47 Ronin Give Birth to Japan's National Creed

 

Introduction

 

The story of the Ch?shingura (literally, the 'Loyal League'), better known in the West as the 'Forty-Seven Ronin' (a ronin - literally "wave man" - is a masterless samurai, one who is tossed about, like a wave in the sea) is perhaps the most-known story of Japanese history, both inside and outside Japan, described by one noted Japan scholar as the country's "national legend". It is also one that offers a great insight into the Japanese character, during the feudal period and beyond. It is not far wrong to think of it as the Japanese equivalent of one of the great Shakespearean dramas.

It concerns a group of samurai who were left masterless in 1701 by the execution of their master, for assaulting a court official whom he felt had insulted him. After over a year of patient waiting and plotting, they succeeded in avenging him by killing the court official. Although they had committed murder, they had done so for that most noble of reasons (to the Japanese) - in obedience to their duty. As a result, they were allowed an honourable death.

 

With little embellishment, the true story was popularized in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, dedication and honor which all good people (but especially samurai) should persevere in their daily lives.

 

It was rapidly turned into a series of Kabuki plays. The most popular, the Kanedehon Ch?shingura (literally, "Treasury of Loyal Retainers"), was originally written in 1748 for the bunraku (puppet) theatre, and was quickly adapted for Kabuki, in twelve acts. The names, as well as the action, were slightly changed from the real ones (because of a prohibition on plays about recent history), and the stage version is set in the fourteenth century.

 

It quickly became (and remains) one of the staples of the Kabuki repertoire, and remains one of the two most popular Kabuki plays, still performed every year; it has always been regarded as a cure for declining attendance, drawing audiences when nothing else will.

 

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