Seppuku
From Conservapedia
Seppuku (切腹, literally "stomach cutting") is a form of ritual suicide. It developed as an integral part of the code of bushido and the discipline of the samurai warrior class, during Japan's feudal era (1192-1868). However, it was only after the introduction of Buddhism, with its theme of the transitory nature of life and the glory of death, that seppuku became a part of Japanese culture.
Ordinary Japanese, then and now, looked down on the practice, referring to it by the colloquial harakiri (腹切り), which means the same, but reverses the kanji and is less formal than seppuku. Harakiri is also the phrase most Westerners associate with the act of ritual suicide.
Despite what the common-folk's feelings might have been, to the samurai, committing seppuku, whether ordered to as a punishment, or chosen in preference to a dishonorable death at the hands of an enemy, was their unquestionable demonstration of their honour, courage, loyalty, and moral character. If one had been condemned to death, it was seen as a privilege to execute the sentence on one's own body, rather than suffer the disgrace of dying at the hands of the public headsman.
However, most forms of seppuku do not technically involve suicide, but are merely the act of inflicting a fatal injury upon oneself. The actual killing is performed by a kaishakunin (介錯 "suicide assistant"), who would stand behind the one committing seppuku. The latter would kneel in the seiza position and once he had made the initial cuts to the abdomen, the kaishakunin would decapitate him, completing the ceremony.
The kaishakunin was usually chosen by the victim and was normally a close friend or confidant. The kaishakunin had the option to refuse a first request, but not a second. Sometimes, if a defeated warrior had fought well, one of his enemies would stand in as the kaishakunin, as a mark of respect. In cases where the victim was too young, or deemed too dangerous, to wield the knife themselves, they would be given a fan. Once they had pressed the fan against their abdomen, making a ceremonial symbol of cutting themselves, the kaishakunin would complete the task.
For women, baring the abdomen was taboo. Their form of ritual suicide, jigai (自害), would also involve sitting seiza, normally with the knees bound together, so maintain a proper posture after death. The jugular vein would then be cut, ensuring a quick death to avoid capture, to protect her virtue, or to join her husband, or lover, in death.
A variation called jūmonji giri (十文字切り "cross-shaped cut") was also performed. Here there was no kaishakunin present, but rather the samurai would inflict both a horizontal and vertical cut to the abdomen, whereupon he would suffer silently, until dying from blood loss.
Perhaps the most extreme case of seppuku was Yoshimoto Muira, who committed suicide by cutting off his own head in 1516.
In recent years the most notable person to suicide in this manner was the novelist and ultra-nationalist Mishima Yukio, who - together with one of his followers - chose to commit seppuku after a bizarre attempt to instigate a coup in Japan in 1970.
References
- Yamamoto Hirobumi, the world's warriors and new Chuokoron, August 2007 ISBN 978-4121017031 (山本博文『武士と世間』 中央公論新社 2007年8月)
- Seppuku - ritual suicide
- The Aikido FAQ - The ritual of seppuku
