47 Ronin
The story of the 47 Rōnin ( Japanese 四 十七 士 , Shijūshichi-shi , German "47 masterless samurai" ), also Akō Rōshi ( 赤 穂 浪 士 , German "the Rōnin from Akō" ), is a famous event in Japan 47 abandoned warriors avenged the death of their master. The events are considered to be a model example of the unconditional loyalty of the samurai and are in part counted among the national myths of Japan.
prehistory
In 1701 two daimyō (princes) were called to the court of the shogun in Edo Castle (today's Tokyo). It was about Kamei Korechika and Asano Naganori , the young daimyo of the Ako fiefdom in Harima Province (located in western Honshū ) , who was killed in the following events . They were entrusted with the task of preparing a reception ceremony for the entourage of the envoy of the Higashiyama-tennō , who would appear for the regular daimyo meeting Sankin kōtai at the court of the Shōgun.
For instruction in the necessary courtly etiquette, they were dependent on the master of ceremonies Kira Kōzuke no Suke Yoshinaka / Yoshihisa , who held a powerful office in the shogunate of the Tokugawa Tsunayoshi . However, he was very dissatisfied with the two daimyo, allegedly because of the insignificance of the "gifts" that were usually given in compensation for instruction and were expected to be significantly higher for rapid progress. These corrupt conditions were rejected by the devout Asano (following the teachings of Confucius ). The court master Kira showed himself to be arrogant in this regard, and historically he was ascribed bad manners, and so Kira began to curse the two daimyo and to continue with the instructions only very carelessly.
While Asano endured the conditions in a stoic way, Kamei became more and more angry and planned to kill the court master Kira in order to avenge the unworthy disgrace. However, Kamei's attentive advisers secretly handed a large bribe to Kira, without her master's knowledge, and thus prevented this murder, which would have been a disaster for both her prince and the court . Kira then treated Kamei very courteously, and Kamei calmed his anger.
However, Kira treated Asano all the more rudely, as he made no signs of following the example. He cursed and insulted Asano in public and eventually called him a rude village idiot. Asano then lost control. He attacked Kira with the dagger, wounding him only in the face with the first stroke, missing him with the second, hitting a pillar - after that the guards had separated the two again.
Kira's injury was not severe, but an attack on a court official of the shogunate itself was severe - even drawing a weapon was considered a death penalty in the castle of Edo, the residence of the shogun, which is why Asano was suggested , seppuku to commit (ritual suicide). After Asano's suicide on the same day, his estates and estates were confiscated, the Akō fief fell to the Shōgun, and Asano's samurai became Rōnin .
The news reached Ōishi Kuranosuke Yoshio , Asano's most important advisor ( Karō ), whereupon he took the lead, brought Asano's family to safety and subsequently handed the castle over to the government's envoy.
The Rōnin's plan of revenge
Among the 300 followers of Asano there were now 47 (some sources say there were initially over fifty) who did not want to accept the death of their prince without revenge, especially their leader Ōishi Kuranosuke , although blood revenge was forbidden in a case like this. Although they were aware of the severe punishment they would expect, they conspired and made a secret vow to avenge the death of their master with the death of Kira.
However, they were aware that Kira was closely guarded, his house was heavily fortified, and an immediate attack would most certainly fail - to be successful, they would have to overpower the guards first. To allay the fears of Kira and other Shogunate officials, they dispersed and hired themselves as traders and monks. Ōishi himself settled in Kyoto and began to regularly visit brothels and taverns, just as if he were not dreaming of carrying out a blood revenge. The master of ceremonies Kira, however, remained suspicious and had spies watch him and other followers of Asano.
It was during this time that Ōishi fell down in a street, completely drunk from a drinking tour, and just fell asleep there, laughed at by passers-by. A man from Satsuma who was just passing by could no longer contain himself because of this unseemly behavior for a samurai - both the inability to avenge the death of their master and Ōishi's miserable state of mind angered him. He hit and cursed Ōishi, kicked him in the face (although it is usually a grave insult to even touch a samurai's face, not to mention blows), and spat on him.
A short time later, Ōishi's wife, who had previously been loyal to him, went to him and complained that he was taking it too far. He got the divorce on the spot and sent her away with the two younger children. The eldest son Chikara stayed with the father, who now brought a young concubine into the house.
All of this was also reported to Kira, who believed himself more and more safe, since Asano's followers seemed to consist only of incompetent samurai who did not have the courage to avenge their master. They seemed harmless to him, and he loosened the guard.
Now Asano's former entourage gathered in Edo, and in their role as craftsmen and traders they gained access to Kira's house. They made themselves familiar with its structure and the processes of the servants in it. One henchman, Okano Kin'emon Kanahide, even went so far as to marry the daughter of the house builder to gain access to the blueprints of the heavily fortified house. Other followers procured weapons and collected them in a hiding place in Edo. Ōishi was informed of all of this.
The attack
At the end of January 1703, Ōishi Kuranosuke was convinced that everything was ready and that Kira was only weakly guarded. Unnoticed by the spies, he stole out of Kyoto. The crowd gathered at a secret location in Edo where they renewed their joint vow.
The attack on Kira Yoshihisa's home began at dawn on January 30th, with strong winds and heavy snowfall, according to an elaborate plan. They split into two groups, armed with swords and longbows. One group, led by Ōishi, attacked the front gate. The other group, led by his son Ōishi Chikara, was supposed to attack the house at the back entrance. A loud hammer blow should start the simultaneous attack and a whistle signal to everyone that Kira was dead.
As soon as Kira was dead, it was planned that his head would be severed and placed as a gift on her master's tombstone. They would then surrender and face the death penalty that would certainly follow. All of this was discussed at a final meal where Ōishi pleaded with his husbands not to harm women, children, or other helpless people.
Ōishi ordered four men to step over the fence and enter the gate guard rooms, overwhelm them and handcuff them. He then sent messengers to all the neighboring houses, assuring the residents that they were not robbers, but a retinue who wanted to avenge the death of their master, and that nothing would happen to anyone but Kira. The neighbors, who also hated Kira, kept quiet.
Among other things, he positioned archers on the roof to prevent those who were still asleep from fleeing and getting help. When everything was ready, the attack began with a huge blow to the front. Ten of Kira's followers stood there, but Ōishi Chikara's squad gained entry through the back entrance.
Kira fled in fear of death with his wife and the female entourage in a back room of the veranda, while the rest of his entourage, who had slept in the barracks outside, now tried to break into the house to rescue him. Since they did not succeed, they tried to send for help, but all the messengers were killed by the archers posted as a precaution.
After a fierce fight, the last of Kira's followers was finally defeated. Sixteen of Kira's men were dead and twenty-two wounded, including Kira's grandson; but there was no trace of himself. They began to search the house, but found only crying children and women. Despair spread, but Ōishi checked Kira's bed and found it still warm - he couldn't be far.
Kira's death
In another, intensive search, they found access to a secret courtyard that was hidden behind a large tapestry. There was a small building in this courtyard for stacking coal and firewood. There they met two more of Kira's henchmen and killed them in battle. When they searched the shed, they found a man hiding there and attacking them with a dagger but could be easily disarmed.
The arrested refused to give his name, but the pursuers were sure it was Kira and whistled. The other ronin gathered and Ōishi identified Kira by the light of a lantern. The final piece of evidence was the scar on his head that Asano had put on him.
Ōishi now knelt down, considering the high rank of Kira, and explained to him who they were and that they wanted vengeance for their dead prince, but offered him the honorable death of a samurai by killing himself through Seppuku. Ōishi would even assist him as a second and offered him the same dagger with which Asano had killed himself.
However much they concerned Kira, he was speechless and shuddered with fear. They saw that there was no point in asking any more. Ōishi ordered a ronin to bring Kira to his knees and killed him by cutting off his head with his dagger. Then they put out the lights and fire in the house (also to prevent a fire from breaking out and spreading to the neighbors) and left the house with their heads. Ōishi sent the youngest Rōnin on a trip to Akō to tell everyone there that the vengeance had been successful.
The aftermath
As day approached, they quickly carried Kira's head to their master's grave in Sengaku-ji Temple , causing a lot of excitement in the streets. News of what was going on quickly spread and it is reported that the procession was accompanied by praise and some even invited them to rest and offer refreshments.
When the 46 remaining Rōnin arrived at the temple, they washed and cleaned Kira's head and placed it on Asano's tombstone along with the fate's dagger. They prayed in the temple and gave the abbot any money they had left with a request that they be duly buried and prayers given to them. Now they were ready to surrender - the men were divided into four groups under the guard of four different daimyo.
At that time, two of Kira's friends came to collect the head and bury it. The temple still has the original receipt signed by these friends and the priest.
The official bodies of the shogunate were now in an awkward position. The samurai had on the one hand only obeyed the warrior rite of the Bushidō , which imposed vengeance on them on the death of their prince, but on the other hand disregarded the instructions of the shogunate by enforcing the forbidden vengeance in Edo. As expected, they were sentenced to death, but the shogun allowed the seppuku to die in honor instead of having them executed like criminals.
The 46 Rōnin followed on March 20, 1703 (since the shogun's death sentence referred to this, although 47 carried out the attack, the group is also known as "46 Rōnin" ( 四 十六 士 , Shijūroku-shi ), which leads to confusion over and over again in history). The convicts were buried as requested in Sengaku-ji Temple, in a row in front of their master's tombstone. The 47th Rōnin later returned from his mission to Akō and was pardoned by the Shōgun (it was said because of his young age). He reached the age of 78 and was then buried next to his comrades.
The clothing and weapons worn by the Rōnin are still in the temple today, along with the hammer ( Ōtsuchi ) and whistle that were used in the attack. Most of the armor was homework, as they wanted to avoid buying forged armor attracting attention.
The tombstones became a center of attraction where people gathered and prayed. Among them was the man from Satsuma who spat on and kicked Ōishi when he was lying drunk in the gutter. He asked for forgiveness for his actions because he thought that Ōishi was not a true samurai. Then he committed suicide. He was given a grave next to the 47 ronin.
The restoration
While these events can be seen as a pure act of honor and loyalty on the one hand , they also had solid reasons relating to the restoration of the principality of Asanos on the other. With the death of the Lord hundreds of samurai became unemployed and most of them were unable to find a new job because they came from a dishonored home. Many had to make ends meet as field workers and day laborers. The history of the 47 ronin cleared the name, and many of the unemployed samurai found honorable employment shortly after the honorable death sentence. Asano Nagahiro , Asano Naganori's younger brother and heir, was again enfeoffed by the Tokugawa shogunate with the principality, if only with a tenth of the old territory.
Members
Below are the names of the 47 Rōnin in the scheme family name - first name ( kemyō ) - proper name ( imina ). Alternative readings are listed with a slash.
- Ōishi Kuranosuke Yoshio / Yoshitaka ( 大石 内 蔵 助 良 雄 )
- Ōishi Chikara Yoshikane ( 大石 主 税 良 金 )
- Hara Sōemon Mototaki ( 原 惣 右衛門 元 辰 )
- Kataoka Gengoemon Takafusa ( 片 岡 源 五 右衛門 高 房 )
- Haribe Yahē Kanamaru / Akizane ( 堀 部 弥 兵衛 金丸 )
- Haribe Yasubē Taketsune ( 堀 部 安 兵衛 武 庸 )
- Yoshida Chūzaemon Kanesuke ( 吉田 忠 左衛 門 兼 亮 )
- Yoshida Sawaemon Kanesada ( 吉田 沢 右衛門 兼 貞 )
- Chikamatsu Kanroku Yukushige ( 近 松 勘 六 行 重 )
- Mase Kyūdayū Masaaki ( 間 瀬 久 太 夫 正 明 )
- Mase Magokurō Masatoki ( 間 瀬 孫九郎 正 辰 )
- Akabane Genzō Shigekata ( 赤 埴 源 蔵 重 賢 )
- Ushioda Matanojō Takanori ( 潮 田 又 之 丞 高教 )
- Tominomori Sukeemon Masayori ( 富 森 助 右衛門 正因 )
- Fuwa Kazuemon Masatane ( 不 破 数 右衛門 正 種 )
- Okano Kin'emon Kanahide ( 岡野 金 右衛門 包 秀 )
- Onodera Jūnai Hidekazu ( 小 野寺 十 内 秀 和 )
- Onodera Kōemon Hidetomi ( 小 野寺 幸 右衛門 秀 富 )
- Kimura Okaemon Sadayuki ( 木村 岡 右衛門 貞 行 )
- Okuda Magodayū Shigemori ( 奥 田 孫太夫 重 盛 )
- Okuda Chidaemon Yukitaka ( 奥 田 貞 右衛門 行 高 )
- Hayami Tōzaemon Mitsutaka ( 早 水 藤 左衛 門 満 尭 )
- Yada Gorōemon Suketake ( 矢 田 五郎 右衛門 助 武 )
- Ōishi Sezaemon Nobukiyo ( 大石 瀬 左衛 門 信 清 )
- Isogai Jūrōzaemon Masahisa ( 礒 貝 十郎 左衛 門 正 久 )
- Hazama Kihē Mitsunobu ( 間 喜 兵衛 光 延 )
- Hazama Jūjirō Mitsuaki ( 間 十 次郎 光 興 )
- Hazama Shinrokurō Mitsukaze ( 間 新 六郎 光 風 )
- Nakamura Kansuke Masatoki ( 中 村 勘 助 正 辰 )
- Semba Saburobē Mitsutada ( 千 馬 三郎 兵衛 光 忠 )
- Sugaya Hannojō Masatoshi ( 菅 谷 半 之 丞 政 利 )
- Muramatsu Kibē Hidenao ( 村 松 喜 兵衛 秀 直 )
- Muramatsu Sandayū Takanao ( 村 松 三 太 夫 高 直 )
- Kurahashi Densuke Takeyuki ( 倉橋 伝 助 武 幸 )
- Okajima Yasoemon Tsuneshige ( 岡 嶋 八十 右衛門 常 樹 )
- Ōtaka Gengo Tadao / Tadatake ( 大 高 源 五 忠雄 )
- Yatō Emoshichi Norikane ( 矢 頭 右衛門 七 教 兼 )
- Katsuta Shinzaemon Taketaka ( 勝 田 新 左衛 門 武 尭 )
- Takebayashi Tadashichi Takashige ( 武林 唯 七 隆重 )
- Maebara Isuke Munefusa ( 前 原 伊 助 宗 房 )
- Kaiga Yazaemon Tomonobu ( 貝 賀 弥 左衛 門 友 信 )
- Sugino Jūheiji Tsugifusa ( 杉 野 十 平 次 次 房 )
- Kanzaki Yogorō Noriyasu ( 神 崎 与 五郎 則 休 )
- Mimura Jirōzaemon Kanetsune ( 三 村 次郎 左衛 門 包 常 )
- Yakokawa Kambei Munetoshi ( 横 川 勘 平 宗 利 )
- Kayano Wasuke Tsunenari ( 茅 野 和 助 常 成 )
- Terasaka Kichiemon Nobuyuki ( 寺 坂 吉 右衛門 信 行 )
reception
In Japan, numerous plays ( kabuki and bunraku ) sprang up immediately after the incident . The first piece with clear allusions to the incidents around the 47 Rōnin "The nocturnal attack of the Soga (brothers) at dawn" appeared only two weeks after their death, but was banned by the authorities after the third performance. However, numerous other pieces followed, initially in Osaka and Kyōto, a little away from the seat of the central government. Some pieces traveled to Manila and spread the story all over the Far East.
The most successful bunraku puppet show is called Kanadehon Chūshingura ("Template for the calligraphy : A treasure house of faithful samurai"), usually called Chūshingura for short , written in 1748 by Takeda Izumo II., Miyoshi Shōraku and Namiki Sōsuke. It was later transformed into a kabuki piece and is still played all over Japan today.
In all pieces - especially from this early period - the names of the Rōnin are falsified and the events are often dated to a much earlier time in order to escape the censorship of the shogunate. Many of these middle names in the Chūshingura piece are familiar to the Japanese. Asano became En'ya Hangan Takasada , Kira became Kō no Moronao and Ōishi was quite obviously transformed into Ōboshi Yuranosuke Yoshio - the names of the rest of the Rōnin were more or less alienated. The play also contains a few subsidiary threads that do not correspond to the real process: For example, Moronao tries to seduce En'ya's wife, and a Rōnin dies before the attack due to a conflict between family and loyalty (another reason why sometimes 46 Ronin is spoken of).
In the western world, the topic of the 47 Ronin became known in 1962 through the film 47 Ronin ( Chūshingura ) by Hiroshi Inagaki , made into a film based on the story of Seika Mayama . Kon Ichikawa made another film version of the story in 1994, also called 47 Ronin . In addition, the 1998 film Ronin tells the story of the 47 ronin in a scene (the film is based on the idea that former secret agents who have lost their jobs are in a similar situation to Japanese ronins). On December 6, 2013, another film adaptation of the subject by Carl Rinsch with Keanu Reeves in the leading role was released.
Jorge Luis Borges provides a fairly free retelling of the subject with the short story The impolite master of ceremonies Kotsuke no Suke , contained in wickedness and eternity, stories and essays . The legend also serves as the backstory for the German fantasy thriller Der Sommer des Samurai .
In 2014 Dark Horse Verlag published the graphic novel 47 Rōnin - The Tale of the Loyal Retainers (originally published as a five-part mini-series), using the script by Mike Richardson, the drawings by Usagi Yojimbo creator Stan Sakai, the coloring of Lovern Kindzierski and the caption are from L. Lois Buhalis and Tom Orzechowski. The comic tells the story of the bloody vengeance from the point of view of Murakami Kiken, the man from Satsuma who scolded and humiliated Ōishi for ignorance of the situation and now visits the graves of the samurai in the Sengaku-ji temple out of remorse.
The 2015 released film load Knights of Kazuaki Kiriya is largely based on the events of the story of the 47 Ronin, which have been adapted to the European Middle Ages.
literature
- John Allyn: The Story of the 47 Rônin . Schlatt-Books, Lauda-Königshofen 2003, ISBN 3-937745-12-2 (English: The Forty-Seven Ronin Story . Translated by Andreas F. Albrecht).
- Hiroaki Sato: Legends of the Samurai . Overlook Press, Woodstock NY 1995, ISBN 0-87951-619-4 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reel Time - Kazuaki Kiriya's Last Knights falls short of expectations. Retrieved September 28, 2016 .