Dbq Differences Between Samurai And Knights

“Warlords fight each other to see who can control the most territory. Warriors from other lands threaten to invade and destroy your way of life. How can men, women, and children in your region protect themselves?” Both samurai and knights were created to protect their country and people. When riots broke out or thieves came to steal a master’s belongings, the warriors would protect them. Samurai and knights fought in wars and protected their country. Critics may say that the samurai and knights were very different because they were on opposite sides of the globe, but they were very much the same. Samurai and knight training, as well as their codes of honor, were very much alike. For samurai and knights, the training was very similar. First of all, their training begins in childhood. This is shown in the source from the PBS series “Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire” in 2004 when it states, “The rigorous training (of samurai) … began in childhood (Doc C).” This same thing is stated in the source about knights from the PBS series, “Warrior Challenge” in 2003 when it states, “[A] prospective knight’s training [began at age four or five] (Doc C).” Both of these sources stated that the training of the samurai and knights began at a young age in childhood. The samurai and the knights training were also similar because they both were taught information about their religion. In the PBS series about samurai that was previously stated in the text states, “... spiritual discipline (Doc C).” The same thing is stated in the passage about the knights where the text states, “... receiving some religious instruction (Doc C).” As shown, the samurai and knights both learned about their religions during the training process. All of this evidence about training shows you that the samurai and knights were very similar. In addition to having similar training, samurai and knights had codes of honor that were quite comparable. …show more content…
You can see this in the evidence from the note on Document E where it states, “Both Japanese samurai and European knights were expected to abide by a code of honor … similar code (Doc E).” As stated, both samurai and knights had to follow a code of honor that was created so that they could be successful in protecting their country. As well as having a code of honor to abide by, both samurai and knights had similar principals on the codes. This is shown in the passage about the code of Bushido called “The Way of the Samurai” created in the 1600s by Yamaga Soko when he writes, “...should there be someone… who transgresses [does wrong] against these moral principles, the samurai summarily punishes him and thus upholds proper moral principles in the land (Doc E).” This evidence is saying that if someone does wrong the samurai will punish him but only if it is truly right to do so and if that crime was actually committed. This is also stated in the code of Chivalry from Le Morte d’Arthur in 1470 when Sir Thomas Malory writes, “... and to fight in no wrongful quarrel (Doc E).” As conveyed through these sources both samurai and knights did not fight in a battle or punish someone who did not deserve it. As you can view from these pieces of evidence, the samurai and knights had very similar codes of honor. Critics may