conversations
listlengths 2
2
|
|---|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Never Outshine the Master\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite a- inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Be wary of friends; they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Conceal your Intentions\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Keep people offbalance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Always Say Less than Necessary\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, openended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: So Much Depends on Reputation a- Guard it with your Life\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once you slip, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Court Attention at all Cost\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious, than the bland and timid masses."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Make other People come to you a- use Bait if Necessary\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains a- then attack. You hold the cards."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Win through your Actions, Never through Argument\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Any momentary triumph you think gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " You can die from someone else's misery a- emotional states are as infectious as disease. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Learn to Keep People Dependent on You\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. Openhearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift a- a Trojan horse a- will serve the same purpose."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: When Asking for Help, Appeal to People's SelfInterest, Never to their Mercy or Gratitude\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you. Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead. Better still: Play the spy yourself. In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Crush your Enemy Totally\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in spirit."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people's actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves. Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself a- Isolation is Dangerous\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere a- everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from a- it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Know Who You're Dealing with a- Do Not Offend the Wrong Person\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way. Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs' clothing. Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then a- never offend or deceive the wrong person."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Do Not Commit to Anyone\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others a- playing people against one another, making them pursue you."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker a- Seem Dumber than your Mark\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " No one likes feeling stupider than the next person. The trick, is to make your victims feel smart a- and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " When you are weaker, never fight for honor's sake; choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you a- surrender first. By turning the other check you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Concentrate Your Forces\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another a- intensity defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Play the Perfect Courtier\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the most oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: ReCreate Yourself\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Recreate yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define it for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions a- your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Keep Your Hands Clean\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat's paws to disguise your involvement."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Play on People's Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Enter Action with Boldness\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Plan All the Way to the End\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work a- it only raises questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose. Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored wherever they turn."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Play to People's Fantasies\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes for disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Discover Each Man's Thumbscrew\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usually an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated like one\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated; In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Master the Art of Timing\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Never seem to be in a hurry a- hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Disdain Things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best Revenge\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Create Compelling Spectacles\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power a- everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Think as you like but Behave like others\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and that you look down upon them. They will find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Stir up Waters to Catch Fish\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies offbalance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Despise the Free Lunch\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " What is offered for free is dangerous a- it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price a- there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Avoid Stepping into a Great Man's Shoes\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual a- the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoner of goodwill. If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them a- they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the power of Mirror Effect."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day to day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Never appear too Perfect\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Title: Assume Formlessness\nDescription: "
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": " By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes."
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A BOOK OF FIVE RINGS"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Translated from rhcJapancsc"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "by VICTOR HARRIS"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A BOOK OF"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "FIVE RINGS"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "MIYAMOTO MUSASHI"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Translator's Introduction"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "JAPAN DURING MUSASHl'S LIFETIME"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "i'vtiyamoro Musashi was born in 1584, in a Japan struggling to recover from more than four centuries of internal strife. The traditional rule of the emperors had been overthrown in the twelfth century, and although each successive emperor remained the figurehead of Japan, his powers were very much reduced. Since that time, Japan had seen almost continuous civil war between the provincial lords, warrior monks and brigands, all fighting each other for land and power. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the lords, called daimyo, built huge stone castles to protect themselves and their lands and castle towns outside the walls began to grow up. These wars naturally restricted the growth of trade and impoverished the whole country."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In 1573, however, one man, Oda Nobunaga, came to the fore in Japan. He became the Shogun, or military dictator, and for nine years succeeded in gaining control of almost the whole of the country. When Nobunaga was assassinated in 1582, a commoner took over the government. Toyotomi Hideyoshi continued the work of unifying Japan which Nobunaga had begun, ruthlessly putting down any traces of insurrection. He revived the old gulf between the warriors of Japan-the samurai-and the commoners by intro ducing restrictions on the wearing of swords. \"Hidcyoshi's sword-hunt\", as it was known, meant that only samurai were allowed tu wear two swords; the short one which everyone could wear and the long one which distinguished the samurai from the rest of the population."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Although Hideyoshi did much to settle Japan and increase trade with the outside world, by the time of his death in 1598 internal disturbances still had not been completely eliminated. The real isolation and unification of Japan began with the inauguration of the great Tokugawa rule. In 1603 Tokugawa Ieyasu, a former associate of both Hideyoshi and Nobunaga, formally became Shogun of Japan, :1fter defeating Hideyoshi's son Hideyori at the battle of Seki ga Hara."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ieyasu established his government at Edo, present-day Tokyo, where he had a huge castle. His was a stable, peaceful government beginning J period of Japanese history which was to last until the Imperial Restoration of 1868, for although Ieyasu himself died in 1616 members of his family succeeded each other and the title Shogun became virtually an hereditary one for the Tokugawas."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ieyasu was determined to ensure his and his family's dictatorship. To rhis"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "end, he paid lip-service to the emperor in Kyoto, who remained the titular head of Japan, while curtailing his duties and involvement in the government. The real threat to Ieyasu's position could only come from the lords, and he effectively decreased their opportunities for revolt by devising schemes whereby all lords had to live in Edo for alternate years and by placing grear restrictions on travelling. He allotted land in exchange for oaths of allegiance, and gave the provincial castles around Edo to members of his own family. I le also employed a network of secret police and assassins."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The Tokug-dwa period marks a great change in the social history of J apn. The bureaucracy of the Tokugawas was all-pervading. Nor only were education, law, government and class conrrollcd, but even the costume and behaviour of each class. The traditional class consciousness of Japan hardened imo a rigid class structure. There were basically fom classes of person: samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants. The samurai were the highest-in esteem if not in wealth-and included the lords, senior government officials, warriors, and minor officials and foot soldiers. Next in the hierarchy came the farmers, not because they were well thought of but because they p;ovided the essential rice crops. Their lot was a rather unhappy one, as they were forced to give most of their crops to the lords and were not allowt:d to leave their farms. Then came the ,trtisans and craftsmen, and last of all the merchants, who, though looked down upon, eventually rose to prominence because of the vast wealth they accumulated. Few people were outside this rigid hierarchy."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Musashi belonged to the samurai cla». \\Ve find the origins of the samurai class in the Kondei (\"Stalwart Youth\"} system established in 7921\\D, whereby the Japanese army-which had until then consisted mainly of spear-wielding foot soldiers-was revived by stiffening the ranks with permanent training officers recruited from among the young sons of the high families. These officers were mounted, wore armour, and used the bow and sword. In 782 the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "emperor Kammu started building Kyoto, and in Kyoto lie built a training hall which exists tu this Jay calleJ the Butokuden, meaning \"Hall of the virtues of war\". Within a few years of this revival the fierce Ainu, the aboriginal inhabitants of Japan who had until then confounded the army's attempts to move them from their wild lodgings, were dri\\-Cn far off to the northern island, Hokkaido."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "When the great provincial armies were gradually disbanded under Hideyoshi and Ieyasu, many out-of-work samurai roamed the countr\\' redundant in an era of peace. ;\\1usashi was one such samurai, a \"ronin\" or \"w;ve man\". There were still samurai retainers to the Tokugawas and provincial lords, but their numbers were few. The hordes of redundant samurai found themselves living in a society which was completely based on the old chivalry, but at the same time they were apart from a society in which there was no place for men at arms. They became an inverted class, keeping the old chivalry ali\\·e by devotion to military arts with the fervour only the Japanese possess. This was the time of the flowering of Kendo."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Kendo, the Way of the sword, had always been synonymous with nobility in Japan. Since the founding of the samurai class in the eighth century, the military arts had become the highest form of study, inspired b}' the teachings of Zen and the feeling of Shinto. Schools of Kcndo born in the early ,\\\\uromachi period-appruximatdy 1390 to 1600-were continued through the upheavals of the formation of the peaceful Tokugawa Shogunate, and survi\\\"e to this Jay. The education of the sons of the Tokugawa Shoguns was by means of schooling in the Chinese classics and fencing exercises. Where a Westerner might say \"The pen is mightier than the sword\", the Japanese would say \"Bunbu ltchi\", or \"Pen and sword in accord\". Today, prominent busines,mcn and political figures in Japan still practise the old traditions of Kendo schools, preserving the forms of several hundred years ago."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "To sum up, Musashi w:is a ronin at a time when the samurai were formally considered robe the elite, bur actually had no means of livelihood unless they owned lands and castles. Many ronin put up their swords and became artisans, but others, like Musashi, pursued the ideal of th<: warrior searching for enlightenment through the perilous paths of Kendo. Duels of revenge and tests of skill were commonplace, and fencing schools multiplied. Two schools especially, the lttu school and the Yagyu school, were sponsored by the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Tokugawas. The Itta school provided an unbroken line of Kendo teachers, and the Yagyu school eventually became the secret police of the Tokugawa bureaucracy."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "KENDO"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Traditionally, the fencing halls of Japan, called Dojo, were associated with shrines and temples, but during Musashi's lifetime numerous schools sprang up in the new castle towns. Each daimyo or lord sponsored a Kendo school, where his retainers could be trained and his sons educated. The hope of every ronin was that he would defeat the students and master of a Dojo in combat, thus increasing his fame and bringing his name to the ears of one who might employ him."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The samurai wore two swords thrust through the belt with the cutting edge uppermost. The longer sword was carried out of doors only, the shorter sword"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "was worn at all times. For training, wooden swords and bamboo swords were often used. Duelling and other tests of arms were common, with both real and practice swords. These took place in fencing halls and before shrines, in the streets and within castle walls. Duels were fought to the death or until one of the contestants was disabled, but a few generations after Musashi's time the \"shinai\", a pliable bamboo sword, and later padded fencing armour, came to be widely used, so the chances of injury were greatly reduced. The samurai studied with all kinds of weapons: halberds, sticks, swords, chain and sickle, and others. Many schools using such weapons survive in traditional form in Japan today."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "To !rain in Kendo one must subjugate the self, bear the pain of gruelling practise, and cultivate a level mind in the face of peril. But the Way of the sword means not only fencing training but also living by the code of honour of the samurai elite. Warfare was the spirit of the samurai's everyday life, and he could face death as if it were a domestic routine. The meaning of life and death by the sword was mirrored in the everyday conduct of the feudal Japanese, and he who realised the resolute acceptance of death at any moment in his everyday life was a master of the sword. It is in order to attain such an understanding that later men have followed the ancient traditions of the sword-fencing styles, and even today give up their lives for Kendo practise."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "KENDO AND ZEN"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The Way of the sword is the moral teaching of the samurai, fostered by the Confucianist philosophy which shaped the Tokugawa system, together with the native Shinto religion of Japan. The warrior courts of Japan from the Kamakura period to the Muromachi period encouraged the austere Zen study among the samurai, and Zen went hand in hand with the arts of war. In Zen there are no elaborations, it aims directly at the true nature of things. There are no ceremonies, no teachings: the prize of Zen is essentially personal."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Enlightenment in Zen does not mean a change in behaviour, but realisation of the nature of ordinary life. The end point is the beginning, and the great virtue is simplicity. The secret teaching of the Itta Ryu school of Kenda, Kiriotoshi, is the first technique of some hundred or so. The teaching is \"Ai Uchi\", meaning to cut the opponent just as he cuts you. This is the ultimate timing ... it is lack of anger. It means to treat your enemy as an honoured guest. It also means to abandon your life or throw away fear."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The first technique is the last, the beginner and the master behave in the same way. Knowledge is a full circle. The first of Musashi's chapter headings is Ground, for the basis of Kenda and Zen, and the last book is Void, for that understanding which can only be expressed as nothingness. The teachings of Kenda are like rhe fierce verbal forays to which the Zen student is subjected. Assailed with doubts and misery, his mind and spirit in a whirl, the student is"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "6'Tadually guided ro realisation and understanding by his teacher. The Kenda student practises furiously, thousands of cuts morning and night, learning"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "fierce techniques of horrible war, until eventually sword becomes \"no sword\", intention becomes \"no intention\", a spontaneous knowledge of every situation. The first elementary reaching becomes the highest knowledge, and the master still continues to practise this simple training, his everyday prayer."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "CONCERNING THE LIFE OF MIYAMOTO MUSASHI"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Shinmen Musashi No Kami Fujiwara No Genshin, or as he is commonly known Miyamoto Musashi, was born in rhe village called Miyamoto in the province Mimasaka in 1584. \"Musashi\" is the name of an area south-west of Tokyo, and rhc appellation \"No Kami\" means noble person of the area, while \"Fujiwara\" is the name of a noble family foremost in Japan over a thousand years ago."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Musashi's ancestors were a branch of the powerful Harima clan in Kyushu, the southern island of Japan. Hirada Shokan, his grandfather, was a retainer of"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Shinmen lga No Kami Sudeshige, the lord of Takeyama castle. Hirada Shokan was highly thought of by his lord and eventually married his lord's daughter."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "When Musashi was seven, his father, Munisai, either died or abandoned the child. As his mother had died, Ben No Suke, as Musashi was known during his childhood, was left in the care of an uncle on his mother's side, a priest. So we find Musashi an orphan during Hideyoshi's campaigns of unification, son of a samurai in a violent unhappy land. Ile was a boisterous youth, strong-willed and physically large for his age. Whether he was urged to pursue Kendo by his uncle, or whether his aggressive nature led him to it, we do not know, but it is recorded that he slew a man in single combat when he was just thirteen. The opponent was Arima Kihei, a samurai of the Shinto Ryu school of military arts, skilled with sword and spear. The boy threw the man to the ground, and beat him about the head with a stick when he tried to rise. Kihei died vomiting blood."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Musashi's next contest was when he was sixteen, when he defeated Tadashima Akiyama. About this time, he left home to embark on the \"Warrior Pilgimage\" which saw him victor in scores of contests and which took him to war six times, until he finally settled down at the age of fifty, having reached the end of his search for reason. There must have heen many ronin travelling the country on similar expeditions, some alone like Musashi and some enjoying sponsorship, though not on the scale of the pilgrimage of the famous swordsman Tsukahara Bokuden who had travelled with a retinue of over one hundred men in the previous century."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This part of Musashi's life was spent living apart from society while he devoted himself with a ferocious single-mindedness to the search for enlightenment by the Way of the sword. Concerned only with perfecting his skill, he lived as men need not live, wandering over Japan soaked by the cold winds of winter, not dressing his hair, nor taking a wife, nor following any profession save his study. It is said he never entered a bathtub lest he was caught unawares without a weapon, and that his appearance was uncouth and wretched."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In the battle which resulted in Ieyasu succeeding Hideyoshi as Shogun of Japan, Seki ga I Iara, Musashi joined the ranks of the Ashikaga army to fight against Ieyasu. He survived the terrible three days during which seventy thousand people died, and also survived the hunting down and massacre of the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": ","
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "\\'anguished arm,·."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "lie \\\\'till upto Kyoto, the capital, when he \\\\'as twenty-one. This was the scene of hi, \\'endctta against the Yoshioka family. The Yoshiokas had been fencing instructors to the Ashikaga house for generations. Later forbidden to teach Kendo by lord Tokugawa, the family became dyers, and arc dyers today. Munisai, /1\\usashi's father, had been invited to Kyoto some years before by the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaka . .\\lunisai was a competent swordsman, and an expert \\\\'ith the \"jittc\", a kind of iron truncheon with a tongue for catching S\\\\'Ord blades. The story has it that Munisai fought three of the Yoshiokas,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "\\\\'inning two of the duels, and perhaps this has some bearing on Musashi's bcha\\'iour t(mards the family."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yoshioka Seijiro, the head of the family, was the first t0 fight 1\\lusashi, on the moor outside the city, Seijiro was armed with a n:al sword, and Musashi with a \\\\'Ooden sword. /1\\usashi laid Seijiro out with a fierce attack and bear him savagely as he lay on the ground. The retainers carried their lord home on a rain-shutter, where for shame he cm off his samurai topknot."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": ",\\\\usashi lingered on in the capital, and his continued presence further irked the Yoshioka . The second broth<'T, IJenshichiro, applied to Musashi for a duel. As a military ploy, Musashi arrived late on the appointed day, and seconds after the start of the fight he broke his opponent's skull with one blow of his wooden sword. Denshichiro \\\\'as dead. The house issued yet another challenge with IlanshiL'hiro, the young son of Seijiro, as champion. Hanshichiro was a mere boy, not yet in his teens. The contest was lO be held by a pine tree adjacent to ricefields. /1\\usashi arrived at the meeting place well before the appointed rime and waited in hiding for his enemy to come. The child arrived dressed formally in war gear, with a party of well-armed retainers, determined to do away with"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": ",\\1usashi. Musashi waited concealed in the shadows, and just as they were thinking that he had thought better of it and had decided to leave Kyoto, he suddenly appeared in the midst of them, and cur the boy down. The, drawing both swords, he cur a path through them and made his escape."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "After that frightful episode Musashi wandered over Japan, becoming a legend in his own rime. \\Ve find mention of his name and stories of his prowess in registers, diaries, on monuments, and in folk memory from Tokyo to Kyushu. He had m0re than sixty contests hefore he was twenty-nine. and won them all, The earliest account of his contests appears in Nacu Ki. or \"Two"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Heavens Chronicle\", a record compiled by his pupils a generation after his death."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In the year of the Yoshioka affair, 1605, he visited the temple Hozoin in the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "south of the capital. Here he had a contest with Oku Hozoin, the Nichiren sect pupil of the Zen priest Hoin Inei. The priest was a spearman, but no match for Musashi who defeated him twice with his short wooden sword. Musashi stayed at the temple for some time studying fighting techniques and enjoying talks with the priests. There is still today a traditional spear fighting form practised by the monks of Hozoin. It is interesting that in ancient times the word \"Osho\", which now means priest, used to mean \"spear teacher\". Hoin Inei was pupil to Izumi Musashi no Kami, a master of Shinto Kendo. The priest used spears with cross-shaped blades kept outside the temple under the eaves and used in fire fighting."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
}
] |
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this is a dataset of 4 books art of war, 48 laws of power, Book or five rings,33 strategies of war
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