Question

• Which of the elements of bushido and chivalry would work well for a code of chivalry
in today’s world? Explain.

Answer 1

reading a bit about the similarities differences between bushido and chivalry. Both were the codes of aristocratic elites, but bushido seems to have stressed a bit more of an honor/loyalty component. [ After all, chivalry was based on a contractual agreement between lord and vassal. According to what I read, the code of the samurai was originally developed from the Way of Horse and Bow, and then, after some influence from Zen Buddhism and Confucianism, into bushido, or the Way of the Warrior. The development of chivalry, on the other hand, is often tied to the Christianizing influences of the church on Europe's warriors, as well as its ties to feudalism. I have also seen ties to Germanic influences as well. Both chivalry and bushido have been criticized as being romanticized unrealities. I found a good quote online that I think sums this up pretty well: The greatest element of unreality that appears in the chronicles of bushido and chivalry is that romanticised descriptions of battles had the effect of promoting an ideal of warfare that rarely existed. Studies have shown that both the Chroniques of Froissart and the battle sections in Heike Monogatari, which were both written at about the same time, were not eyewitness accounts but an expression of 'how warfare should have been' to an author looking back through rose-tinted spectacles. The exploits of Minamoto Yopelletsune in Heike Monogatari, and Kusunoki Masashige in Taiheiki, therefore set impossible and largely fictionalised standards of conduct to which later generations might aspire. Bushido was about loyalty and duty as a warrior. Bushido loosely translated means the Way of the Warrior which is based on the ancient concepts of the Tao (Way). Ritualistic and honour-bound codes regulated the very life of the warrior. The common assumption of the word Samurai, doesn't mean Warrior but loosely means To Serve. Everything has a Tao. The Tao of drinking tea, the Tao of family relations, etc

Answer 2

Thank you ;) @AustinC