Recently I’ve been researching 武士道 (bushidō) – the ancient Japanese way of the warrior, mostly to try to figure out if it ever was actually a legit thing, or if it’s a modern invention.
Spoiler alert: it’s a bit of both. You can read my conclusions in my WordPress article here.
Bushidō comes with a handy list of 8 virtues that one can follow to lead one’s best and most noble life. You may not have been born a samurai, but you can still live like one by following this code.
They are available here on my Etsy site. WordPress users get 15% off with this code: WPCODE15 (just enter it when you checkout).
The fifth virtue is “Veracity or Truthfulness”, which I have translated as “sincerity”, for reasons explained below.
These 8 virtues were first mentioned in Nitobe Inazao’s 1899 book “Bushido: the Soul of Japan”.
Nitobe writes: “Lying or equivocation were deemed equally cowardly…. Bushi no ichi-gon—the word of a samurai…. was sufficient guaranty of the truthfulness of an assertion. His word carried such weight with it that promises were generally made and fulfilled without a written pledge, which would have been deemed quite beneath his dignity.”
I have “translated” this as “sincerity”, which has the nuance of not only being honest per se but also of having honest intentions. Living so honestly that “keeping your word” is not even an issue requires consciously acting with sincerity. In this way all of your words and actions are coloured with 礼 (rei) respect (see the previous entry).
Calligraphy by Vicky 