Feudal Japan: The Samurai
In feudal Japan, everyone is born into their social class.
One of the classes being the Samurai. Although only 8% of the population were samurais, they were very respected people. They followed a very strict code known as the Bushido code, also known as "the way of the warrior." The Bushido code stated that the true warrior must hold that loyalty, courage, veracity, compassion, and honor as important, or above all else. This means that the samurai must put others before themselves, even if it means they will die.
In feudalism, the samurai's job is to protect and serve their daimyo although a select few were chosen to guard the Imperial Palace. Samurai had little to no say in which daimyo they got to protect and were bound by strict codes, but they had a good education, were well fed, and were well-trained for combat.
The samurai had power over the peasants, merchants, artisans, and anyone who fell below them in society. The emperor, shogun, and daimyo had power over them. This impacted the samurai because they had some power, but not much.
Feudalism had advantages and disadvantages for the samurai. The advantages were that the samurai were well fed, educated, trained, had power over people, were highly respected in society, and that they may have gotten to guard the Imperial Palace.
The disadvantages of feudalism were that the samurai must devote their lives to their daimyo, were forced to live under many strict codes, could not change their social role, had to protect their daimyo, even if it meant they would die, and did not get much say in which daimyo they protect.
Sources:
- Research: Encyclopedia.com, Asianhistory.about.com, edtech2.com, and ushistory.org
- Pictures: Google Images
Created by: Ciera, ASMS 7th Grader.