1. Oishi Kuranosuke’s Loyalty
Loyalty was a strong feeling of a major ethical concept in Japanese culture, which had been influenced both by Confucianism in Japanese feudal
social classes. According to Confucianism, people ought to be loyal and obedient to those of higher social rank, especially parents filial piety and master, or lord
of their occupation. Loyalty and duty or giri were interrelated principles. Someone who did and finished the duty mean heshe kept loyalty to the occupations and the
master. Like what had been mentioned in the second chapter the concept of loyalty
refers to one‟s strong feeling to a lord or master. It was the very honor of a serving samurai.
The loyalty that was depictured in this study is the dedication of Oishi Kuranosuke and his fellow ronin, master-less samurai of the Asano clan, who
remained loyal to their duty in upholding justice, standing before even the Shogun, for the sake of higher values. As the quote said:
“He stressed that they must obey the Shogun‟s order of confiscation to the letter and do nothing that would compromise Daigaku Asano‟s eventual
chances of inheritance Allyn, 1970: 71.” Oishi was loyal to Lord Asano all his life
, even after Lord Asano‟s death. Shortly after the death of Lord Asano, and while Oishi and the other samurai were
unsure of their path of action, Oishi was contacted by several prominent daimyo who requested his services as chief retainer, but his dedication to the house of
Asano had never been stronger and he answered them all with polite refusals.
Oishi, though he could accept the offers of these powerful lords, and continue to live his life in much the same way he had under the Asano crest,
instead chooses to remain dedicated to lord Asano. As a loyal member of Asano ‟s
retainer, he refused to give up in his quest to avenge his deceased lord. Moreover, he also refused to find another master to replace the former master. The price of
this choice was that Oishi became a ronin without a master, and lost his source of income. Oishi was forced to live as best he could with what he had, with his
loyalty to Lord Asano his only solace. Oishi kept the promise of a relatively peaceful life in exc
hange for revenge against his master‟s enemy. Oishi remained loyal to his deceased master even when it meant he himself would suffer.
The very concept of loyalty itself dictated first, for a person to be called loyal, he needed to give a total trust to demands from the one he served, whom
having a higher social rank. According to the explanation above, a group of samurai
who loyal to the masterlord, they should first completely trust their lord. Some of the issues regarding rebellious and even devious samurai who always
defied their lord and doing exactly the opposite of what they were expected was a proof that these samurai were not loyal and obedient. Likewise, a retainer whose
direction of acts defied his lord ‟s was not a worthy retainer.
Second, the concept of loyalty required its subjects to be consistent. It meant that being loyal good to someone equaled to believe consistently to the one
he served. What kind of consistency was actually required by the Bushido code? It was actually the consistency of being faithful. It could be seen throughout The 47
Ronin Story, that the ronin, being asked to reply to a difficult choice, whether to
surrender the Ako castle, and later to end their life, or to stand and fight to show the Shogun how the laws and regulations had led the people to pain and suffering.
They remained faithful with their choice to avenge their beloved lord Asano by slaying the greedy villain, Kira. Being consistently loyal as shown by these people
were not easy at all, as they were willingly being moved from being a highly- respected warrior clan, to become outcasts, immediately receiving the lowest
status in the society, became poor, and emotionally enraged most of the time. Yet they maintain to stand still to their belief during the years of wait. The decisions
that they made in every question was proven to be the right one indeed. O
ther proof of Oishi‟s loyalty was in his decision about lord Asano‟s daughter. O
ishi put himself and his family in danger in defense of Lord Asano‟s
family. After Lo
rd Asano‟s death, and the subsequent eviction of his people from the Asano castle
, he chose to protect his lord‟s daughter as his loyalty to his lord .
“Behind came his wife with three little ones, all dressed in warm travelling clothes that were very much alike. No outsider could have known that one
of the three children was lord Asano‟s little daughter, whom Oishi had sworn to protect with his life if necessary Allyn, 1970: 75”.
Oishi did not know what was going to happen to lord Asano‟s daughter after
his lord‟s death, but he took the responsibility upon himself to ensure her safety. As the quote said, Oishi was ready and prepared to protect the girl even if
it costs him his life, and places his family in trouble point. If the Shogun wanted the girl dead, and Oishi was found to have hidden her, he would probably be
killed, and his family dishonored, if not worse. Oishi was not required to hide Lord Asano‟s daughter. He could have left her to her fate and saved himself the
risk and trouble. Instead he did everything in his power to ensure her safety.
Oishi‟s loyalty to Lord Asano seen through his decision to serve his lord‟s daughter as best he could.
Being loyal according to Bushido also meant being not afraid of losing one‟s life for the sake of the principle or the master whom a samurai had devoted
himself to serve. For a samurai the service that they gave was until the end of their lives. It was said that even if they were to lose their family for the sake of
their duty, or even to give their lives away to protect their masters and the ones he wanted them to give their lives to, they must not bend, and question their master.
It was an amazingly strong life principle that demanded total devotion of its believer. When a lord or master was sentenced to death, the penalty was to
commit to end his life. It was common that his retainers also committed seppuku to follow the master, as the highest honor they could take. In the 47 Ronin Story, it
was said that the ronin also sacrificed their lives after the successful war in fulfilling their purpose.
The sense of loyalty in the life of Oishi Kuranosuke during his service under the Asano family until his death after finishing his duty could be seen
through his characterization as shown in the story. There some events which truly showed the loyalty of this man as a samurai serving his master while up righting
justice. The first link of events was when he was still serving as the chief retainer of the house of Asano Allyn, 1970: 1-42.
The second link of events was the following nights after he learned the death of his master by the scheme of the antagonist, Kira Allyn, 1970:43-223
where he and his fellow ronin carefully planned to avenge their master as time
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