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112 reviews for:
Art Of The Samurai: Yamamoto Tsunetomo's Hagakure
Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Barry D. Steben
3.64 AVERAGE
112 reviews for:
Art Of The Samurai: Yamamoto Tsunetomo's Hagakure
Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Barry D. Steben
3.64 AVERAGE
There's some good samurai wisdom here and some good anecdotes (a guy gets boiled alive in soy sauce), but it's overshadowed by its own stupid samurai wisdom.
I like the idea about always living as if you're already dead (I read an interview where Houellebecq offers it as writing advice). It feels stoic, until you realize these guys were ready to throw their lives away over petty slights. Revenge plays a huge role for the samurai, but there's nothing about the emptiness it leaves with you.
Best lines:
1. Furthermore, drinking a decoction of the feces from a dappled horse is the way to stop bleeding from an injury received by falling off a horse. ... "Life is dear to me. How can I drink horse feces?" Tozo heard this and said, "What an admirably brave warrior! What you say is reasonable. However, the basic meaning of loyalty requires us to preserve our lives and gain victory on the battlefield. Well, then, I'll drink some for you." Then he drank some himself and handed over the cup to the man, who took the medicine and gratefully recovered.
2. Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one's body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears and swords, being carried away by surging waves, being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one's master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead.
3. My own vows are the following:
Never to be outdone in the Way of the Samurai.
To be of good use to the master.
To be filial to my parents.
To manifest great compassion, and to act for the sake of Man.
4. If you cut a face lengthwise, urinate on it, and trample on it with straw sandals, it is said that the skin will come off. This was head by the priest Gyojaku when he was in Kyoto. It is information to be treasured.
5. Also, in addition to having spoken sufficiently it is the highest sort of victory to teach your opponent something that will be to his benefit. This is in accordance with the Way.
6. Last year I went to the Kase Execution Grounds to try my hand at beheading, and I found it to be an extremely good feeling. To think that it is unnerving is a symptom of cowardice.
7. The late Jin'emon said that it is better not to bring up daughters. They are a blemish to the family name and a shame to the parents. The eldest daughter is special, but it is better to disregard the others.
8. Above all, the Way of the Samurai should be in being aware that you do no know what will happen next, and in querying every item day and night. Victory and defeat are matters of the temporary force of circumstances. The way of avoiding shame is different. It is simply in death.
Even if it seems certain that you will lose, retaliate. Neither wisdom nor technique has a place in this. A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death. By doing this, you will awaken from your dreams.
9. The bit where he says men's pulses have become womanly, and now men can use women's medicine to cure them. Or the bit about the chinese dragon. Also he says a samurai should have powdered rouge on him at all times, because it's good for your complexion. Or to wear badger underwear to avoid lice.
I like the idea about always living as if you're already dead (I read an interview where Houellebecq offers it as writing advice). It feels stoic, until you realize these guys were ready to throw their lives away over petty slights. Revenge plays a huge role for the samurai, but there's nothing about the emptiness it leaves with you.
Best lines:
1. Furthermore, drinking a decoction of the feces from a dappled horse is the way to stop bleeding from an injury received by falling off a horse. ... "Life is dear to me. How can I drink horse feces?" Tozo heard this and said, "What an admirably brave warrior! What you say is reasonable. However, the basic meaning of loyalty requires us to preserve our lives and gain victory on the battlefield. Well, then, I'll drink some for you." Then he drank some himself and handed over the cup to the man, who took the medicine and gratefully recovered.
2. Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one's body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears and swords, being carried away by surging waves, being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one's master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead.
3. My own vows are the following:
Never to be outdone in the Way of the Samurai.
To be of good use to the master.
To be filial to my parents.
To manifest great compassion, and to act for the sake of Man.
4. If you cut a face lengthwise, urinate on it, and trample on it with straw sandals, it is said that the skin will come off. This was head by the priest Gyojaku when he was in Kyoto. It is information to be treasured.
5. Also, in addition to having spoken sufficiently it is the highest sort of victory to teach your opponent something that will be to his benefit. This is in accordance with the Way.
6. Last year I went to the Kase Execution Grounds to try my hand at beheading, and I found it to be an extremely good feeling. To think that it is unnerving is a symptom of cowardice.
7. The late Jin'emon said that it is better not to bring up daughters. They are a blemish to the family name and a shame to the parents. The eldest daughter is special, but it is better to disregard the others.
8. Above all, the Way of the Samurai should be in being aware that you do no know what will happen next, and in querying every item day and night. Victory and defeat are matters of the temporary force of circumstances. The way of avoiding shame is different. It is simply in death.
Even if it seems certain that you will lose, retaliate. Neither wisdom nor technique has a place in this. A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death. By doing this, you will awaken from your dreams.
9. The bit where he says men's pulses have become womanly, and now men can use women's medicine to cure them. Or the bit about the chinese dragon. Also he says a samurai should have powdered rouge on him at all times, because it's good for your complexion. Or to wear badger underwear to avoid lice.
Quite a letdown after Musashi’s Book of Five Rings, read immediately prior. Rife with hearsay, self contradictions aplenty, rampant misogyny, unthinking conservatism, laughable medical advice (drinking horse feces for example), etc. Just not good. Is there some wisdom here ? Some, but I’d be hard pressed to specify any that can’t be found elsewhere. (My own father, a combat veteran, taught me the central piece of genuine wisdom in this book - to preserve your life you must kill it- when I was still a young girl). I am not at all surprised that Yukio Mishima, narcissistic right-wing nationalistic fanatic that he was, loved this book.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
A look at The Way, as instantiated by the time & place of the samurai. Timeless wisdom lies herein, also instructions on wearing one's armor properly, and wonderfully outdated social and medical advice, among other things. One gets a strong sense of the samurai context—period, power, politics, and wisdom.
informative
slow-paced