, also read Yamamoto Jocho (June 11 1659 - November 30, 1719) was a samurai of the Saga Domain in Hizen Province under his lord Nabeshima Mitsushige. For thirty years Yamamoto devoted his life to the service of his lord and clan. When Nabeshima died in 1700, Yamamoto did not choose to follow his master in death in junshi because the master had expressed a dislike of the practice in his life. Instead, Yamamoto followed his lord's wishes and refrained from junshi.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Yamamoto Tsunetomo' Start a new discussion about 'Yamamoto Tsunetomo' Answer questions from other users |
Quotations
A faultless person is one who withdraws from affairs. This must be done with strength.
A person who is discreet in speaking will be useful during the good times and will avoid punishment during the bad.
According to their nature, there are both people who have quick intelligence, and those who must withdraw and take time to think things over.
As everything in this world is but a shame, Death is the only sincerity.
Chapter 11
If you are slain in battle, you should be resolved to have your corpse facing the enemy.
In the eyes of mercy, no one should have hateful thoughts. Feel pity for the man who is even more at fault. The area and size of mercy is limitless.
Encyclopedia
, also read Yamamoto Jocho (June 11 1659 - November 30, 1719) was a samurai of the Saga Domain in Hizen Province under his lord Nabeshima Mitsushige. For thirty years Yamamoto devoted his life to the service of his lord and clan. When Nabeshima died in 1700, Yamamoto did not choose to follow his master in death in junshi because the master had expressed a dislike of the practice in his life. Instead, Yamamoto followed his lord's wishes and refrained from junshi. After some disagreements with Nabeshima's successor, Yamamoto renounced the world and retired to a hermitage in the mountains. Late in life (between 1709 and 1716), he narrated many of his thoughts to a fellow samurai, Tsuramoto Tashiro. Many of these aphorisms concerned his lord's father and grandfather Naoshige and the failing ways of the samurai caste. These commentaries were compiled and published in 1716 under the title of Hagakure; a word that can be translated as either In the shadow the Leaves or hidden leaves.
The Hagakure was not widely known during the years following Tsunetomo's death, but by the 1930s it had become one of the most famous representatives of bushido taught in Japan.
Tsunetomo believed that becoming one with death in one's thoughts, even in life, was the highest attainment of purity and focus. He felt that a resolution to die gives rise to a higher state of life, infused with beauty and grace beyond the reach of those concerned with self-preservation. He similarly believed in immediate action, and in the Hagakure criticized the carefully planned Ako vendetta of the Forty-seven Ronin (a major event in his lifetime) for its delayed response.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo is also known as Yamamoto Jocho, the name he took after retiring and becoming a monk.
Footnotes
External links
|
