The revenge of the rōnins of Akō ( Japanese赤 穂 浪 士Akō rōshi ; the rōnins of Akō) - a vendetta , which in 1703 was performed by forty-seven stray samurai ( rōnins ) on a high-ranking Japanese official, master of ceremonies - Yoshinace (or Yoshihis) Kirzehis (1641– 1703) - the perpetrator of the death of the young master of the domain of Akō - Naganori Asano (1667–1701)). For their act, the Ronins - originally to be sentenced to death by hanging - however, were honored with the possibility of having themselves an honorable death through seppuku in 1703. In Japan, this case is known as the Akō Incident of the Genroku era( Japanese元 禄 赤 穂 事件Genroku-Akō-jiken ) . The event was popularized, among others thanks to the performances of the kabuki theater.
Cultural background
In the 17th century, Japan was isolated, which contributed to the development of a purely Japanese culture. Peace in the country allowed for the stabilization of the Han administration , where warriors were employed. With time, the brave warrior was replaced by the stereotype of a nobleman who worshiped his swords but did not have the opportunity to use them. Tales of the war survived only in the legends. Samurai were left without work and began to settle in cities (due to the hard division of society into classes, they were not allowed to own land). The largest concentration of samurai was the city of Edo , the capital of the shogunate and the center of commercial administration. There were also daimyō residences hereand their vassals' possessions were concentrated around the city.
Since the samurai were not allowed to fight because there was peace, and because they were able to do manual labor, many of them began their studies or worked in administration. The samurai chivalrous code bushidō comes from this period , including the most important principles of samurai: loyalty to the senior and the head of the family. The adoption of the code has often resulted in acts of revenge on the part of the samurai against the perpetrator of their superior or a member of his family. In 1701, a vendetta took place by forty-seven samurai from hanu Akō on Yoshinaka Kira, which contributed to the death of their master - Naganori Asano.
Vendetta
In 1701, Japan was ruled by another shogun of the Tokugawa Tsunayoshi Tokugawa family (1646–1709). The emperor was in the capital - Kyoto . Once a year he sent an inspector to the shogun, who was to be received with due respect. In 1701, Tsunayoshi appointed two princes to do so. One of them was Naganori Asano of hanu Akō, unfamiliar with court diplomatic etiquette. The master of ceremonies, Yoshinaka Kira, was supposed to help him, but he maliciously exposed Asano to disgrace. Young Naganori broke the rule of shortage of weapons at the court of the shogun and scratched Kira with his sword. For this he was sentenced to seppuku.
After Asano died, his property was confiscated. Three hundred of his samurai became rōnin. One of them, Kuranosuke Ōishi (born Yoshio Ōishi ), planned revenge. To this end, stray samurai apparently led a carefree lifestyle to confuse Kira's vigilance. In hiding, Ōishi, along with forty-six most faithful Ronin, collected weapons. On December 14, 1702 (January 30, 1703), his team broke into the protected estate of Kira. The leader personally took revenge on the perpetrator of his master's death. Kira's head in the procession was carried to Asano's tomb to the Sengaku-ji temple.
The aftermath of the rōnin revenge
The vendetta of faithful samurai gained a large, positive publicity in the society, but their act was against the law in force. Shogun Tsunayoshi sought to save the samurai from a death sentence. The Hyōjōsho Tribunal also gave them a favorable opinion, stating that they were people of honor and did not intend to disturb the prevailing order. He applied for the lifetime dedication of the Ronin with four daimyos who would treat them with due respect. Despite the favor of the authorities for the samurai, in 1703 an unfavorable sentence was passed - seppuku. Probably the judges were driven by the fear of a precedent that would threaten the authorities in the future .
The trial revealed the dual nature of the rōjū - the direct vassals of the shogun and his closest advisers who would pass the sentence. On the one hand, the samurai followed the bushidō code, and on the other hand, they disturbed the public order without informing the authorities about their planned revenge. This duality was reflected in the operative part of the judgment:
There is an old saying in Japan that a man cannot live under the same sky with the killer of his father, mother, master or older brother. If a man wants to kill such a murderer, he must first notify Hyōjōsho and specify in how many days and months he expects his intention to carry out, because it must be entered into the office's register. If he kills the murderer without such warning, he himself will be treated as an ordinary murderer.
Commemoration
The graves of the loyal Ronin are located on the grounds of the Sengaku-ji Buddhist temple in Tokyo. Their attitude became an example for samurai who sacrificed their lives to their superior in accordance with the samurai chivalrous code of bushidō.
The act of forty-seven samurai was popularized thanks to numerous plays, created shortly after the event. One of the first plays was staged immediately after the scandal in 1703. The author of the work was Monzaemon Chikamatsu . In 1744, the play Treasury of Vassal Loyalty ( Chūshingura ) was written by Izumo Takeda , which is still played by the kabuki theater . There are also several cinematic adaptations, incl. the films Forty Seven Ronin (1941) directed by Kenji Mizoguchi , Forty-seven Faithful Ronin (1958) directed by Kunio Watanabe ,47 Ronin directed by Carl Erik Rinsch (2013). Last Knights directed by Kiriya Kazuaki (2015).
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