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Bushidō (武士道, "the way of the warrior") is a moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behavior and lifestyle, formalized in the Edo period (1603–1868). There are multiple types of bushido which evolved significantly through history. Contemporary forms of bushido are still used in the social and economic organization of Japan. Bushido is also used as an overarching term for all the codes, practices, philosophies and principles of samurai culture. It is loosely analogous to the European concept of chivalry, but there are major differences. Origin Ideas of the samurai code formalized earlier samurai moral values and ethics, most commonly stressing a combination of sincerity, frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, honour until death, "bravery", and "loyalty to the samurai's lord." The idea of a samurai code or codes was developed and refined centuries before the Edo period in the Kamakura period. Bushido proper developed between the 16th and 20th centuries, but this was debated by pundits who believed they were building on a legacy dating back to the 10th century. The term bushido itself is "rarely attested in pre-modern literature", but a code of honor did exist among the writing elite and historians who were generally disgusted enough at the dishonorable activity of some fighters such as shinobi as to rarely mention them. Ideas of honor that led to bushido developed in reaction to the dishonorable behavior of samurai that had always existed, newer stealth and espionage techniques, and Zen Buddhist soldier tenets. Honor in battle, as expressed through announcing one's family name and/or lineages before fighting, attempting to limit fights among warrior nobles to horseback archery or sword duels with no subterfuge or trickery, and conducting oneself like a legendary character or renowned hero (tales of daring were popular in the Kamakura period), was a notable idea in the Kamakura period, due to the relative peace of Japan during this time. Pre-bushido honor codes during this time were also contributed to by commoners, who sometimes took on similar roles to samurai and often used their family names as introductions to fighting despite not being noble. However, even during the relatively small family and land quarrels of this time, as well as duels thought to be honorable, warriors often disregarded these norms of combat and the announcement of family names or lineages was mostly a way to brag and assert a right to fight and/or gain whatever a faction was looking for after a fight. Outright bragging was also known to happen. These already tenuous codes of honor were weakened when the Japanese, expecting the invading Mongols to be laid-back with their combat, humiliatingly sent an envoy that fired a noisemaker arrow to officially commence the start of what the Japanese assumed would be a series of small duels and skirmishes. Additionally, Mongols usually cut swathes through soldiers that attempted to announce their lineages before facing them. Despite ultimately winning against the Mongols, these honor norms, along with the shogunate, were weakened enough to cause endemic division that led to the end of the Kamakura period and the court wars of the Nanboku-chō period. Born from Neo-Confucianism during times of peace in the Edo period and following Confucian texts, while also being influenced by Shinto and Zen Buddhism, it balanced violence with the therapeutic ideals of wisdom and peace accepted at the time. It was developed further during the Muromachi period (1336–1573) and formally defined and applied in law by Tokugawa shogunates in the Edo period. There is no strict definition, and interpretations of the code have varied over time. Bushido has undergone many changes throughout Japanese history, and various Japanese clans interpreted it in their own way until the 19th century, enough for it to be most often a series of unwritten oral expectations that could be described as different codes, with further variations likely existing in the same warrior noble house, rather than a single code. One of the earliest known usages of bushido is in the extremely influential late 16th century text The Military Mirror of Kai, where it was used to describe unwritten rules in a complex metaphorical way that commoners could purportedly not live up to. Another early use of the written term is in the Kōyō Gunkan in 1616 by Kōsaka Masanobu. In 1685, the ukiyo-e book Kokon Bushidō ezukushi (古今武士道絵つくし, "Images of Bushidō Through the Ages") by artist Hishikawa Moronobu included the term and artwork of samurai with simple descriptions meant for children. In 1642, the Kashoki (可笑記, "Amusing Notes") was written by samurai Saito Chikamori and included moral precepts which explained the theoretical aspects of bushido. It was written with accessible kana and intended for commoners, not warriors. It was very popular, demonstrating that the idea of bushido had spread among the population. The Kashoki shows that moral values were present in bushido by 1642. The term, bushido, came into common international usage with the 1899 publication of Nitobe Inazō's Bushido: The Soul of Japan which was read by many influential western people. In Bushido (1899), Nitobe wrote: Bushidō, then, is the code of moral principles which the samurai were required or instructed to observe...More frequently it is a code unuttered and unwritten...It was an organic growth of decades and centuries of military career. In order to become a samurai this code has to be mastered. In Feudal and Modern Japan (1896), historian Arthur May Knapp wrote: The samurai of thirty years ago had behind him a thousand years of training in the law of honor, obedience, duty, and self-sacrifice ... It was not needed to create or establish them. As a child he had but to be instructed, as indeed he was from his earliest years, in the etiquette of self-immolation. Etymology Bushidō (武士道) is a Japanese word that literally means "warrior way". It is first attested in the 1616 work Kōyō Gunkan (甲陽軍鑑), a military chronicle recording the exploits of the Takeda clan. The term is a compound of bushi (武士, "warrior", literally 'military + man'), a Chinese-derived word first attested in Japanese in 712 with the on'yomi (Sino-Japanese reading), and dō (道, 'road, way'). In modern usage, bushi is often used as a synonym for samurai; however, historical sources make it clear that bushi and samurai were distinct concepts, with the former referring to soldiers or warriors and the latter referring instead to a kind of hereditary nobility. In the early 17th century, the term bushidō (武士道) with its on'yomi reading was used alongside the synonymous alternative form (武士の道), read using native Japanese vocabulary (kun'yomi) as mono no fu no michi. Another important term is bushi katagi (武士気質, literally 'warrior temperament'). Usage For centuries the samurai adhered to multiple types of the code of which the interpretations varied per samurai clan and per mem.... Discover the Inazo Nitobe Miyamoto Musashi popular books. 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