THE ETHICS OF JAPAN. 801 



because at the time when the country went through many stages of 

 war many new men appeared on the scene and enlisted themselves in 

 the ranks of the Samurai, among them the l)ushi, several of whom 

 became Daimios themselves by their personal valor and the distinc- 

 tion they attained. But I may say that, on the whole, the successive 

 stages of the class always inherited and handed down the same sort 

 of sentiments and notions as their predecessors. 



We may, in a measure, compare this military class with the country 

 squires in this country, who gradually became barons of the middle 

 ages, together with their children and retainers. ''Rushido" is no 

 other than the doctrine held and cherished by that class as its code 

 of honor and rule of discipline. In the earliest days of the develop- 

 ment of that class individuals forming it were not cultured or en- 

 lightened in the sense of luxurious refinement ; in other words, they 

 were mostly illiterate. But, on the other hand, they were mostly men 

 with healthy notions of manliness in contrast to those who usually 

 lived in the capital town where literary and artistic culture under 

 Chinese influence had been attained in a marked degree. The 

 motive and sense of their culture were therefore more like those be- 

 longing to primitive Japan, unstained by foreign influences. The 

 families belonging to this class were called in their early da^^s " the 

 houses of the bow and arrow." Needless to say that the early 

 projectile weapons of warfare were the bow and arrow, and they had 

 a place of honor among the warlike instruments of those days. 

 Little by little a phrase " yumi-ya-no-michi," literally meaning " the 

 ways of the bow and arrow,"" came into existence, and it was the origi- 

 nal name of Bushido. At first, perhaps, the word referred more es- 

 pecially to the proper use of the instrument of war, but it soon came 

 to signify something more. There were many ceremonies and eti- 

 quettes which grew up with a warrior's life and military affairs, not 

 only with reference to his comrades or to his superiors and inferiors, 

 but also Avith reference to hoAV he should comport himself toward 

 his enemy. At the bottom of all these matters there lay the idea of 

 honor, not merely one's own honor, but also a compassionate regard 

 for the honor of the enem^'. All these ideas came to be implied in 

 the term " the ways of the bow and arrow." Here we see that special 

 nujral sentiments were being awakened among this class. Bushido, 

 however, has no particular dogma or canon, except such as grew from 

 practice and except those of which we can gather some idea from in- 

 structions given by certain leaders or by certain teachers of military 

 ceremonies or science in the way of interpretation of such matters. 

 Here we have an instruction given to his men by Yoritomo, the first 

 shognn, and therefore one of the early leaders of the system. The 

 essential points of the iustriictions are these: 1. Practice and mature 



