11 replies to this topic

[General_Zhaoyun]

What does a Japanese "Shogun" mean? Does it mean warlord ?

And what is a "Samurai"? Does it mean warrior?

Who was the most famous Japanese Shogun and Samurai?

[caocao74]

What does a Japanese "Shogun" mean? Does it mean warlord ?

And what is a "Samurai"? Does it mean warrior?

Who was the most famous Japanese Shogun and Samurai?

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Shogun from the earliest days of Yamato expansion was a general appointed, on a temporary basis to fight the 'barbarians' (primarily the Emishi people people of northern Honshu and Hokkaido) (the title 'Seii Taishogun' translating as 'Barbarian-Suppressing General'). With the victory of the Minamoto in the Genpei War (1180-85), Minamoto no Yoritomo established the Bakufu in Kamakura (Bakufu='Tent Government' (Military Government) and made the post permenant. The Minamoto Shoguns were succeeded by the Hojo Regents, then the Ashikaga Shoguns (1333-1573). After an interregnum (for the Shogunate), in which power lay in the hands of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa/Edo (Tokyo) Bakufu in 1600 that lasted until the 1860s.

'samurai' is a word from 'samurau'=to serve. Warrior is better served by the term 'Bushi', hence 'Bushido' (Way of the Warrior).

Generally, the Shogun was a samurai, but to mention some famous names (in chronological order);

Taira no Kiyomori
Minamoto no Yoritomo (administrator) and his brother Yoshitsune (famed warrior and central character in many Kabuki plays)
Nitta Yoshisada
Ashikaga Takauji
Hojo Soun
Takeda Shingen
Uesugi Kenshin
Oda Nobunaga
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (invader of Joseon in the 1590s)
Tokugawa Ieyasu

[snowybeagle]

What does a Japanese "Shogun" mean? Does it mean warlord ?

The Japanese term shōgun means "general", and the longer title Seii Taishōgun (征夷大将軍) means "generalissimo who overcomes the barbarians".

caocao74 gave a good account of the origins.
I wanted to give chinese readers a clearer picture since these japanese terms could be written in kanji.

And what is a "Samurai"? Does it mean warrior?

Samurai (侍 or sometimes 士) is a common term for a warrior in pre-industrial Japan.

A more appropriate term is bushi (武士) (lit. "warrior or armsman") which came into use during the Edo period.

The term "samurai" usually refers to warrior nobility or educated gentry, not, conscripted infantry or commoners.

Samurai in the service of the han (藩) or feudal domain are called hanshi.

A samurai who lost his clan or daimyō (master, 大名) was called a ronin (浪人, lit. "wave-man"). Rōnins are also disgraced samurais who have forsaken their honour or failed to commit seppuku (a belly-splitting suicide ritual) in order to reclaim their clan or family's honour after defeat. When a master is defeated, his samurai followers who survive tend to become ronins. They are usually vagabonds or wanderers.

Ronins sometimes found employment as bodyguards or mercenaries to non-noble employers, and referred to as yojimbos (用心棒).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronin
http://en.wikipedia....(feudal_domain)

[caocao74]

A more appropriate term is bushi (武士) (lit. "warrior or armsman") which came into use during the Edo period.

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The term 'Bushi' （武士） before the Edo/Tokugawa period. The so-called Hougen and Heiji Disturbances of 1156 and 1159 were caused by the rivalries between (and inside) the rival 武士団 (Bushidan)(warrior-bands) of the Minamoto and Taira (read in Chinese as Genji and Heike), and the term certainly was in useage during the latter Heianjidai (785-1185).
The written descriptions of what was meant to constitute the good Samurai (under the umbrella term of Bushido) emerged in the Edo Period, trying to keep Samurai busy during peacetime rather than seeing them squander their livelihoods on whores, kabuki, and worst of all trade.

[Yang Zongbao]

If you study the Kanji, you can tell the Chinese meaning.
Shogun-Jiang Jun-General
Bushi-Wu Shi-Warrior
Ronin-Lang Ren-Wave Man(Wanderer)

[Lianbang Diaocha Ju]

so wat is the chinese loan translation of 'samurai'?

[General_Zhaoyun]

so wat is the chinese loan translation of 'samurai'?

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I think, it is also called Wushi in chinese..

[Gubook Janggoon]

Here's the Kanji

http://gsx-r.tatsuwo...NJI/samurai.gif

[General_Zhaoyun]

Here's the Kanji

http://gsx-r.tatsuwo...NJI/samurai.gif

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Yeah.. I remember seeing that character in the movie "Last Samurai"..

Anyway, it's pronounced as "Shi" 侍 in chinese and it means 'serve' or servant, so that's the character for Samurai.

[Lianbang Diaocha Ju]

oh so in japanese, there are some kanji that are pronounced with more than one syllable?

[temujin77]

This is a site I like to refer to when I have questions about Samurai: http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/. Hope you'll find it helpful too!

[caocao74]

oh so in japanese, there are some kanji that are pronounced with more than one syllable?

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Yes, rather a lot. I'd give examples but I don't have my Japanese keyboard with me at present.