There are many elements in this film, just as Lu Xun once said in "A Dream of Red Mansions": scribes see "Yi", Taoists see obscenity, talents see lingering, revolutionaries see the platoon full, and gossipists see the secrets of the palace. This movie is the same, some people saw Kenshin's way of not killing, and some people saw Takeda Kanryu's ambition. What I'm thinking about is the Meiji Restoration.
For the Revolutionary Party, for the Sachang Alliance, for the Restoration, for the fall of the curtain... In short, there are absolutely countless high-sounding reasons, and there are countless truths that can be articulated, but behind all these bright covers are ambushes and assassinations. What happened in the end? Yamaxian became a senior army general, and the opposition leader Saito even changed his name to join him. Whether it is the so-called disagreement of political opinions but the same ideal of a bright country that they hope to build, or playing with politics in hopes of gaining profits, or both, they all have the same result. That is, those who play politics do not suffer losses because of their previous political views, but continue to sway in the circle of beneficiaries. However, true revolutionaries will still consider morality and society, and consider issues of costs and benefits. After these people succeed, they will reflect, they will reflect on themselves, and they will ask themselves whether these means are so aboveboard and whether it is worthwhile to use despicable means to realize the so-called new era. I think Kenshin, who put down the butcher's knife in the war, has already answered. The person who answers is the so-called torturer. The question he tortured was exactly the same as that of the later Chinese poet Bei Dao:
I came to this world with
only paper, rope and figure, in order to read the voices of those who were sentenced
before the trial .
But is it really judged? The masters of playing politics are still masters of the new era, and the careerists have changed their faces, from the shogun's family elders to unscrupulous industrialists like Takeda Kanyanagi. What the Sachang Alliance has pushed is only the appearance of the Tokugawa shogunate, and there is still a long way to go to truly achieve social harmony. Jianxin said a lot, swordsmanship is always a killing skill, and it cannot be used as a weapon to save people. Using violent means, using illegal and unreasonable means, even if a legitimate and reasonable purpose is achieved, it is despicable and dark. If this kind of thing soaks into the interior of the culture and becomes a part of the country's political culture or even a tradition, then the evil means will definitely give birth to the evil purpose. To establish a good political culture and political tradition, just like Washington's refusal to serve indefinitely and to be the king of the United States, the significance of this matter is far greater than that of Lincoln who liberated black slaves and Roosevelt who led the United States through the haze of World War II.
In the end, the practice of Udo Blade Guard forcing Kenshin to take action is as despicable as Saitoichi, who is wearing the uniform of the new era, forcing Kenshin to compete. Of course, for the people we love, for the ideals we want to protect, we can indeed exert enough potential. However, the executioner is not eternal. A samurai is a servant, and what he serves is ideal and spirit. Murder is a means, and saving people is also a means; attack is a means, defense is a means; protection is a means, destruction is a means. A true samurai should be someone who is obsessed with beliefs and ideals, rather than just obsessed with vanity and history. Of course, if you can be bought by money and become a killer's bodyguard, it's even less worth using the word samurai.
Therefore, the samurai is not a class, not a status, but the heart, the heart of the swordsman. In this sense, Gao Hehui adheres to the way of the healer, and Kamiya Kaoru insists on the swordsmanship of not killing people but saving people, both of which are the heart of the samurai. This warrior's heart can also lift all bans, protect oneself, and protect one's loved ones.
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