The Samurai

Fukuzawa Yukichi of the lower samurai enjoyed lesser freedoms than did upper samurai. A samurai in Tokugawa era was part of the ruling class, split into the upper and lower classes. They had strict rules to obey but loyalty was not a crucial component of their lives as it was for the samurai in "Chushingura."

However, the brave and loyal samurai no longer grace society's gateway. In "Chushingura," loyalty is 47 masterless samurai laying Lord Kira Yoshinaka's head before the grave of their former Lord Asano. In "The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi," loyalty is largely a concept ignored by Yukichi, of the lower samurai class.

The "Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi" translated by Eiichi Kiyooka portrays a samurai as a "distasteful position." When Yukichi reflects on his father who passed away, he notes with a tone of an almost condescension, "apparently he submitted to the distasteful position and the small stipend, and buried his discontent in his heart" (3). He seems to almost resent his father for showing what he perceives to be a weakness in submitting to the caste system. Yukichi's bitter, scornful resentment of the feudal system overflows to those bound by it. However, he himself is bound, because he knows as well as his own father did that "it was impossible to overcome the rigid customs of the time" (3). This stirred up dissent among the lower samurai, further weakening the traditional ties of loyalty between the lords and vassals. Fukuzawa notes the people had plenty to complain about yet simply were without a way to express their discontent as if they had forgotten how to rebel against the embedded feudal system.

According to Ray A. Moore's "Samurai Discontent and Social Mobility in the Late Tokugawa Period," a large source of discontent among the samurai were: their insecurity of their status, the social discrimination they faced, their economic decline, and the