The poster should be talking about things after the Meiji Restoration, right?
There is no insurmountable distance between samurai and civilians. It seems to be a profession like an artist
For example, those under generals are called samurai, but there are also wild warriors-
It can be said that people who are good at martial arts and willing People who make a living by martial arts and believe in samurai beliefs (slowly developing into bushido) can be called samurai - simply put, people who walk on the road with their hair tied up, swords across their waists, and dressed in a sharp suit, regardless of whether they are dressed or not. Gorgeous, you have to call it "Samurai". ——Of course, the dog in front of the prime minister’s door is also a third-rank official. Of course, who is treated as a dog is different!
After the Meiji era, no, no... It should be said that in the middle of the Edo shogunate, merchants had become the lifeblood of the economy. Even though the samurai were very majestic, the feudal lords had to borrow money from merchants or cooperate with them for development. The merchants at this time were a bit like our salt merchants and rice merchants during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but their influence was much greater than them! The final situation is that many samurai will starve if they don't borrow money. If they borrow a lot of money, they will not be able to repay it in their lifetime... - Remember there was an order at that time. Debts from many years ago can not be repaid, and debts after many years will not be repaid. It must be reduced or reduced - it is considered a loss of business and a benefit to the military - in short, the samurai's life in the Edo period was not very good! You say the decline is the same as that of farmers? Maybe not as good as that!
The last one, when it comes to the issue of surnames...surnames and surnames are completely different concepts...
Quote from Baidu:
In ancient times, the Japanese only had nobles There is a surname and a given name. What they call a surname is not the same as what we understand by a surname.
At the end of the fourth century AD, Japan's Yamato court unified many small countries in the southern part of the Japanese archipelago into one country. The basis of its political rule was the surname system. Headed by the great king of the Yamato court (later the emperor), a blood-related group was established between the nobles who controlled the central power and the kings of small countries affiliated with the court. These groups were called "family", and a "family" was established. That is, a noble family.
Some of the names of surnames come from official positions, some come from the names of places where they live and rule, some come from the names of gods, and some come from skills. For example, those who live in Izumo country are called "Izumo clan", and those who perform sacrificial work are called "Kibbe clan". The Daiou family, which held the highest power in the Yamato court, was the most powerful clan at the time.
Later, the royal family gave "surnames" to many clans affiliated to the imperial court according to their closeness, blood relationship, merit and influence. This "surname" cannot be regarded as a real surname. It is just a title indicating status, family lineage, and position, similar to a title. There were about 30 surnames at that time, among which "Xianchen", "Jun", "Zhi", etc. were given to the royal family and prominent nobles, and were the most powerful surnames.
Due to population proliferation, a large clan has many branches. These branches gave themselves the name "Miao". The word "Miao" means shoots and branches, that is, branches branching off from the family. For example, Fujiwara is a large clan. After the separation, the Fujiwara clan living in Omi Kingdom took the first names of "Omi" and "Fujiwara" and called them "Kondo". The Fujiwara clan who lived in Ise, Toe, and Kaga were called Ito, Endo, and Kato. By the 8th year of Meiji, people who had never had a surname also wanted to get some glory from the word "Fuji" when choosing their own surname, so "Fujita", "Fujimoto", "Fujii", "Fujiyama", "Fujikawa", "Cane" and other surnames were born.
It can be seen that at this time, the surname can express part of the family blood relationship, but the surname only indicates the status of the family, and the character Miao represents a new branch. However, at this time, the characters surname, surname, and Miao were only used by nobles. have.
In the middle of the seventh century, during the Dahua Reform period, hereditary titles were abolished, and surnames indicating family status lost their meaning. Family names and surnames were mixed into one, and some of them became the surnames that have been passed down to the present. At this time, surnames were still the exclusive preserve of the nobility. By the 19th century, surnames were limited to warriors, wealthy businessmen, and powerful people in the village. These people apply to the authorities and obtain special permission to have a surname. It is a great honor to be able to "carry a sword in your name". The so-called "carrying a sword" means having a surname. Ordinary civilians only have a first name but no surname.
During the reign of Emperor Meiji, the government felt that it was very inconvenient to have no surname, fabricate household registration, tax and levy, so it called on everyone to take a surname. However, due to people's long-term habits, no one wanted to use it. What surname is it? At this point, the government had to issue an order that "all citizens must have a surname." At this time, people hurriedly found surnames, and a craze for surnames arose across the country.
Those who live in Aoki Village are named Aoki, those who live by the bridge are named Daqiao, those who have a pine tree in front of their house are named Matsushita, and those who have a mountain in front of their door are named Yamaguchi. So Tanaka, Miki, Yamada, Nikko, Beifeng, Qianbu, Shangfang, Guanyin, these surnames that Chinese people find strange suddenly came out.