Bushido is the combination of the two words; Bushi meaning warrior, and Do meaning art or way. Therefore Bushido can be literally translated as The Way of the Warrior. It was devised during the 9th to the 12th century as a code for the way of life as a samurai.
The Bushido taught seven great virtues for the samurai to mould their lives upon.
They are as follows:
Gi – Correct decision making, Fairness and Equality
Yu – Valour and Courage
Jin – Generosity, Benevolence and Compassion
Rei – Courtesy and Respect
Makoto – Honesty to others and to yourself
Meiyo – Honour, Success and Glory
Chungi – Dedication, Devotion and Loyalty
Of the seven virtues Chungi was taught to be the most important, because without loyalty and devotion you can’t exercise any of the other virtues to the best of your ability. This was also taught this way by the Shogun to keep ambitious, young warriors in check.
The samurai were taught to constantly think of death. According to the Bushido Shoshinshu (literally translated as 'Bushido for Beginners'), “If people comfort their minds with the assumption that they will live a long time, something might happen, because they will think they have forever to do their work and look after their parents, (something very important to the Bushido) they may fail to perform for their employers and also treat their parents thoughtlessly”. On the other hand, if you think about death all of the time, you will have the sense that this moment may be the last that you have and you will perform every task to the best of your ability. This was a fundamental part of the Bushido code and directly linked with all of the seven virtues.
Another thing the samurai were taught to have constantly on their minds, was the fact that they were first and foremost warriors. They were told to always keep their swords beside them no matter where they were or what they were doing. An unexpected attack or call to arms may occur at any place, at any time and a warrior needs to be prepared for such situations. This included all members of a warrior house, such as squires and underlings wearing short swords at all times and even meant wearing unsharpened or wooden swords to the bath.
Due to Bushido having close ties with Buddhism, the samurai believed that they need not fear death as they would be reincarnated in the next life. This belief made the samurai even more effective as warriors, encouraging them to perform greater acts of Yu. This lack of fear in death was also intertwined with Makoto – honesty to oneself and sense of shame. If a samurai was shamed in defeat he would be allowed to commit seppuku (or hara-kiri as it is better known in English), a form of honourable suicide where the warrior disembowelled himself with his wakizashi (short sword).
Rei was also one of the most important aspects of the Bushido code. It taught respect to all other people, regardless of colour, race or social standing, and because of this it was closely linked with Gi. It also taught respect in the training hall, for both the student and the teacher. The way of the warrior is a symbiotic relationship – without the master there can be no student and vice versa.
Finally, Rei also taught respect to your opponents in battle and was related to Jin. To fight them with honour and to allow those shamed in battle to commit seppuku rather than executing them like common criminals.
Almost everything mentioned in the Bushido code can be applied to modern life (with the obvious exception of disembowelling yourself when beaten or wearing swords in the bath), as it provides a good strong set of moral values to abide by. It teaches you to constantly strive to improve yourself, to treat every minute you have alive as a blessing. It teaches respect to all other people, regardless of colour, race, belief, sexuality or gender, and it teaches honesty to yourself and to other people.
from:
www.hrjj.org/HRJJ/Articles/Bushido.asp