Hagakure: The Book of the SamuraiA foremost scholar of samurai texts approaches this martial arts classic as a meditation on the Zen concept of “death of the ego”—offering a fresh translation unlike any other. Discover what it takes to be a samurai with the 18th-century martial arts treatise that delves into minds of legendary Japanese warriors. Living and dying with bravery and honor is at the heart of Hagakure, a series of texts written by an eighteenth-century samurai, Yamamoto Tsunetomo. It is a window into the samurai mind, illuminating the concept of bushido—the Way of the Warrior—which dictated how samurai were expected to behave, conduct themselves, live, and die. While Hagakure was for many years a secret text known only to the warrior vassals of the Nabeshima clan to which the author belonged, it later came to be recognized as a classic exposition of samurai thought. The original Hagakure consists of over 1,300 short texts that Tsunetomo dictated to a younger samurai over a seven-year period. William Scott Wilson has selected and translated here three hundred of the most representative of those texts to create an accessible distillation of this guide for samurai. No other translator has so thoroughly and eruditely rendered this text into English. For this edition, Wilson has added a new introduction that casts Hagakure in a different light than ever before. Tsunetomo refers to bushido as “the Way of death,” a description that has held a morbid fascination for readers over the years. But in Tsunetomo’s time, bushido was a nuanced concept that related heavily to the Zen concept of muga, the “death” of the ego. Wilson’s revised introduction gives the historical and philosophical background for that more metaphorical reading of Hagakure, and through this lens, the classic takes on a fresh and nuanced appeal. |
Contents
From the 1st Chapter | 51 |
From the 3rd Chapter | 77 |
From the 7th Chapter | 87 |
From the 8th Chapter | 99 |
From the 9th Chapter | 117 |
From the 10th Chapter | 127 |
From the 11th Chapter | 143 |
Late Night Idle Talk | 157 |
3 | 163 |
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Common terms and phrases
able According affairs armor arts asked battle become beforehand bravery Buddha Buddhism called castle CHAPTER Chinese commit seppuku compassion Confucian courage cowardice daimyō death elders enemy feel fief Gorōzaemon Hagakure head heard Hizen Japan Japanese kaishaku kami Kamigata Kamigata area killed later live look Lord Ieyasu Lord Katsushige Lord Naoshige Lord Takanobu loyalty man’s martial valor Master Ittei means military mind mistakes Nabeshima clan Nabeshima Mitsushige Nabeshima Naoshige never night oibara once one's oneself ordered to commit person province quickly reason replied retainer Rihei rōnin Ryūzōji Ryūzōji Takanobu samurai saying shame Shimabara Rebellion Shingen shogun short sword Shoten ShŌzaemon simply sincerity someone speak story struck Tadanao Takeda Takeda Shingen Taku talk things thought Tokugawa Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokuma Shoten Tokyo took Tsunashige understand warrior William Scott Wilson wisdom words wounded Yamamoto Jin'emon Yamamoto Tsunetomo Yohei young