Hara-Kiri: Japanese Ritual Suicide Read Online Free
Author: Jack Seward
Tags: Social Science, Asia, History, Military, Japan, Non-Fiction, Anthropology, Cultural
faithful retainers followed him in seppuku.
Seppuku in the Feudal Penal Code
The death penalty down to the time of the Ashikaga was carried out by two methods, strangulation and decapitation. Late in the Ashikaga Period, seppuku was added to honor the condemned. Other judiciary documents at that time, however, make no discernible mention of seppuku and suggest that the custom as an honorable method of execution was only in the formative stage toward the end of the Ashikaga Period.
With the advent of the Tokugawa Period, the government decided to formalize all phases of the social system and the following five grades of penalties were instituted for the samurai class:
1. Hissoku âContrite Seclusion. This penalty was subdivided into three parts: restraint, circumspect prudence, and humility.
2. Heimon âDomiciliary Confinement. This was subdivided into two: 50 days and 100 days.
3. Chikkyo âSolitary Confinement. This was subdivided into three: confinement in one room, temporary retirement, and permanent retirement (till death).
4. Kai-ekiâ Attainder. Permanent removal of the name of the offender from the roll of the samurai.
5. Seppuku
Why the Abdomen Was Chosen
The word hara or abdomen has a common root with the word hari which means tension. Ancient Japanese associated tension in the abdomen with the soul. The abdomen is the place where the soul resides; the more vital the action, the greater the tension. At the same time, it is the physical center of the body; hence they were led to look upon the abdomen as the cradle of one's will, thought, generosity, boldness, spirit, anger, enmity, etc.
There are many Japanese idioms that are associated with the word hara. For example:
hara ga tatsu, literally, "the stomach stands up," meaning to become angry.
hara o watte hanasu, "to talk over a matter with an open stomach," meaning to have a frank talk.
hara no okii hito, "a person with a big stomach," meaning a generous man.
hara-guroi hito, "a person with a black stomach," meaning a sly man.
kare no hara o yomenai, "I cannot read his stomach," meaning "I do not understand what is in his mind."
hara o kimeru, "to determine one's stomach," meaning to make up one's mind.
The reference to the abdomen in such expressions is not a monopoly of the Japanese. In Greek we have phren, primarily "diaphragm," also "seat of passions and affections"; hence, "heart," "mind," "understanding," or "reason."
In French ventre (abdomen) is often associated with coeur (heart, mind). Entrailles means both intestines as well as feelings, tenderness, heart, or pity.
In English, we use idioms like "he has no stomach for the task," "intestinal fortitude," or "the pit of one's stomach," etc.
In Hebrew, the word rahmim in the plural means the intestinal part of the body, or womb, and also has the meaning of affection. For example, in Genesis 43, we find, "His [Joseph's] heart yearned toward his brother." In the original Hebrew, this is given as "His bowels grew hot toward his brother."
In still other verses as Proverbs 12: 10, Amos 1: 11, First Kings 3: 26, the same term is used to designate "pity," "grace," or "favor."
Still, it was the Japanese who devised a manner of suicide that cuts into the soul or the center of the emotions, and their peculiar cultural philosophy found justification in the act.
Considering the interpretation of the abdomen as the soul-center, it would seem the most proper place of the body for suicidal purposes, expiating the crime as well as purging the shame.
Too, seppuku being a very painful method of suicide, commoners would likely refrain from it and only persons of great determination would undergo the ordeal. Judging from the fact that the Zen sect of Buddhism suddenly emerged to gain the favor of the samurai class from the Kamakura Period on (that is, from the beginning of the feudal age), there is good reason to infer that the act of seppuku was associated with the austerities and
Seppuku in the Feudal Penal Code
The death penalty down to the time of the Ashikaga was carried out by two methods, strangulation and decapitation. Late in the Ashikaga Period, seppuku was added to honor the condemned. Other judiciary documents at that time, however, make no discernible mention of seppuku and suggest that the custom as an honorable method of execution was only in the formative stage toward the end of the Ashikaga Period.
With the advent of the Tokugawa Period, the government decided to formalize all phases of the social system and the following five grades of penalties were instituted for the samurai class:
1. Hissoku âContrite Seclusion. This penalty was subdivided into three parts: restraint, circumspect prudence, and humility.
2. Heimon âDomiciliary Confinement. This was subdivided into two: 50 days and 100 days.
3. Chikkyo âSolitary Confinement. This was subdivided into three: confinement in one room, temporary retirement, and permanent retirement (till death).
4. Kai-ekiâ Attainder. Permanent removal of the name of the offender from the roll of the samurai.
5. Seppuku
Why the Abdomen Was Chosen
The word hara or abdomen has a common root with the word hari which means tension. Ancient Japanese associated tension in the abdomen with the soul. The abdomen is the place where the soul resides; the more vital the action, the greater the tension. At the same time, it is the physical center of the body; hence they were led to look upon the abdomen as the cradle of one's will, thought, generosity, boldness, spirit, anger, enmity, etc.
There are many Japanese idioms that are associated with the word hara. For example:
hara ga tatsu, literally, "the stomach stands up," meaning to become angry.
hara o watte hanasu, "to talk over a matter with an open stomach," meaning to have a frank talk.
hara no okii hito, "a person with a big stomach," meaning a generous man.
hara-guroi hito, "a person with a black stomach," meaning a sly man.
kare no hara o yomenai, "I cannot read his stomach," meaning "I do not understand what is in his mind."
hara o kimeru, "to determine one's stomach," meaning to make up one's mind.
The reference to the abdomen in such expressions is not a monopoly of the Japanese. In Greek we have phren, primarily "diaphragm," also "seat of passions and affections"; hence, "heart," "mind," "understanding," or "reason."
In French ventre (abdomen) is often associated with coeur (heart, mind). Entrailles means both intestines as well as feelings, tenderness, heart, or pity.
In English, we use idioms like "he has no stomach for the task," "intestinal fortitude," or "the pit of one's stomach," etc.
In Hebrew, the word rahmim in the plural means the intestinal part of the body, or womb, and also has the meaning of affection. For example, in Genesis 43, we find, "His [Joseph's] heart yearned toward his brother." In the original Hebrew, this is given as "His bowels grew hot toward his brother."
In still other verses as Proverbs 12: 10, Amos 1: 11, First Kings 3: 26, the same term is used to designate "pity," "grace," or "favor."
Still, it was the Japanese who devised a manner of suicide that cuts into the soul or the center of the emotions, and their peculiar cultural philosophy found justification in the act.
Considering the interpretation of the abdomen as the soul-center, it would seem the most proper place of the body for suicidal purposes, expiating the crime as well as purging the shame.
Too, seppuku being a very painful method of suicide, commoners would likely refrain from it and only persons of great determination would undergo the ordeal. Judging from the fact that the Zen sect of Buddhism suddenly emerged to gain the favor of the samurai class from the Kamakura Period on (that is, from the beginning of the feudal age), there is good reason to infer that the act of seppuku was associated with the austerities and
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