Mass Suicides - Masada, Forty-Seven Ronin, Mass Suicide in Demmin, Battle of Saipan, Heaven's Gate, Siege of Yodfat, Order of the Solar Temple (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 29. Chapters: Masada, Forty-seven Ronin, Mass suicide in Demmin, Battle of Saipan, Heaven's Gate, Siege of Yodfat, Order of the Solar Temple, Dance of Zalongo, Siege of Numantia, Puputan, Kara katorga, Mi a 18. Excerpt: The revenge of the Forty-seven Ronin Shi-j Shichi-shi), also known as the Forty-seven Samurai, the Ak vendetta, or the Genroku Ak incident Genroku ak jiken) took place in Japan at the start of the 18th century. One noted Japanese scholar described the tale as the country's "national legend." It recounts the most famous case involving the samurai code of honor, bushid . The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless (becoming ronin) after their daimyo (feudal lord) Asano Naganori was forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official named Kira Yoshinaka, whose title was K zuke no suke. The ronin avenged their master's honor after patiently waiting and planning for two years to kill Kira. In turn, the ronin were themselves forced to commit seppuku for committing the crime of murder. With much embellishment, this true story was popularized in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor that all good people should preserve in their daily lives. The popularity of the almost mythical tale was only enhanced by rapid modernization during the Meiji era of Japanese history, when it is suggested many people in Japan longed for a return to their cultural roots. Fictionalized accounts of these events are known as Ch shingura. The story was popularized in numerous plays including bunraku and kabuki. Because of the censorship laws of the shogunate in the Genroku era, which forbade portrayal of current events, the names were changed. While the version given by the playwrights may have come to be accepted as historical fact by some, the Ch shingura wa...