Paper short abstract:

The practice of dripping or smearing blood on one's signature (kaō) increased in frequency amidst the 16th-century spread of violence. We probe the causes for and meanings behind this development, and speculate its relationship to the act of jigai (self-killing) and the discourse of seppuku.

Paper long abstract:

My paper considers the complex meanings blood acquired in times of violence. Medieval wars were bloody. In tales such as the Taiheiki (the Record of Grand Pacification), we read about the flesh, limbs, head, and bones that become torn and mutilated in small clashes and large battles. These casualties released blood that stained the earth and turned the river crimson. In sengoku society, the heightened level of violence doubtless increased the sum of bloody discharge on the battlefield. Perhaps analogous to this period-defining development, blood itself came to be coded with deeper meanings and was assigned complex functionalities. When induced by self-cutting, instead of a cut caused by others, blood began to convey a level of emotional commitment that could not be accomplished in spoken or written words. The practice of imprinting blood, as a seal that doubly authenticated the written signature of one's name, came to be adopted by vassals, sometimes enthusiastically on their own initiative and at other times forced by the lord. Rupturing one's own skin and letting the blood drip on one's name came to solidify the truth value associated with the signer's name. My paper focuses on the development of blood seal practice from the 1370s through the end of the sixteenth century, examines the documentary content, and analyzes the functions the blood seal accomplished in relation to the particular circumstances that invited or required it. The paper then considers the potential meaning associated with the act of self-cutting of one's finger to draw blood for the sake of an audience, or the outer society, as a sign of conviction and communication. Finally, we consider how this act relates to the increased practice of jigai (self-killing) and the language of seppuku, which presumed discharging of blood, the most fundamental inner substance of life, and most readily visible sign of human destruction as well.