samurai code
Honor before death
Samurai code refers to bushido, the ethical system governing Japanese warrior conduct from medieval times through the 19th century.
It emphasized loyalty, honor, martial skill, self-discipline, and readiness to die for one's lord.
The phrase often appears in Western contexts as shorthand for any rigid personal code of honor or duty: He lives by a kind of samurai code—never complain, never explain.
- seppukuRitualized Japanese self-disembowelment
- ritual suicideFormalized self-inflicted death
- honorHigh regard, moral dignity
- death before dishonorPreferring mortality to disgrace
- courageFortitude facing danger
feudal Japan · integrity · self-discipline · ronin · respect · warrior ethos · Zen Buddhism · benevolence · loyalty · daimyo · feudal lord · seven virtues · Confucianism · bushido · rectitude · humility · katana · sincerity
- belief systemsobjectivism, bushido, utilitarianism, transhumanism, solipsism
- Bushidobushido, seppuku, harakiri, seven virtues, righteousness
- Feudal Asiashogun, daimyo, shogunate, feudal lord, bushido
- national mythsfounding myth, founding myths, national origin, origin story, origin stories
- samuraikatana, ronin, bushido, shogun, seppuku
- Warfare Customswar cry, battle cry, war drums, war drum, war chant
samurai codecowardice
Absence of bravery
dishonor · treachery · disloyalty · opportunism · betrayal
samurai codeberserker rage
Frenzied fighting madness
savagery · brutality · lawlessness · chaos · barbarism