"The Forty-Seven Righteous Men of Tadashizo" is a well-known revenge story in Japan, and the Kabuki play "Kana Model Tadashizo" based on real events created by Izumo Takeda, an idler in the Edo period, has been passed down for hundreds of years, and countless related literary and theatrical works have been derived over the centuries. The Japanese generally believe that the "Forty-Seven Righteous Warriors" are a clear embodiment of the samurai spirit of revenge for the Lord, and they all have a deep sense of reverence and remembrance for them. However, the cause and effect of the incident are not as simple as people think.

The story begins in March of the 14th year of Genroku in the middle of the Edo period, when Emperor Higashiyama sent an envoy to Edo, and the fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, sent the head of the Ako Domain, Asanouchi, and the Yoshida Domain, Yutaka Date Sakyoryo Ryomura, as the receptionists. Fearing that these two daimyo from the countryside would lose their manners, the shogunate also sent the flag warrior Takashi Kira Ueno Yoshio to give instructions. According to legend, when Kira Yoshio failed to ask for a bribe, he made things difficult for Asano Nagaju in every possible way, and even deliberately taught wrong etiquette, so that Nagaju lost his face in front of everyone. On the morning of the 14th, Asano Nagaki, who had already had enough patience, suddenly pulled out the short knife he wore at his waist and slashed at Yoshio Kira's head after meeting Yoshio Kira under the porch. Fortunately, it was in front of the public at the time, and Asano Nagaju was held down by everyone in time, and Yoshio was only slightly injured.

After the incident, General Tsunayoshi was furious and immediately sent someone to investigate the matter thoroughly. According to the shogunate's long-standing rule, regardless of the cause of the incident, both sides should be punished. However, in the end, the shogunate favored Yoshio Kira, and only ordered him to return home "cautiously", but gave Asano Nagaju the most severe punishment of seppuku and change.

The soldiers and horses of the shogunate immediately drove to the Ako Domain, and the Ako Domain, who was deeply angered by the unfair treatment of the head of the family, clamored for war with the shogunate army, but the chief family boss, Ishinouchi Kurasuke Yoshio, took a deferential attitude, restrained his subordinates, inspected his belongings, and took the initiative to open the castle gate. After the incident, the Ako clansmen, including Yoshio Oishi, became ronin and were forced into exile.

Yoshio Oishi secretly contacted forty-six of his colleagues who wanted revenge, and finally led them to infiltrate Edo Castle in the fifteenth year of Genroku. At midnight on December 15, they took advantage of the heavy snow and lax defense in various parts of the city to burst into Kira Yoshio's mansion, killing several people in succession, and finally cutting off Yoshio's head, avenging the main family. Afterwards, the forty-seven righteous warriors enshrined the heads of their enemies at the grave of Asano Nagaki, and then tied their hands in front of the chasing horses sent by the shogunate. After interrogation, the following year, the shogunate ordered them to have a collective seppuku - and it is said that only one named Terasaka Uemon survived.

On the surface, this is a touching and well-contexted revenge story, but upon closer examination, there are many inexplicable points. First of all, why did Asano Nagaki suddenly swing his knife at Yoshio Kira, was it really because he was teased? The Warring States period has long been over, and the feudal lords everywhere have long since become docile kittens prostrate at the feet of the shogunate, how can he still have such bloody courage, and how can he not think about the serious consequences that may arise?

The reign of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was a turning point in the decline of the Edo shogunate, which was forced to increase its efforts to oppress the common people and the princes. The reception work held by Asano Nagaju and others is not a good thing, and all the related expenses are spread on the heads of the receptionists, and the shogunate does not pay a penny, but they are all picky. The main reason for Asano Nagaki's sudden loss of emotional control is probably the pressure of the shogunate rather than the teasing of Yoshio Kira. He attacked Kira Yoshio, I am afraid that the target was not Yoshio himself, but the authority of the shogunate that Yoshio represented in the process of this reception, and it is also a good proof that he did it under the shogunate corridor.

Perhaps because of this, General Tsunayoshi was furious and spared Yoshio, but he must severely punish Changju. It is said that Dentaro Tatsuki once admonished that according to the old practice, the punishment of Yoshio should not be so light, and the punishment of Changju should not be so severe, but Yanagisawa Yoshiho, the side employer in power, refused on the grounds that the general's order could not be changed. Yanagisawa Yoshiho has always been extravagant in accepting bribes and dumping his colleagues, perhaps he saw his own shadow from Yoshio, so he must put the long moment to death and hurry up.

The second suspicion of the incident is that there was a full year and a half between the change of the Ako Domain and the killing of Yoshio Kira, so did a simple revenge plan take so long to plan? Although Yoshio Kira's son passed on to the Uesugi family and became the fourth lord of the Yonezawa Domain, Uesugi Tsunen, Kira Yoshio's father also got some benefits, and the impoverished Yonezawa Domain did not provide him with large-scale protection. Nearly forty-seven loyal outlaws of Yoshio Oishi didn't seem to need to go to such great lengths to assassinate a Gao family.

In fact, after leaving Ako, Yoshio Oishi did not immediately study and go to Yoshio Kira to take revenge, but went around soliciting favors and relationships, wanting to plead with the shogunate and restore the Ako Domain. However, in the context of Yanagisawa Yoshiho's affairs, all his efforts came to naught, and he was discouraged and disappointed, and was forced to take risks.

At a time when the shogunate and the feudal domains were in serious financial crisis, there were not many opportunities for ronins to become prominent unless they were famous in the world. Originally, the Ako clan who relied on Yulu for food, but after the main family was changed, he became a ronin, and he had no means to make a living. For example, Yoshio Oishi's people can still survive on a little savings, and the middle and lower-level feudal lords have only one way to die. Rather than starve to death, it is better to die of revenge and let the fame spread all over the world - this is the most direct idea of the so-called "forty-seven righteous men", and there is no need to make them too noble.

Under the rule of the shogunate, there were often changes in the princes, and then many samurai became ronins and lived a miserable life, and the story of "loyal retainers" is only a relatively vivid reflection of the times. A down-and-out feudal warrior like Sohide Asano is very difficult, not to mention a ronin who has lost his fortune. The only one in Wulin is a typical representative, this ronin family who lives by sticking fans, has hardly eaten in a hundred years, although he still retains the identity of a saber, but in fact he is not much better than a wild dog.

Most of the proud samurai had the same idea as their loyal ministers, and they would rather die in a vigorous battle than live like dogs in the midst of suffering. Therefore, in order to protect the main domain, the entire samurai class of the Nihonmatsu domain was mobilized, whether it was the elderly, children, or women, to fight for their feudal kingdom and to protect their hope of survival.

Asano Soshige and others actually didn't have this worry, as long as they went to Manchuria, they could live a superior life, but unfortunately the samurai not only had etiquette in their hearts, they also had their own bushido.