Honor or Honor?

 Fields of Victory came out this week as a PDF on DriveThruRPG.net, so it's once more an excuse to answer an age old question: What do we do about Lion Honor?

In L5R, as I've kind of rattled on about before, honor is defined as 'How well you compare, through your actions, to the image of the "perfect" samurai', with that image of 'The Perfect Samurai' being something that has been taught to you from birth by your society.  And, for samurai, that 'Image of a Perfect Samurai' is shaped by the code of Bushido, a set of virtues that a perfect samurai is supposed to have to the fullest.

However, in the code of Bushido, one of those guiding principles of Bushido is Meiyo, or Honor.

So how can your honor be evaluated by how well you adhere to the principle of honor?  It's self-referential, to start off  with. It also makes this principle very different from the other principles of Bushido, such as Compassion, Courtesy, Righteousness, and so on.  If those are parts of honor, do they count in the principle of honor twice?  Then you have the principle of Meiyo being placed foremost for the Lion clan, so how does that color their interactions with the other principles? Do they get double points for everything?  

It seems like a different translation of the word Meiyo is in order.

In English, we also use Honor in a different sense.  "I defend my honor!' is something a knight or duelist might shout after receiving  an insult.  When used in this sense, honor means 'dignity' or 'self-respect'.  It is also used to encompass a set of professional ethics, implying craftsmanship and skill.   Both of these definitions fit together in a respect for the role and 'job' one has in society.  It is a very classist definition.  An insult from an inferior is not treated the same as an insult from a superior or an equal, but a superior can offend an inferior's sense of honor if the breech is egregious enough.  Because taking the insult is so significant it violates the respect due that person due to their role in society, even if they are lower class than the person making the insult.  

If we translate Meiyo, then, as Dignity, Self-Respect, and Respect for the role and obligations of Samurai, it makes the principle clearly 'part' of Honor, but not the same as honor.  It sets it up as something that is violated when someone insults you or harms you or treats you badly, but also gives you something to sacrifice for other principles.  In Legend of the Five Rings, we are always setting up virtues of Bushido in conflict with one another.  Your lord gives you an order to cover up a crime.  Do you follow duty or righteousness?  The battle is lost, but if you retreat now you can lead the villagers to safety.  Do you follow compassion or courage?  These conflicts keep honor scores from going out of control, for every gain is likely to come with a (lesser) lost that negates some, or all of it, and the higher in honor you go, the more likely the honor gains will be negated, or even wiped out, by the losses.

If Meiyo is Dignity, then you have something to contrast with the other virtues of Bushido in this dynamic equilibrium without making it all about substituting glory for honor.  If you are insulted, you lose Dignity if you don't defend. But if the person who insulted you is much weaker than you, for example, a child, do you choose Compassion or Dignity?  A superior disrespects you.  Do you choose to respond in kind, keeping your dignity, or do you respond with Courtesy?

Meiyo as Dignity can be seen, like the other virtues of Bushido, as the key to the whole thing.  If you lack respect for your role as a samurai, why even try to follow Bushido at all? What does Bushido even mean, when you cannot value the ones who follow it?  How can you serve your lord when even you do not know what you are good for?  Without respect for what a samurai is, you cannot respect your brothers in arms.   Is not an insult to  you an insult to the Lord who trusts you and the clan that trained you?

​This sets up many of the traditional conflicts and behaviors of the Lion Clan.   In the ancient battle between Kakita and Matsu, Kakita bowed to every opponent he defeated, embodying the principle of Courtesy.  However, Matsu did not.  She knew what she was worth, and what her skill was, and her Dignity was such that she knew she was superior to those she defeated and did not bow to them.  When Kakita defeated her, and did not bow, he indicated to Matsu that he saw her, as a Samurai and follower of Lord Akodo, as inferior even to those Kakita had defeated.   This was an unforgivable affront to her Dignity, causing her major honor loss.  The feud as a result continued for generations.

Anyway, I think it's a good switch.  Hopefully it will help.  Let me know what you think.