The smaller blade is called a wakizashi sword. Traditional Japanese short sword wakizashi
Harakiri was the privilege of the samurai, who were very proud that they could freely dispose own life, emphasizing this a terrible ritual contempt for death. Literally translated from Japanese, hara-kiri means “to cut the stomach” (from “hara” - stomach and “kiru” - to cut). But if you look deeper, the words “soul”, “intentions”, “secret thoughts” have the same spelling of the hieroglyph as the word “hara”. Our review contains a story about one of the most incredible rituals.
Seppuku or hara-kiri is a form of Japanese ritual suicide. This practice was originally provided for by bushido, the samurai code of honor. Seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai who wanted to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies (and likely be tortured), or it was also a form of death penalty for samurai who have committed serious crimes or disgraced themselves in some way. The solemn ceremony was part of a more complex ritual, which was usually performed in front of spectators, and consisted of plunging a short blade (usually a tanto) into the abdominal cavity and cutting it across the abdomen.
The first recorded act of harakiri was committed by a Minamoto daimyo named Yorimasa during the Battle of Uji in 1180. Seppuku eventually became a key part of bushido, the code of samurai warriors; it was used by warriors to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy, to avoid shame and to avoid possible torture. Samurai could also be ordered to commit hara-kiri by their daimyo (feudal lords). The most common form of seppuku for men was to cut open the abdomen with a short blade, after which his assistant would end the samurai's suffering by beheading or cutting the spine.
It is worth noting that the main meaning of this act was to restore or defend one’s honor, so the warrior who committed similar suicide, never beheaded completely, but “only half.” Those who did not belong to the samurai caste were not allowed to do hara-kiri. And a samurai could almost always carry out seppuku only with the permission of his master.
Sometimes the daimyo ordered harakiri to be performed as a guarantee of a peace agreement. This weakened the defeated clan, and its resistance virtually ceased. The legendary collector of Japanese lands, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, used enemy suicide in this manner several times, the most dramatic of which effectively ended a major daimyo dynasty. When ruling family Hojo was defeated at the Battle of Odawara in 1590, Hideyoshi insisted on the suicide of the daimyo Hojo Ujimasa and the exile of his son Hojo Ujinao. This ritual suicide put an end to the powerful family daimyo in eastern Japan.
Until the practice became more standardized in the 17th century, the ritual of seppuku was less formalized. For example, in XII-XIII centuries the military leader Minamoto no Yorimasa committed hara-kiri in a much more painful way. Back then it was customary to commit suicide by immersing yourself in a wheelbarrow ( long sword), wakizashi (short sword) or tanto (knife) into the intestines and subsequent ripping open the stomach in a horizontal direction. In the absence of a kaishaku (assistant), the samurai himself took the blade out of his stomach and stabbed himself in the throat with it, or fell (from a standing position) onto the blade dug into the ground opposite his heart.
During the Edo period (1600-1867), performing hara-kiri became an elaborate ritual. As a rule, it was carried out in front of spectators (if it was planned seppuku), and not on the battlefield. The samurai washed his body, dressed in white clothes and ate his favorite dishes. When he finished, he was given a knife and cloth. The warrior put the sword with the blade towards himself, sat down on this special cloth and prepared for death (usually at this time he wrote a poem about death).
At the same time, the kaishaku assistant stood next to the samurai, who drank a cup of sake, opened his kimono, and took a tanto (knife) or wakizashi (short sword) in his hands, wrapped the blade in a piece of cloth so that it would not cut his hands, and plunged it into his stomach, After this, make a cut from left to right. After this, the kaishaku beheaded the samurai, and he did it so that the head partially remained on the shoulders, and did not cut it off completely. Because of this condition and the precision required for it, the assistant had to be an experienced swordsman.
Seppuku eventually evolved from battlefield suicide and common practice to war time into a complex court ritual. The assistant kaishaku was not always a friend of the samurai. If the defeated warrior fought with dignity and well, then the enemy, who wanted to honor his courage, voluntarily became an assistant in the suicide of this warrior.
In feudal times, there was a specialized form of seppuku known as kanshi ("death by understanding"), in which people committed suicide in protest of their lord's decision. In this case, the samurai made one deep horizontal incision in the abdomen, and then quickly bandaged the wound. After that this person appeared before his master with a speech in which he protested against the actions of the daimyo. At the end of his speech, the samurai pulled off the bandage from his mortal wound. This should not be confused with funshi (death by indignation), which was suicide in protest against government action.
Some samurai performed a much more painful form of seppuku, known as the jumonji giri ("cruciform cut"), which did not involve kaishaku, which could quickly end the samurai's suffering. In addition to the horizontal incision in the abdomen, the samurai also made a second and more painful vertical incision. A samurai performing jumonji giri had to endure his suffering stoically until he bled to death.
For anyone interested in the history and culture of the Land of the Rising Sun,
Seppuku and hara-kiri are written with the same two characters. The difference is that seppuku is written as 切腹 (first comes the hieroglyph “cut” and then “stomach”), and hara-kiri, on the contrary, is written as 腹切り (the first hieroglyph is “stomach”, “hara” - belly and “kiru” - cut). In Japan, the word "harakiri" is a colloquial form and carries some everyday and derogatory connotations.
The essence of the ritual
Samurai or other representatives of the upper strata of Japanese society committed suicide (by the harakiri method) in the event of an insult to their honor, committing an unworthy act (disgracing the name of a warrior in accordance with Bushido norms), in the event of the death of their overlord, or (later, during the Edo period , when the ritual was finally formed) - by a court verdict as punishment for a crime committed.
Harakiri was the privilege of the samurai, who were proud of the fact that they could freely manage their lives, emphasizing fortitude, self-control, and contempt for death by performing the ritual. Cutting the abdomen required great courage and endurance from the warrior, since the abdominal cavity is one of the most sensitive places in the human body, the center of many nerve endings. That is why the samurai, who considered themselves the most courageous, cold-blooded and strong-willed people in Japan, preferred this painful form of death.
For the Japanese, the stomach is the center of feelings and emotions. And it is no coincidence that in connection with this Japanese There are many expressions and sayings related to "hara". For example, a person encouraging another to be frank in a conversation uses the expression "hara o watte hanashimasho", which means "let's talk by sharing hara", or in other words, "let's talk by opening our bellies." Also typical are sayings such as “haradatsu” (to rise to the stomach, to get angry); “haragitanai” (dirty belly, mean person, low aspirations).
Development of the ritual.
In ancient times in Japan, when a noble person died, his closest servants, luxury items, etc. were buried with him in order to provide him with everything he needed in life. the afterlife.. Subsequently, in order to save people from painful death when buried alive, they were allowed to commit suicide here, on the grave of their owner. Emperor Suinin, who reigned at the beginning of our era, according to legend, completely banned this ritual, and ordered that the servants buried with the master around his grave henceforth be replaced with clay figures. However, the custom of death following the overlord, having been somewhat transformed, was preserved in feudal times and took the form of voluntary deprivation of life through hara-kiri at the grave of the feudal lord. The samurai did not value their lives at all, devoting themselves entirely to serving only their master. Usually 10-30 (or more) of the feudal lord’s closest servants killed themselves by committing seppuku after his death.
During the period of internecine wars, hara-kiri acquires a mass character among the samurai class, in order not to fall into the hands of enemies when the troops of their daimyo (landowner) are defeated. With the same samurai, they simultaneously made amends to their master for losing the battle; they escaped in this way from shame.
One of the most famous examples of a warrior committing harakiri upon defeat is the seppuku of Masashige Kusunoki. Having lost the battle, Masashige and 60 of his devoted friends performed the hara-kiri ritual. This incident was considered by the samurai to be one of the noblest examples of devotion to duty in Japanese history.
Usually after opening the abdomen Japanese warrior With the same knife he cut his own throat in order to stop the torment and die faster. There were cases when samurai or military leaders disfigured their faces with cold steel before committing suicide so that enemy soldiers could not identify them.
But samurai often committed hara-kiri for the most insignificant and insignificant reasons.
M. Khan described the case of seppuku of two samurai from the encirclement imperial family. Both samurai committed hara-kiri after a brief argument over their swords accidentally brushing against each other as a bushi walked down the palace stairs.
Such ease of taking one’s own life was due to the complete disregard for it, developed with the help of Zen teaching, as well as the presence of a cult of death among the bushi.
Performing the ritual.
Harakiri was performed different ways and means, which depended on the methodology developed by various schools. The samurai, plunging the weapon into the abdominal cavity, had to cut it so that those around him could see the insides of the one doing seppuku and thereby the “purity of thoughts” of the warrior. The abdomen was cut twice, first horizontally from the left side to the right, then vertically from the diaphragm to the navel. Thus, the goal (suicide) was fully justified by the means (harakiri); After this terrible wound, it was no longer possible to stay alive.
In addition to the cruciform opening of the abdomen, other methods were also used.
The method of opening the abdomen depended mainly on the samurai himself, on the degree of his self-control, patience and endurance. An agreement with the suicide assistant, whom the samurai sometimes chose to provide “assistance” in committing hara-kiri, also played a certain role here.
In rare cases, hara-kiri was carried out not with a steel, but with a bamboo sword, which was much more difficult to cut the insides of. This was done in order to show the warrior’s special endurance and courage, to exalt the name of the samurai, as a result of a dispute between bushi, or by order.
Seppuku was usually committed in a sitting position (meaning Japanese way sitting, when a person touches the floor with his knees, and the body rests on the heels of the legs), and the clothes lowered from the upper part of the body were tucked under the knees, thereby preventing the body from falling backward after performing hara-kiri, since falling on one’s back during such a responsible action was considered a shame for a samurai.
Sometimes hara-kiri was done by warriors in a standing position. This method was called “tatabara” by the Japanese - standing seppuku (in a natural position).
The abdomen was opened with a special dagger for hara-kiri - kusungobu, which had a length of about 25 cm and was considered a heirloom, which was usually kept in a tokonoma (a niche in the central room)
Samurai began to learn harakiri from childhood. Experienced mentors in special schools explained to the young men how to begin and complete seppuku, while maintaining their own dignity and demonstrating the ability to control themselves until the last moment of life. This training, enormous popularity, dissemination and glorification of hara-kiri in the feudal society of Japan yielded results: children of samurai often resorted to performing the ritual of opening the abdomen. A. Belsor, for example, described the case of hara-kiri of the seven-year-old son of a samurai, who committed suicide in front of hired killers sent to his father, but who mistakenly killed another person. When identifying the corpse, the young samurai, wanting to use this mistake to save the life of his parent, as if in desperation, pulled out a sword and silently ripped open his stomach. The criminals, who believed in this peculiar deception, left, considering their job done.
For the wives and daughters of warriors, hara-kiri was also not something special, but women, unlike men, did not cut their stomachs, but only their throats, or dealt a fatal blow to the heart with a dagger. Nevertheless, this process was also called hara-kiri. Suicide by cutting the throat (jigai) was performed by samurai wives with a special dagger (kaiken), a wedding gift from the husband, or short sword, given to each samurai's daughter during her coming of age ceremony. There were known cases of using a large sword for this purpose. Custom prescribed that those who committed hara-kiri should be buried with the weapon with which it was performed. Perhaps this is precisely what can explain the presence of swords and daggers in ancient female burials.
According to the norms of the Bushido code, it was considered a disgrace for the wife of a samurai to fail to commit suicide if necessary, so women were also taught the correct execution of suicide. They had to be able to cut the arteries in the neck, know how to tie their knees before death, so that the body would then be found in a chaste position.
The history of seppuku has many examples “when, after opening the abdomen, heroes found the strength to write a spiritual testament with their own blood.” However, despite his education in the spirit of Zen and the ability to control himself, a samurai could subconsciously lose control over his actions due to terrible pain and die “ugly”: with an expression of suffering, falling backward, screaming, etc., thereby disgracing his name . In this regard, a kaishakunin was introduced - an assistant to a person convicted of hara-kiri, whose duty was to stop the torment of a samurai who had opened his stomach by separating the head from the body.
When the head was cut off, the kaishaku walked away from the corpse, holding the sword point down, knelt down and wiped the blade with white paper. If the kaishaku had no other assistants, he himself took the severed head by the tuft of hair and, holding the sword by the blade, supporting the chin of the condemned man’s head with the handle, showed the profile to the witness (left and right). If the head was bald, it was necessary to pierce the left ear with a kozuka (an auxiliary knife attached to the sheath of the sword) and thus take it for examination. In order not to get dirty with blood, the “second” had to have ash with him.
With the beginning of the reorganization of the political system on the European model, the official use of seppuku was abolished. But cases of seppuku were often encountered in the 20th century, and each such case was met with the hidden approval of the nation, creating an aura of glory and greatness. One of these “heroes” turned out to be the famous Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, who committed suicide in 1970.
To the uninitiated, Japan seems like a distant country, where people still walk the streets samurai, only sushi is served on the table and everyone, without exception, makes themselves hara-kiri. To think so is not entirely correct, and to talk about it means to seem ignorant. However, in reality everything is far from the case. Japan is the country where long-standing traditions have been followed for the longest time, and some of the rituals continue to be relevant today. Japanese rituals for a secular person may seem very cruel and inhuman, but if you delve into the essence of civil-social relations, understand the ongoing processes in the life of Japanese society, much will become clearer. This is in to the fullest also refers to hara-kiri, a phenomenon in Japanese life and culture about which we know very little. We like this word, but its meaning is far from what we put into it.
Where did it come from and what does it mean? What is the main confusion?
Harakiri is a colloquial word in Japanese that literally means "to cut the belly." Although if you go into the analysis of the word and break it down, a slightly different meaning appears. The character "hara" in Japanese means soul, meaning or means intention. Needless to say, many peoples have a special ritual attitude towards the soul. So for the Japanese, the stomach is exactly the place where to store human soul and the intention to free her in this way becomes clear. From this moment a picture begins to emerge that explains many things. Let's call things by their proper names. What we usually associate with hara-kiri is suicide committed by any person out of voluntary moral and ethical motives. In Japan, this expression has a different connotation, more social. In Japanese society, when they want to say that someone committed suicide by cutting open his stomach, they say hara-kiri.
You will never see such an expression in Japanese history or literature. Here they talk about such things from a different perspective. Ritual suicide committed according to all canons and rules is called seppuku. What is the difference if both words are written with the same hieroglyphs? The differences are that hara-kiri is the Japanese reading of hieroglyphs, and seppuku is the Chinese reading of the same set of hieroglyphs. Seppuku and hara-kiri literally mean the same thing, i.e. method of suicide, only each individual case has its own interpretation of the expression and meaning.
The main differences between the rituals of Harakiri and Sepukku
It should be noted right away that seppuku is a medieval custom and today in Japan they talk about it only when remembering historical facts. If hara-kiri took root and became a common noun in modern society, then they gradually began to forget about seppuku. This expression occurs in Japanese poetry and in the epic. Fundamental difference I mean no. It’s just that hara-kiri, as a rule, was done by commoners, while seppuku was the prerogative of the elite class. One would never hear that a noble warrior or official, a member of the samurai clan, had committed hara-kiri. It was customary to present this event to society with special brilliance. For this, there was a special set of rules that clearly defined not only the motives that pushed the samurai to commit suicide, but also regulated the process itself.
It was not enough to take an ordinary knife and rip open your stomach. It was necessary to observe many subtleties and nuances before the samurai’s soul passed on to another world. Here it should be borne in mind that the life of a samurai has always developed in strict accordance with the code of honor - bushido. It was there that a special place was given to the death of a samurai. A samurai has had since childhood special treatment to death. The most worthy death for members of the elite warrior caste was considered seppuku, committed in accordance with all the rules and canons. Let us dwell separately on some moments of the ritual.
- Firstly, seppuku was often used to execute a guilty person. Instead of the procedure of cutting open the abdomen, a samurai, on the orders of a lord or emperor, could be deprived of his head;
- Secondly, the ritual itself must show the samurai’s voluntary attitude towards the act of suicide, reveal the purity of his thoughts, the depth of repentance;
- Thirdly, the method of taking one’s life played a huge role.
It has always been considered important for a samurai to accept a dignified death. This was often done demonstratively, in a specially staged scene. When seppuku was done by order, cutting off the samurai’s head, they tried to save his honor and dignity. An independent decision to die involved cutting open the abdomen. This act was preceded careful preparation. Great value played the choice of weapons for this purpose, the position of the body of the suicide. It is important to note the fact that every samurai was trained in this ritual from childhood. For men, the bloodiest method of cutting open the abdomen was chosen, which left virtually no chance of survival. Girls - samurai for these purposes managed with a simpler procedure, using kaiken. To take her own life, a girl had only to stick a knife into her heart or cut the jugular vein in her neck.
It was important for the girl to take a chaste pose with her legs tied. The suicide pose should be similar to a withered flower.
The murder weapon was the samurai's personal weapon, knives and swords, which he received upon initiation into the military caste. Less commonly used was a special knife - kugunsobu. Commoners usually used a special knife for hara-kiri. It could be tanto- edged weapons with a long and sharp blade or any other edged weapon with a sharpened blade.
In order for the act of suicide to be carried out according to all the rules, a special person, the kaishaku, monitored the state of the suicide, ready at any moment to cut off the samurai’s head and end his suffering.
The ethical side of hara-kiri and seppuku
In Japanese traditions, rooted in the distant past, it was customary to believe in the multiple rebirth of the human soul, so it was important to die with dignity. Harakiri did not require special conditions. It was enough for the samurai to simply make the decision himself and commit suicide in accordance with tradition. Seppuku, on the contrary, required the creation of special conditions for the ritual. The location of the ritual was carefully chosen. Representatives of the authorities were required to attend the ceremony. The ceremony was performed by a specially trained person in the presence of the kaishaku.
If a samurai died in battle, there was no point in the ceremony. It’s a completely different matter when misconduct or misbehavior samurai fell on Peaceful time. At that time, the seppuku ceremony was mandatory. It is seppuku, not hara-kiri. The samurai had plenty of reasons to commit suicide. The most common reasons for performing the ceremony include the following facts:
- “death in the wake”, i.e. suicide of a samurai following the death of a master or overlord;
- suicide due to awareness of one’s own responsibility for the negative consequences that have occurred;
- voluntary death due to one's own convictions;
- suicide due to the inability to realize one’s own rage towards the enemy;
- hara-kiri due to one’s own financial or social insolvency.
Acts of collective suicide were often committed in Japan. Harakiri was often done by couples in love, living together which was impossible due to caste prejudices. In difficult circumstances, during times of famine, war and great family shame, parents and children committed a collective act of suicide.
The samurai must go through the entire ceremony from beginning to end, behave with dignity, and not scream or writhe in pain. The main thing is to show your death beautifully and to be worthy of it. If during an act of suicide a samurai loses control over himself, this was equated with even greater shame. In Japan, there were unofficial statistics that kept records of acts of seppuku. In literature one could often find fragments of the act of suicide of some noble nobleman. It was customary to frame seppuku in poetic and lyrical tones, comparing voluntary death with an act of purification.
Modern attitude towards hara-kiri and seppuku
Over time, previously closed from outside world Japanese society began to transform. The attitude towards death also changed. Despite the fact that society retained a respectful attitude towards samurai, seppuku and hara-kiri became the exclusive prerogative of noble persons. Poor nobles preferred to look for other ways out of situations instead of committing suicide. The long period of peace that reigned in Japan, starting from the second half of the 18th century, was the reason for the fact that some rituals in the life of the samurai began to be purely symbolic.
The bushido code of honor remained mandatory for high-ranking officials and military personnel. The military caste, which has always been considered the most influential in Japan, has preserved its traditions. A special place was given to seppuku, which could still be heard about during the Second World War. Hundreds of Japanese officers committed seppuku before surrendering. A blatant fact is the mass seppuku, which was carried out by officers Japanese army, when it became known that Emperor Hirohito had abdicated the throne. Cases of harakiri among simple ones Japanese soldiers were not as widespread as among the officer class. The simple origin of the military personnel and the natural desire to survive, enduring the horrors and hardships of war, had an effect.
Officially, the rituals of seppuku and hara-kiri were banned in Japan only in 1968, but even today there are often cases when descendants of samurai commit suicide in this way.
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