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A ronin (Japanese: 浪人) (literally, wave man -
one who is tossed about, like a wave in the sea) was a name given to
masterless samurai during the feudal period of Japan that lasted from 1185
to 1868. A samurai became masterless from the ruin or fall of his master,
or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege. The name ronin has
its origins in the Nara and Heian periods when it originally referred to
serfs that had fled or deserted their master's land.
During the over 250 years of the Edo period, with the shogunate's rigid
class system and laws, the number of ronin greatly increased. During
previous ages, samurai were easily able to move between masters and even
occupations, and marry between classes. However, during the Edo period,
samurai were restricted from doing so, and were above all forbidden to
become employed by another master without his previous master's
permission. Also, low-level samurai, often poor and without choice, were
forced to quit or escape their master.
Traditionally in Japanese culture, ronins were generally somewhat
disreputable; a target of humiliation or satire. Their code requires the
samurai to commit suicide or seppuku when they lose their leaders, or else
afterwards suffer shame.
As an indication of the humiliation felt by samurai who became ronin,
Lord Redesdale (British attache to Japan shortly after it was opened to
the world during the Meiji Restoration) records that during his stay in
Japan, when he lived two hundred yards from the graves of the Forty-Seven
Ronin, a ronin killed himself at their graves. He left a note saying that
being a ronin, and without means of honourably earning a living, he had
tried to enter the service of the Prince of Choshiu, but was refused. That
having been refused, he wanted to serve no other master, and being a ronin
was hateful, so he had decided to kill himself, and what more fitting
place could he find? Lord Redesdale reports that he himself saw the spot
only a hour or two later, and the blood was still on the ground.
One of the most famous ronin was Miyamoto Musashi. Ronin may be hired
as yojimbo. The famous movies by Akira Kurosawa, The Seven Samurai and
Yojimbo feature ronin.
The term ronin is also used in modern Japan for those
who failed the college entrance exam. This use probably derives from the
analogy that they have no school to attend, as a ronin samurai has no
leader to serve; there is also a parallel to the shame of the original
ronin, in failing to pass the exam.
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