in times of chronic warfare has a reason. There is no legitimate reason
for illiteracy among warriors in an era of peace. Children are not to blame for this; it is only due
to the negligence and irresponsibility of the parents.
Ultimately, it is because they do not know the way to love their children.
“Principles of Warriors”
In the code of warriors there are two kinds of principles, with four levels. The two kinds of
principles are ordinary principles and emergency principles. The ordinary principles include
principles of knighthood and principles of weaponry. The emergency principles include army
principles and combat principles.
The principles of knighthood include washing your hands and feet and bathing morning and
night, keeping your body clean, shaving and dressing your hair every morning, dressing
formally according to the season and circumstances, and always keeping your fan your belt,
not to mention your long and short swords. When dealing with guests, you treat them
courteously according to their status, and avoid useless talk. Even when you partake of a bowl
of rice or a cup of tea, you are always careful not to be slovenly.
School & Teacher Programs
Online Gallery
Bushido: They Way of the Warrior
If you are in public service, when off duty you do not simply lounge around; you read, practice
calligraphy, contemplate ancient stories or ancient warrior codes. Whether you are walking,
standing still, sitting down, or reclining, in your conduct and manner you carry yourself in a way that
exemplifies a genuine warrior.
As for the principles of weaponry, the first thing to learn in swordsmanship, then lancing,
riding, archery, shooting, and any other martial arts. Your duty is to study, practice, and master
them, so you can be ever ready with them.
Once you have cultivated these two levels, the principles of knighthood and the principles of
weaponry, you lack nothing in the way of ordinary principles. In the eyes of ordinary people you will
seem like a good warrior, worthy of employ. However, warriors are fundamentally emergency men.
When there is a civil disturbance, they set aside their usual knightly ways for the moment, adopt
military terminology for their superiors, comrades, and subordinates, doff their formal suits and
put on armor, take up weapons, and head for the enemy’s ground. There are all sorts of manners
and forms of doing this, collectively referred to as army principles. It is imperative to know these.
Next are combat principles. When your enemies and allies clash in battle, if your
dispositions and maneuvers work as planned, you gain victory; otherwise, you lose the
advantage and suffer defeat. There are traditional secrets to these various maneuvers and
dispositions; these are called combat principles. It is imperative to know them.
Army principles and combat principles are the two levels of emergency principles.
A warrior who has cultivated the four levels of ordinary and emergency principles
to
perfection is considered a topclass knight. If you have accomplished the two levels of ordinary
principles, you are competent for service as a knight, but if you have not mastered the two levels
of emergency principles, you cannot be a samurai commander, a group leader, a magistrate, or
anything like that.
Accordingly, making this distinction, to become an allaround warrior it is essential to
practice the principles of knighthood and weaponry, as well as the inner secrets of army
and combat principles, determining never to give up without having become a topclass
knight.
Excerpts from Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of the Bushido
Shoshinshu of Taira Shigesuke , trans. Thomas Cleary, illus. Oscar Ratti. Boston, MA: Tuttle
Publishing, 1999.
School & Teacher Programs
Online Gallery
Bushido: They Way of the Warrior
After reading the above excerpts, have students consider the following
discussion questions:
1. What do the above two passages from Code of the Samurai indicate about
samurai values?
2. Which of these values would you expect a warrior class to hold? Which are
unexpected? Why?
3. Which works of art from the Bushido Online Lesson express or embody any of these
values? How?
Language Arts
Comparison Activity:
Book two of the Heiji Monogatari details the attack on the Shirakawa mansion at Sanjo. Read the
following passages and examine the depiction as represented in the scroll. How were the events
detailed in the book represented in the scroll? How does a visual representation of the events
change the tone of the scene?
[Yoshitomo] sent a messenger to Emperor GoShirakawa to
say “the enemy is very strong, and there is no easy way to reduce
the mansion. I see no chance of success without resort to fire.
However the wind is towards Hosshoji, and fire my destroy the
temple as well.”
Shinzei responded, “You are a fool, Yoshitomo.
Hosshoji could be rebuilt in a day provided His Majesty were to
commission the work himself. There is no need even to inform
him. Press the attack by burning down the Shirakawa Mansion.”
And with this authorization, Yoshitomo set fire to the house
of Fujiwara no Ienari, immediately north of the residence. The
strong west wind then carried the flames to the mansion itself.
Smoke choked and blinded the warriors in the compound.
Yoshitomo and his men attacked.
Additionally, use the scroll viewer in the related resources tab to examine the entirety of the
scroll. Find the events depicted in the following passage.
Sutoku and Yorinaga fled north with the enemy behind
them. Their warrior escort turned back and engaged the
pursuers, to keep them at bay and allow both free passage.
Sutoku was riding ahead, with Yorinaga
School & Teacher Programs
Online Gallery
Bushido: They Way of the Warrior
some way behind him, when a stray arrow from somewhere sank
most shockingly into Yoshinaga’s neck[piece]. Naritaka removed
and discarded it.
Now unconscious, Yorinaga could neither hold the reins nor
keep his feet in the stirrups. For a time naritaka held him up. The
horse was spirited however, and Yorinaga was so weak that in the
end he fell, streaming blood that reddened his white damask hunting
cloak.
Excerpts from Before Heike and After: Hogen, Heiji, Jokyuki
trans. Royall Tyler, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012
Visual Arts
Armor Design Activity:
Based on the suits of armor in the Online Lesson and in the special exhibition, “Samurai!:
Arms and Armor from the Ann and Gabriel BarbierMueller Collection,” have students design
their own samurai armor, using whatever medium you choose.
Consider questions of both form and function—challenge students to incorporate decorative
or aesthetic elements that may also have a practical use for the wearer (mobility, protection,
visibility, status, etc.).
How might this suit of armor be adapted into manga (comic book) form? For an added
challenge, have students construct a series of manga comic strips using their design.
Consider the way samurai armor was appropriated for Usagi Yojimbo in the mangainspired
video game released in partnership with the “Samurai!” exhibition (See
http://www.mfa.org/play/).
Foreign Languages (Japanese)
Vocabulary Activity:
Have students pick an image from the slides and create a vocabulary list to help them
describe the object. To combine this lesson with the Visual Arts activity, have students apply
the same vocabulary words to a partner’s armor design.