What was samurai honor?

Honor: Samurai were warriors who upheld a sense of self worth and lived by the highest code of conduct. In order to abide by the principle of honor, you must acknowledge your moral responsibilities. Loyalty: First, stay true to yourself.

Why did samurai care about honor?

In this manner, a samurai’s honor would be preserved and the enemy denied the spoils of war. When translated into English, the word samurai means, “to serve.” Warriors were expected to act for the greater good of society, and protect their master and people, sacrificing their lives if necessary.

What were the samurai beliefs?

There were seven main virtues that the Samurai were expected to maintain: justice, courage, benevolence, respect, honesty, honor, and loyalty.

What did a samurai believe in?

At the core of the samurai, beliefs was their honor code known as bushido. Still, the bushido code was just the natural result of the three most important religions and philosophies the samurai followed – Shintoism, Confucianism, and Zen Buddhism.

Were all samurai on the list of honorable samurai?

There are many counts of “honorable” samurai who did terrible things, like killing their wife and children to prove their loyalty. So to answer your question; every samurai was on “honorable”, but their honor was not exactly the same as everyone else’s or each other’s.

How loyal were the samurai?

During the periods of war – which is basically from the 1330s until 1600, the Samurai were very pragmatic – loyal when they could be, but above all were protecting themselves and their immediate families. Not so honorable. How honorable were the Samurai?

Were Minamoto Yoshitsune’s samurai honorable?

Yoshitsune was the general responsible for much of the Minamoto’s military success. It depends on what you mean by honorable. To samurai honor was serving their daimyo (basically a lord or master), and whatever the daimyo considered honorable his samurai would as well.

What if a samurai didn’t have a Lord?

If a samurai didn’t have a lord or master—either because their master had died or the samurai had fallen out of favor—they were known as a ronin, a Japanese expression for a “wandering man.”