Seppuku - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Seppuku write by Andrew Rankin. This book was released on 2012-11-20. Seppuku available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The history of seppuku—Japanese ritual suicide by cutting the stomach, sometimes referred to as hara-kiri—spans a millennium, and came to be favored by samurai as an honorable form of death. Here, for the first time in English, is a book that charts the history of seppuku from ancient times to the twentieth century through a collection of swashbuckling tales from history and literature. Author Andrew Rankin takes us from the first recorded incident of seppuku, by the goddess Aomi in the eighth century, through the "golden age" of seppuku in the sixteenth century that includes the suicides of Shibata Katsuie, Sen no Rikyū and Toyotomi Hidetsugu, up to the seppuku of General Nogi Maresuke in 1912. Drawing on never-before-translated medieval war tales, samurai clan documents, and execution handbooks, Rankin also provides a fascinating look at the seppuku ritual itself, explaining the correct protocol and etiquette for seppuku, different stomach-cutting procedures, types of swords, attire, location, even what kinds of refreshment should be served at the seppuku ceremony. The book ends with a collection of quotations from authors and commentators down through the centuries, summing up both the Japanese attitude toward seppuku and foreigners’ reactions: "As for when to die, make sure you are one step ahead of everyone else. Never pull back from the brink. But be aware that there are times when you should die, and times when you should not. Die at the right moment, and you will be a hero. Die at the wrong moment, and you will die like a dog." — Izawa Nagahide, The Warrior’s Code, 1725 "We all thought, ‘These guys are some kind of nutcakes.’" — Jim Verdolini, USS Randolph, describing "Kamikaze" attack of March 11, 1945
The Samurai
The Samurai - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Samurai write by Ben Hubbard. This book was released on 2014-06-02. The Samurai available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The true nature of the samurai warrior is an elusive and endlessly fascinating enigma for those in the west. From their inauspicious beginnings as barbarian-subduing soldiers, the samurai lived according to a code known as bushido, or ‘Way of the Warrior’. Bushido advocated loyalty, honour, pride and fearlessness in combat. Those who broke the code were expected to perform seppuku, or suicide through belly-slitting. By its very design, seppuku aimed to restore honour to disgraced warriors by ensuring the most painful of deaths. But as the samurai grew into large warrior clans, the bushido virtues of loyalty and honour fell into question, as control was seized and the emperor supplanted by a powerful military ruler, the shogun. Samurai tells the story of the ensuing centuries-long struggle for power between the clans, as Japan’s martial elite rose and fell.
The Etiquette of Seppuku
The Etiquette of Seppuku - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Etiquette of Seppuku write by A. B. Freeman-Mitford. This book was released on 2020-07-14. The Etiquette of Seppuku available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Eye witness accounts of the ceremonies undertaken in the ritual suicide by seppuku of the Samurai class. This is definitely not a 'How To' book!
Behemoth
Behemoth - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Behemoth write by Peter Watts. This book was released on 2005. Behemoth available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Hiding out with her fellow cyborgs and their surviving creators for five years, Lenie Clarke is horrified when they are discovered by the doomsday microbe Behemoth, a situation that forces Lenie to take responsibility for her role in billions of deaths.
Hara-kiri
Hara-kiri - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Hara-kiri write by Jack Seward. This book was released on 2012-07-17. Hara-kiri available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Hari-Kiri is a definitive text on Japanese ritual suicide, also known as suppuku. To the average westerner, the word hara-kiri conjures up an image of excruciating, self-inflicted pain; of a deep, fatal incision. To the Japanese, this kind of suicide embodies the best qualities of courage, honor, and discipline. Through extensive research, author Jack Seward brings to the English-speaking public a dissertation on the subject that is thoroughly enlightening. Fluent in speaking, reading, and writing Japanese, he was able to glean information from ancient documents—many of them scrolls in the Japanese archives—that few foreigners have seen. The earliest writings on hara-kiri (known more formally as seppuku) are thus revealed, as are the intricate rituals surrounding the ceremony. "The major purpose of this book," says the author, "is to clarify the historical and sociological significance of a unique method of self-destruction." In fulfilling this purpose, author Seward has come up with a definitive work that is sure to arouse interest both as a scholarly effort and as simple, fascinating reading.
