Benkei: The Warrior Monk (Japanese History Explained)

an unassuming monk a hermit of the mountain and a rogue warrior Saito Misha subbu Benkei is commonly the subject of Japanese folklore given some of the astonishing tales spun about his life but he also served under the famous warrior minamoto no yoshitsune as his right-hand man we understand that Benkei was born in the middle of the 12th century and was at one point or another a part of the Sohae warrior monks from which most of his training and expertise in battle came from one story tells of how his father was the head of a temple who had raped his mother the daughter of a blacksmith other accounts imply that Benkei was actually the offspring of a God given his monstrous height some reporting that he was almost seven feet tall contemporaries at the time claimed he had wild and untamed hair with deadly sharp teeth they were unusually elongated I was at the time would refer to him as a demon or an ogre spending most of his time traveling between temples under the so hey Venky would become very familiar with battle he would be trained with the naginata as also hey usually were before he joined the yamabushi a secret sect of monks who believed that they could achieve supernatural powers by living amongst nature while their methods and practices are elusive one can only wonder whether Benkei had discovered something mystical the high end his own abilities given the tales that were later spun about him in addition of the naginata Benkei was notorious to carry in seven other weapons with him including a sword a broad axe a rake a sickle a wooden mallet a saw and an iron staff all of which he would wear on his back many will likely point out that carrying weapons on your back is impractical and cumbersome and that this is particularly restrictive when being engaged in battle and while this may be true we all know that carrying weapons on your back looks way cooler Benkei story certainly has that anime feel to it where it's understood that he wandered around the city of Kyoto every night under his own personal quest to take 1000 sorts from samurai by defeating them in combat if the samurai were respectful and honorable he would not engage them but if they were arrogant and impudent he would challenge them as the tails go he would usually win where he defeated 999 warriors and collected all of their swords in his hunt for the final samurai he would stumble across a strange young man playing a flute at a shrine it's not known if this summer I came across as conceited which warranted Benkei engaging him but it can be safely assumed that this was not the case as the two would actually make their way to a nearby bridge for neither man wished to fight in front of the shrine Benkei would notice as they made their way to the battleground that this samurai had a gilded sword slung around his waist and on his back because that would have been too dope the source certainly would have made a nice addition to thank his collection and Benkei himself was feeling pretty confident given that he towered over the much smaller man banking would actually lose the battle though the mysterious flute-playing samurai turned out to be none other than the renowned warrior minamoto no yoshitsune benkei's life was spared and the victorious Minamoto no you're too soon II thanked Venky for their duel and went about on his way benkei would not accept the feat though he became bitter over his loss and sought revenge at all costs so he waited for your to SUNY at the temple a few days later only to lose yet again realizing that he could not beat you're too soon a in battle he became the man's retainer and would go on to become his loyalist ally during the gameplay war when the Minamoto clan were against the Taira clan yes soon they would see many victories against the Taira clan and both he and Benkei would become a renowned duo and a formidable force until you'd soon his older brother betrayed him yo Sunni and Benkei were labeled outlaws and forced to flee in the years of 1185 to 1189 it's possible that Benkei may have actually been spared had he gone on his own way but he stuck by us as suni even during this time despite the threat to his own life by the time we used to sue his death he was surrounded by his province men at his castle he would make his way to the inner reaches of the castle where he intended to commit seppuku and he would ask Benkei for one lost active service to God bridge which led to him some accounts habit that the Minamoto soldiers who came hunting for a Sunni were hesitant to cross the bridge when they saw Benkei standing there the near seven-foot monster standing ready with his weapons drawn daring them to come closer when they did advance all who approached was slain by Benkei who was said to have killed nearly 300 soldiers all by himself in this one engagement no matter how many men tried to cross the bridge Benkei dealt with them all the souls were lost out what to do there was this hulking demon God in the gate to their target this very D was now a symptom blood and showing no signs of fatigue as he stood in defiance they realized the Russia came head-on in a melee would only result in more losses and so the soldiers decided to line up their archers and fill Benkei with arrows instead even as the arrows found purchase on his flesh though Benkei was said to carry on swinging his weapons eventually though even Benkei began to slow and soon he had an arrow sticking out of every inch of him to the amazement of the soldiers Benkei finally stopped moving though as he died he did so standing upright as if the defied death itself as he clung to life desperate to fulfill his master's lost request to the fullest it would become known as the standing death of Benkei

Channel: The Legends of History

Views: 74,859

Keywords: Benkei, Legends of history, Standing death of Benkei, Who was Benkei?, Japanese warrior monks, warrior monk, Who were the warrior monks?, Who were the Sohei?, Sohei, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Genpei war, Japanese History Explained

Id: dTHzKoi_HYA

Length: 5min 56sec (356 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 12 2019