by Nancy Reagin
A female supporter in the Mexican Revolution. Her hairstyle, sometimes worn by women during Mexico’s Revolution, helped inspire Princess Leia’s. (A New Hope)
Notes
1. Maurice Agulhon, “Marianne, réflexions sur une histoire,” Annales historiques de la Révolution française 289 (1992): 313–318.
2. Kelly de Vries, Joan of Arc: A Military Leader (Stroud: Sutton, 1999), 38–53.
3. Larissa Juliet Taylor, The Virgin Warrior: The Life and Death of Joan of Arc (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009), 94–118. See also Marina Warner’s Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999).
4. Joie Karnes, “Constance Markievicz: To-Day Life Is Politics,” Ph.D. dissertation, Drew University, 2006, 5–7, 29–37.
5. Quoted in Heidi Konkel, “Female Spies and Soldiers of the Civil War: Being a Woman Had Its Advantages,” M.A. thesis, California State University Dominguez Hills, 2005, 30.
6. H. Donald Winkler, Hidden Heroines of the Civil War (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2010), 3–27.
7. Lisa Margaret Lines, Milicianas: Women in Combat in the Spanish Civil War (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2011), 80–81. See also Mary Nash, Defying Male Civilization: Women in the Spanish Civil War (Denver: Arden Press, 1995).
8. Hanna Diamond, Women in the Second World War in France 1939–48: Choices and Constraints (New York: Longman, 1999), 104.
9. Bonnie Smith, Changing Lives. Women in European History since 1700 (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1989), 487–488.
10. Diamond, Women and the Second World War in France, 102–108.
11. Smith, Changing Lives, 488.
12. Ibid., 489. See also Diamond, Women and the Second World War in France, 119.
13. Margaret Collins Weitz, Sisters in the Resistance: How Women Fought to Free France, 1940–1945 (New York: Wiley, 1995), 147–151.
14. Sarah Helm, A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII (New York: Nan A. Talese, 2005), 9–27.
15. Nancy Wake, The Autobiography of the Woman the Gestapo Called the White Mouse (Melbourne: Macmillan, 1985), 43–75.
16. Russell Braddon, Nancy Wake: The Story of a Very Brave Woman (London: Cassell, 1956), 192–193.
17. Rosemary Lancaster, Je Suis Australienne: Remarkable Women in France, 1880–1945 (Crawley: University of Western Australia Press, 2008), 171–180.
18. Elizabeth R. Kindleberger, “Charlotte Corday in Text and Image: A Case Study in the French Revolution and Women’s History,” French Historical Studies 18, no. 4 (Fall 1994): 974–980.
19. Weitz, 258–261. See also Lucie Aubrac’s own account, Outwitting the Gestapo (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994).
20. Anna Macias, “Women and the Mexican Revolution, 1910–1920,” Americas 37, no. 1 (July 1980): 58–62.
21. Patricia Flynn, “Women Challenge the Myth,” in Revolution in Central America, edited by John Altoff and the Stanford Central America Action Network (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1983), 416–422; Margaret Randall, Sandino’s Daughters Revisited: Feminism in Nicaragua (Piscataway: Rutgers University Press, 2004), 230–244.
Chapter 3
Elegant Weapons for Civilized Ages
The Jedi and Warrior-Monks throughout History
Terrance MacMullan
“For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic.”
—Obi-Wan Kenobi, A New Hope
The Star Wars galaxy brims with fascinating people, places, and things. Yet even in a galaxy with suave Corellian smugglers, breathtaking Tatooine binary sunsets, and awesome Death Stars, nothing rivals the allure of the Jedi. Millions found their imaginations fired by the simple description of the Jedi given by an old wandering knight who explains that “for over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic.”1 While the Jedi—with their sorcerers’ ways and elegant weapons—stand as a unique vision from long ago in a galaxy far, far away, they also represent a response to an eternal struggle to reconcile the ideal with the real, the spiritual with the physical, the easy way with the right way. They are the realization of the universal hope that power be placed in the hands of people wise enough to use it justly. Once we recognize this, we can see the Jedi as another glorious chapter in what Joseph Campbell called “the one, shapeshifting yet marvelously constant story that we find.”2
A careful student of Star Wars and history discerns a recurring pattern, similar to a musical theme that emerges and recedes throughout a symphony, which harmonizes the tales of the Jedi and other spiritual warriors. These extraordinary people combine the discipline necessary to manifest incredible physical power with the wisdom to know that such strength must be used only in the service of a higher purpose. They show that before there can be a cunning warrior in whom the Force is strong, there must first be a monk wise enough to feel the Force. This chapter examines the parallels between the Jedi Knights and three renowned societies of warrior-monks from history: the Shaolin monks of China, the samurai of feudal Japan, and the Knights Templar of the Crusades. Each of these comparisons reveals different facets of the Jedi as warrior-monks. The example of the Shaolin monks helps us understand their vision of the one energy that unifies the entire universe. The samurai cast light on the Jedi’s unique mind-set, especially their detachment even in the face of death. Finally, tracing parallels with the Knights Templar illuminates the Jedi’s moral dualism—the belief that the universe is a battleground in a cosmic struggle between good and evil—as well as the risks of virtue in a corrupt world.
A school for keepers of the peace: Jedi progress through ranks from Youngling to Master, similar to many historical martial orders. (Attack of the Clones)
This chapter demonstrates that the virtues that we so admire in the Jedi have been manifested by flesh-and-blood people from a variety of past cultures and organizations. Although it appears unlikely that any of us will ever be able to use the Force to move objects telekinetically or trick guards, we can tap into a real spiritual force that might help us forge lives of greater nobility and virtue.3
“Ancient Weapons and Hokey Religions”: The Origin of the Jedi Order
The Jedi origin stories highlight the unavoidable tension between the deadly warrior and the serene monk that lies at the core of the Jedi’s being. According to the world beyond the films—the Expanded Universe of Star Wars—thousands of years before the Battle of Yavin in A New Hope, there lived on Tython a group of seers who felt both the serene and benevolent side of the Force, which they called Ashla, and its destructive and malevolent aspect, called Bogan.4 These people were not warriors but mystics and philosophers who were drawn to this ever-present energy as a source of wisdom.
The members of the Jedi Order are bound by a number of proscriptions shared by many other monastic communities throughout human history. Jedi adhere to a very precise dress code that marks them not merely as Jedi but as Jedi of a particular rank. Jedi normally enter the Order as Younglings and then strive to progress through the ranks of Padawan, Knight, and Master. Every Jedi obeys some appropriate authority within the Order, whether it is the Master who guides each Padawan’s training or the members of the Jedi Council who hold ultimate authority over all Jedi. Jedi fill many different roles of service to their Order and the Republic, including generals, investigators, diplomats, and archivists. Whether battle-hardened commander or quiet librarian, all Jedi are trained to wield their signal weapon—the lightsaber—only as a measure of last resort. The light side of the Force teaches the Jedi to be compassionate to all life, but their knowledge of the dark side prohibits them from developing intimate relationships. Celibacy prevents them from suffering divided loyalties or unfit attachments that might cause them to be seduced by the dark side of the Force.5 Just as in earthly monastic societies, many Jedi struggle with this rule, and some even violate it, with devastating consequences. Indeed, one of the most cataclysmic chains of eve
nts in the Star Wars saga is triggered when Anakin Skywalker’s tender passion for his forbidden love, Padmé Amidala, turns obsessive and destructive.
The Jedi are a potent moral force when they successfully balance the humility and obedience of the monk with the warrior’s pride and valor. They become spiritual beings in the mundane world of matter, technology, politics, and desires, who are not of this world. They feel the deeper truths of peace, calm, and harmony but choose to engage with discord, scum, and villainy, in the hopes their mastery of physical force and the spiritual Force might make things right.
“It Binds the Galaxy Together”: Qi, the Force, and the Shaolin Monks
The earliest community of warrior-monks whose story parallels that of the Jedi still prays and trains today in a monastery near the mountains of Henan Province in China. Although their origins are shrouded by a veil of legend, we know that from the Shaolin Monastery there arose a cadre of Seng Bing (“monk soldiers”) who submitted to a rigid monastic code; shunned fame, wealth, power, and other worldly desires; and studied a universal energy force that imbued them with great vitality and physical power. During their long history, they cleared the surrounding countryside of dangerous animals, protected their neighbors from bandits and pirates, and served the government of their people. They suffered persecution by a vengeful emperor and witnessed the destruction of their temple. They even rescued a princess or two!
A more civilized age: pagodas decorate the site of the famed Shaolin Temple, founded in 495.
The story of the Shaolin monks begins with the founding of their temple in 495 by a Buddhist monk from India named Batuo.6 By decree of the emperor Xiaowen, this temple was erected at a central location near the imperial capital of Louyang, much as the Jedi Order built its longest-standing Temple on the capital world of Coruscant in close proximity to the Senate chamber.7 The Shaolin monks were originally tasked with the spiritual mission of studying and promulgating Buddhism. In both cases, these spiritual beings became warriors only when forced by fate, as in the seventh century when the monks of Shaolin confronted bandits attacking the monastery and its neighbors.
Other Shaolin stories provide more evidence that the spiritual preceded the martial. Perhaps the most significant is the tale of Bodhidharma, a legendary early abbot who lamented that the monks were too feeble for the rigors of Chan (or Zen) meditation. Having been raised in a warrior family in India, Bodhidharma was trained in the vajramushti fighting system, which he taught the monks for the sake of improving their vitality. Soon the monks became known as the most formidable fighters in all of China. Supposedly, the system of physical exercise developed by him was the basis of the well-known Shaolin ch’uan-fa (Kung-fu) system.8
Although it is impossible to verify Bodhidharma’s exact contributions, we know that soon after his tenure, the “Shaolin Temple became a center of excellence for the fighting arts with martial artists from across China making a pilgrimage to the temple to practice with the monk-soldiers.”9 The monks practiced martial arts primarily as a means of cultivating vitality; as Buddhists, they fought only defensively and for the purpose of protecting innocents. This is reminiscent of Yoda’s admonition to Luke that “[a] Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.”10 Their earliest warrior training focused on the staff: a sacred and defensive weapon that had long been the symbol of the Buddhist monk.11 They studied a multitude of staff forms, just as the Jedi learn the seven lightsaber forms.12 Later they developed unarmed martial arts forms, such as the Nizong quan or “Wild-Beast Fists,” which were based on the movements of animals.13 Similarly, Jedi lightsaber forms were patterned on the behavior of animals and bore their names, such as Form IV Ataru: The Way of the Hawk-Bat.14
For knowledge and defense: Shaolin monks were renowned for their daring fighting styles and fearless military service.
Many of the daring exploits of the warrior-monks of Shaolin closely mirror those of the Jedi. Just as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker shield Senator Padmé Amidala against an assassination attempt in Attack of the Clones, in the seventh century a Shaolin monk named “Jue Wen died leading a detachment of thirty Shaolin monk soldiers on a mission to save Princess Yong Tai from a planned assassination.”15 The Shaolin monks earned their reputation as fearsome fighters while serving the imperial government of China during military campaigns, just as the Jedi Guardians protect the Republic against its enemies. Both groups performed two distinct military functions: they were leaders of regular combatants, as well as elite front-line fighters capable of deciding entire battles with their incredible abilities.16
The legendary figure Bodhidharma offers a wealth of comparisons with the venerable Jedi Master Yoda. Both were skilled martial artists, as well as wise spiritual teachers. They shared a mastery of cosmic energy that granted them abilities that defied belief. Legends say that Bodhidharma meditated in a cave for nine years so intently that he drilled holes through solid rock with his gaze.17 Other tales have him floating across the Yellow River on a single reed.18 These wonders compare to how Luke Skywalker learns the power of the Force when Yoda tells him to lift his X-wing fighter out of Dagobah’s swamps. Skywalker, shackled by doubt, tries but fails. The diminutive Master then uses the Force to gracefully lift the fighter out of the swamp and onto firm ground. Most remarkably, both Masters even achieved a kind of resurrection: Yoda’s spirit appears to Luke after the Battle of Endor, and Bodhidharma was said to have appeared to his student Song Yung three years after his death.19
True Masters: Bodhidharma and Yoda had both served their orders as teachers and leaders. (Attack of the Clones)
These stories of two great masters from two very different worlds underline the most important similarity between the Shaolin monks and the Jedi Knights. These spiritual warriors shared a common belief that the universe is not really the mundane world of separate objects governed by luck and probability. Instead, the universe is a single whole unified by an invisible, ever-present, and living energy that the Jedi call the Force and the Shaolin monks called qi.
Obi-Wan describes the Force as “an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.”20 Jedi study a living Force that grants them not only incredible physical and sensory abilities, but also telekinesis, healing abilities, and mind control over the weak-willed. Yet they also feel a deeper—possibly sentient—side called the Unifying Force, which is the energy felt at the cosmic level of galaxies, space, time, and even fate.
Temples as targets: Like the Jedi Temple, the Shaolin Temple was destroyed by fearful government forces but eventually was rebuilt. (Revenge of the Sith)
The monks of Shaolin were one of many communities in China who studied the phenomenon they called qi (sometimes written ch’i).21 Qi is also a ubiquitous, invisible energy that underlies all things. Master Waysun Liao explains that “[a]ccording to the legendary theory of Yin and Yang, ch’i exercises its powers ceaselessly, moving in a balanced manner between the positive (constructive) and the negative (destructive) powers.”22 Dedicated study and cultivation of qi affords vitality, sensitivity, and even enhanced physical abilities. Early qi masters used internal energy circulation and acupuncture techniques to heal, just as the Jedi use the art of Curato Salva.23 The Shaolin monks first cultivated qi for its own sake and only later learned to move this energy into their limbs and weapons to become terrifying warriors.
The power wielded by warrior-monks across these worlds led to persecution by political figures who sought scapegoats to deflect public attention away from their own thirst for domination. The second Jedi Temple on Coruscant is invaded during the bloody Jedi Purge in 19 BBY and is eventually reduced to rubble (as seen in Revenge of the Sith).24 Similarly, the Shaolin Temple was twice destroyed—first in 574 and again in 845—as part of an imperial purge of Buddhism as a supposedly traitorous cult.25 Both temples were rebuilt by their resilient monks: Master Luke Skywalker returns his renewed Jedi Order to a new Temple on Coruscan
t, and the rebuilt Shaolin Temple still houses a brotherhood of monks who keep alive their ancient traditions of Chan Buddhism and martial arts.
“Let Go Your Conscious Self”: Samurai and the Zen Art of Lightsaber Maintenance
The samurai might seem out of place in a chapter on warrior-monks, because the samurai were not monks at all.26 Instead, the samurai were an elite caste of warriors in feudal Japan who married, ran households, raised children, and owned property. Nonetheless, the samurai belong in this chapter because they share with the Jedi a number of traits, especially a similar philosophy regarding death, fate, and purpose.
Masked knights: this samurai from the 1860s and Darth Vader both donned fearsome face masks as part of their armor. (The Empire Strikes Back)
The samurai (whose name derives from saburou, which means “to serve”) came to prominence in eighth-century Japan as the armed servants of the aristocratic government of Japan.27 Proficient in many weapons, they mastered the sword and the bow, which they wielded in battle as the mounted officers of the armies of Japan, just as the Jedi Guardians are field commanders of the armies of the Republic.28 Later, the samurai became advisers, diplomats, and administrators comparable to the Jedi Consulars. Like all Jedi, they donned flowing robes, served their masters with single-minded devotion, and trained diligently in the ways of war.29 The most important links between the groups were their deep philosophical affinities, demonstrated in their detachment in the face of difficulty and death.30 We can best explore the many parallels between the Jedi and the samurai by examining how the latter group embodied three ideals: Bunbu itchi, Bushido, and Zen Buddhism.