The two main similarities between the samurai and knights are the alliances with the warriors and the master and the starting to train at a young age. According to both of the PBS series passage boxes in Document C, it states, “Samurai were expected to live according to bushido... stressed loyalty to one’s master... Squires continued with weapon training…they would accompany their master knight into battle.”
The similarities between the samurai and the knight were greater than the differences. This can be shown by looking at three areas social status, honor and death, and traning and armor. The first area of important differences was social status different it was that because there was a social pyramid were the samurai class was divided up, and the knight was divided up. For the order in japan there was emperor, the shogun, daimyo, the samurai
Life began in a garden.(BS) When a gardener fills his canvas, the garden roots itself in the gardener. Each garden reflects the most intimate details and struggles of the gardener. The outward appearances of the characters lack depth, but the gardens that they each create or show endless details of their genuine selves. (COMPOUND) Gail Tsukiyama, the author of Samurai’s Garden, gives each of the main characters a garden that mends and heals each of them as much as they grow their gardens. Matsu encourages Sachi to create her own garden.
(History.com, “Edo”) The people of Edo followed a strict caste system, greatly impacted by the Chinese Confucian values. The Feudal Japanese Society, people of Edo, was divided into four different castes: the Nobles, the Samurai, the Peasants, and the Chonin. The nobles included: the emperor; the figurehead of society, the shogun; the most powerful military lord, and the daimyos; lords who controlled their own region of Japan. The samurai were the professional warriors who were bound by a code of loyalty and honor to a daimyo.
Underneath the nobles and barons, there are knights that are trained from the age of 7. In return for service to the nobles and barons, they are given grants of land. The peasants and serfs are on the bottom of the social system, there are peasants who farm the land in return for shelter and protection (history.com). This compares with
According to The Way of the Samurai by William De Bary, “the business of the samurai is to reflect on his own station in life, to give loyal service to his master if he has one, to strengthen his fidelity in associations with friends, and, with due consideration of his own position, to devote himself to duty above all” (206). In Tokugawa Japan, this Way, also known as “bushido”, was founded by Yamaga Soko who “combined the virtues of Confucian scholar and warrior” (Schirokauer 361). Not only was bushido something that all samurai followed, but they were to adhere to the Confucian approach which “strives to fulfill the Way of the lord and subject, friend and friend, parent and child, older and younger brother, and husband and wife” (De Bary
Knights and samurai are very similar. They were warriors during the age of feudalism who protected and were loyal to their lord. But while they are incredibly similar, who would win in a battle? However despite these similarities, in a one, in a one one one fight, the advantage would go to the samurai since their armor, code, and training are superior to that of the knights.
According to charts from various sources, samurai and knights are around the same rankings in a social pyramid (Doc. A). Both the samurai and knight are lower in the social pyramids at the time. They were both paid for their service with land from the lord he was working for. Another similarity is said in “The Heart of a Warrior: Origins and Religious Background of the Samurai System in Feudal Japan,” by Catharina Blomberg.
Further inaccuracies were found in the housing and living quarters of the Samurai warriors as Source 15 states that during the Edo period, the Samurai were required to reside in large castle-towns that were surrounded by more castles. The Imperial Emperor did insist that the Samurai rid themselves of their swords and armour but had not yet repossessed the homes of the Samurai (Source 17). However, the film depicts the Samurai’s living quarters as temporary and fragile as if the Samurai had been accustomed to a humble way of life (Source 2). This was completely misconstrued on behalf of the director and set designers of the film because in actuality, the Samurai class had been a class of vast wealth and were committed to the Daimyo as secret
The middle ages were rough times, with lots of fighting, poverty, and war, but one class of people held everyone together. Back in the 12th century two warrior forces co-existed in Europe and Asia. In western Europe, knights protected their lords, while in Japan samurai fought for honor and were loyal to their daimyos. The big question is; were the similarities between knights and samurai greater than the differences. The samurai and knights were more different than similar in three main areas: social position, training and armor, and honor and death.
here are many similarities between the Samurai of medieval japan and the knights of medieval europe, especially considering their training, armor, and codes. For example, Documents A and B discuss how they both started training during childhood, how at age 14 they both progressed to the next level, and that the Samurai and Knights trained with some type of stick. However, the Samurai used bamboo sticks to train when the Knights used wooden sticks, and the Samurai were trained to fight on their feet but the Knights were trained to learn to fight and ride on a pony, and the Samurai were influenced by Zen Buddhism but the Knights were influenced by Christianity. According to Doucement A, “ At about 14 the trainees officially became samurai in
Many similarities and differences stood beside the Samurai and the Knights, but was there more similarities than differences between them? Samurai and Knights were both powerful warriors back then. The Samurai had lived in Feudal Japan, and knights had lived in different parts of Europe. They both had different culture ideas, and of course different language, and yet also they both had similarities of them both. These are Social positions, Military training and armor, and Code of Honor.
The societies of Tokugawa Japan (c.1603-1867C.E.) and medieval Europe (c.1000-1500C.E.) had two things in common; a feudal system. A feudal system is something that features hierarchies or social structures. The feudal system normally starts with a religion, which is at the very top of the social pyramid, then it’s the King or monarch for Europe and the shogun for Japan, then there are the nobles for Europe and the daimyos for Japan. As we go down the pyramid there are the warriors, like the knight in Europe and the samurai in Japan, then there are the peasants. The peasants were included in both eras and are at the lowest part of the pyramid.
Moreover, what really interest me in the Samurai is their way of life, codes and the appreciation of others. Throughout my research process I found out that the Samurai woman played a huge part in combat during wars, also she was called “Onna Bugeisha” and they usually used the naginata weapon in the battle. The Samurai’s armor was designed in a way that allows them to move freely during the battle, also it was interesting to know that the samurai were very open to the idea of Homosexuality as they accepted a relationship between the same sex in their culture and it was considered extremely normal. Also in some movies that were made about the samurai , they didn’t mention that as it’s considered as a shame nowadays. The idea of a Western Samurai made me very interested in the samurai, that’s when I saw “The last samurai” movie by Tom Cruise as it showed that any one can join the samurai and have the honor of fighting along them side by side becoming one of them and have that special honor by respecting their code and having a samurai name.
All of this leads to an impact on military, feudalistic society and Japan’s history. To commence, Samurai’s are important in Japanese history because they helped start feudalism and the Shogun’s rule. It all started when the central government had no authority over the large landowners. The Daimyo refused to pay their taxes, so when the Jurisdiction came to collect, the daimyo had this huge army of Samurais.
