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Biography
for|other uses of Ronin or Ronin|Ronin (disambiguation)A Nihongo| ronin |??||cite web | url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/509133/ronin | title = ronin, Japanese warrior | publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica | accessdate = 2009-08-29 or rounin was a Bushido|Bushi with no lord or master during the History_of Japan#Feudal_Japan_.2811851868.29| feudal period (11851868) of Japan . A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege .Barry Till, http://books.google.be/books? id=V14nI8RKPkwC& printsec=frontcover& dq=ronin+samurai& hl=en& sa=X& ei=JOptT6qAD-X10gHb3PWwBg& ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage& q=ronin%20samurai& f=false "The 47 Ronin: A Story of Samurai Loyalty and Courage", 2005, pg. 11
In modern usage, the term is also applied to describe a salaryman who is " Unemployed|between employers " or a secondary school graduate who has not yet been admitted to university.
Etymology
The word ronin means "wave man". The term originated in the Nara period|Nara and Heian Period|Heian periods, when it referred to a serf who had fled or deserted his master's land. It then came to be used for a samurai who had lost his master. (Hence, the term "wave man" illustrating one who is socially adrift.)
Status
According to the Bushido|Bushido Shoshinshu (the Code of the Samurai), a samurai was supposed to commit Seppuku|oibara seppuku (also "hara kiri" ritual suicide) upon the loss of his master. One who chose not to honor the code was "on his own" and was meant to suffer great shame. The undesirability of ronin status was mainly a discrimination imposed by other samurai and by the daimyo (the feudal lords).
Like regular samurai, ronin wore their Daisho| two swords . Ronin used a variety of other weapons too. Some ronin, usually if they lacked money, would carry a bo (staff around 5 to 6& nbsp;ft) or jo (smaller staff or walking stick around 3 to 5& nbsp;ft) or they would use a yumi (bow). Most weapons would reflect the Ryu (school) | ryu or martial arts school they came from if they were students.
During the Edo period , with the shogunate 's rigid class system and laws, the number of ronin greatly increased. Confiscation of fiefs during the rule of the third Tokugawa shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu| Iemitsu resulted in an especially large increase of ronin. During previous ages, samurai were able to move between masters and even between occupations. They would also marry between classes. However, during the Edo period, samurai were restricted, and were above all forbidden to become employed by another master without their previous master's permission. Also, low-level samurai, often poor and without choice, were forced to quit or escape their masters.
Because the former samurai could not legally take up a new trade, or because of pride were loath to do so, many ronin looked for other ways to make a living with their swords. Those ronin who desired steady, legal employment became mercenary|mercenaries that guarded trade caravans, or bodyguards for wealthy merchants. Many other ronin became criminals, operating as bandits and highwaymen, or joining organized crime in towns and cities. Ronin were known to operate, or serve as hired muscle for, gangs that ran gambling rings, brothels, protection rackets, and other similar activities. Many were petty thieves and muggers. The criminal segment gave the ronin of the Edo period a persistent reputation of disgrace, with the image of thugs, bullies, cutthroats, and wandering vagrants.
History
In the Kamakura period|Kamakura and Muromachi period s, when warriors held lands that they occupied, a ronin was a warrior who had lost his lands. During these periods, as small-scale wars frequently occurred throughout Japan, the daimyo needed to augment their armies, so ronin had opportunities to serve new masters. Also, some ronin joined in bands, engaging in robbery and uprisings.
Especially in the Sengoku period , daimyo needed additional fighting men, and even if one's master had perished, a ronin was able to serve a new lord. In contrast to the later Edo period , the bond between the lord and the samurai was loose, and some samurai who were dissatisfied with their treatment left their masters and sought new lords. Many warriors served a succession of masters, and some even became daimyo. As an example, Todo Takatora served ten lords. Additionally, the division of the population into classes had not yet taken place, so it was possible to change one's occupation from warrior to merchant or farmer, or the reverse. Saito Dosan was one merchant who rose through the warrior ranks to become a daimyo.
As Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified progressively larger parts of the country, daimyo found it unnecessary to recruit new soldiers. Next, the Battle of Sekigahara (AD 1600) resulted in the confiscation or reduction of the fiefs of large numbers of daimyo on the losing side; in consequence, many samurai became ronin. As many as a hundred thousand ronin joined forces with Toyotomi Hideyori and fought at the Siege of Osaka . In the ensuing years of peace, there was less need to maintain expensive standing armies, and many surviving ronin turned to farming or became townspeople. A few, such as Yamada Nagamasa , sought adventure overseas as mercenaries. Still, the majority lived in poverty as ronin. Under the third Tokugawa shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu|Iemitsu , their number approached half a million.
Initially, the Tokugawa shogunate|shogunate viewed them as dangerous, and banished them from the cities or restricted the quarters where they could live. They also prohibited serving new masters. As ronin found themselves with fewer and fewer options, they joined in the Keian Uprising (AD 1651). This forced the shogunate to rethink its policy. It relaxed restrictions on daimyo inheritance, resulting in fewer confiscations of fiefs; and it permitted ronin to join new masters.
Not having the status or power of employed samurai, ronin were often disreputable and festive, and the group was a target of humiliation or satire . It was undesirable to be a ronin, as it meant being without a stipend or farm. As an indication of the humiliation felt by samurai who became ronin, Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale|Lord Redesdale recorded that a ronin killed himself at the graves of the Forty-Seven Ronin. He left a note saying that he had tried to enter the service of the daimyo of the Choshu Domain , but was refused. Wanting to serve no other master, and hating being a ronin, he had decided to kill himself.
On the other hand, the famous 18th century writer Kyokutei Bakin renounced his allegiance to Matsudaira Nobunari , in whose service Bakin's samurai father had spent his life. Bakin became voluntarily a ronin, and eventually spent his time writing books (many of them about samurai) and engaging in festivities.
Notable ronin
Forty-seven Ronin|Forty-seven Ronin
Kyokutei Bakin
Miyamoto Musashi
Sakamoto Ryoma
Yamada Nagamasa
Portrayals in media
Thousands of modern works of Japanese fiction set in the Edo period cast characters who are ronin. They are often portrayed as yojimbo (bodyguards) or as watari-kashi (mercenary fighters). Another stereotypical occupation for fictional ronin is the umbrella-maker.
The character Miyamoto Usagi , himself based on famed swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, is the lead character in the comic book Usagi Yojimbo , a term literally translating to "Rabbit Bodyguard". True to the name, Usagi often takes work as a bodyguard, and works for various lords, most notably Lord Noriyuki, and teams with other Samurai, bounty hunters, and the like.
The ronin Takanobu is a major character in The Sign of the Chrysanthemum .
Similarly, the ronin Jin is a major character and protagonist in the popular Japanese anime Samurai Champloo .
In the video game Saints Row 2 , the Ronin were a Yakuza|"Yakuza"-style with traits from the Bosozoku with the belief in maintaining honor and tradition. In the video game Way of the Samurai the main character Kenji is a Ronin who wanders the village of Rokkotsu Pass, creating his own destiny.
The 1998 film Ronin (film)| Ronin portrays former Special Forces and intelligence operatives who find themselves unemployed at the end of the Cold War. Devoid of purpose, they become high-paid mercenaries. There is also a comparison of the characters to the 47 Ronin|Forty-seven ronin .
References
See also
Portal|Japan
Forty-seven ronin|Forty-seven ronin
Gonin Gumi & mdash;groups of households that united for collective protection against ronin
Yojimbo (film)|Yojimbo
DEFAULTSORT:Ronin Category:Samurai Category:Japanese warriors Category:Japanese words and phrases
