Samurai Wisdom Stories

Tales from the Golden Age of Bushido

By Pascal Fauliot
Translated by Sherab Chodzin Kohn

SKU
9780834840751
Shambhala Publications
04/04/2017
ISBN: 9780834840751
Details
This collection of twenty-eight traditional samurai stories illustrates all the facets of wisdom and knowledge that a true samurai must embody: martial, spiritual, psychological, ethical, philosophical, artistic, strategic, and political. Retold by martial artist and scholar Pascal Fauliot, these tales are set in the golden age of bushido and represent the pinnacle of traditional Japanese culture in which aristocratic tastes, feudal virtues, and martial skills come together with the implacable insights of Zen. They feature military leaders and strategists such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu; sword masters such as Yamaoka Tesshu; ronin; the warrior monk Benkei; and the ninja-samurai Kakei Juzo; among many others. Pithy and engaging, the collection includes tales of battle, strategy, loyalty conflicts, court intrigues, breakthroughs in a warrior’s development, and vengeance achieved or foregone. Each tale reveals a gesture or an outcome that represents greater insight or higher virtue—a hallmark of the samurai era.