Does anyone know who the warriors that George Lucas was inspired to model the Jedi by

S

Starfish

Registered Member
Are?

If so, could you provide the name, more importantly then the background info. on them, even though that is what I am interested in. Once I know the name, I can search on the name to find out more unless someone knows a bunch about them already.

I know they are of eastern origin, and they are warriors, but that is it. Their name is similar to the name Jedi.

I ask this here because even though I am a member of Starwar.com, I can't find anything out about it from that site.

Thank you
 
Last edited:
The idea of Star Wars and the Force holds a very universal appeal. In an interview with Bill Moyers, George Lucas stated: "Well, there’s a mixture of all kinds of mythology and religious belief that have been amalgamated into the movie, and I’ve tried to take the ideas, to cut across most cultures, because I’m fascinated by that, I think that’s one of the things that I really got from (Joseph) Campbell (late mythology and culture expert), was to find the common threads through the various mythologies, through the religions."

That said, Joseph Campbell was fascinated by the origin of Hinduism which merges with Judaism and leads to Vedas as the original source. So you may have to go to the source and work down from there....
 
Well Jedis are basically samurai. The late samurai whose warrior code was turned into zen-art when longtime peace forced them into applying the laws of bushido upon everyday life, in extreme cases making them into a perfect blend of warrior and zenmonk.

Great example of Jedi-like samurai, Miyamoto Musashi.
His "book of five rings", a guide to attitude in warfare, is still essential reading as its rules apply on so many other facets than that of battle (it is heavily relied upon by japanese corporations). He wrote this book for his student while living alone in a cave the last years of his life.

On the backgrounds of starwars mythology i can recommend "Star Wars, the magic of myth" by Mary Henderson.

As Kmguru says, Lucas was heavily influenced by Joseph Campbell´s "Hero with a thousand faces". Archetypal characters and events woven into a classic epic... genious :)
 
Sorry my response was so delayed. Thank you for the information KMguru, and Muliboy.

I was watching the documentary of the Ep. 1 DVD and saw that they combined several sword fighting styles of the Samurai, so I concluded that the overall inspiration for the Jedi would be that of a monk warrior but with different, varied fighting styles to make them unique.
Well, that is when I decided to look into the origins of Kenjutsu and Kendo. I am enriched beyond my wildest expectations by the internet, and I found a large amount of information.
I plan on beginning my training in Shinto Ryu Kenjutsu within the next month, now that I've learned so much. I have a partner and now just need the bamboo 'swords'. :)

Anyway, after a long search I found this article and thought it was interesting and informative. I think you might like to see it.
I am not sure how to make a link here, but here is the address at least.

http://www.echostation.com/features/ep2sword.htm

I had known about the deep influence of Campbell’s knowledge in Lucas' writing, and I know now, thanks to the DVD, that the lyrics of 'The Great Dual' in Ep. 1 were written in Sanskrit. I found that very interesting, as I studied Vedic Medicine for some time and the history of India is enchanting. To hear that chorus in that light is much more impressive than music without lyrics.

Thank you for the book recommendations. I will make a list, and next time I go book shopping, I'll buy the Musashi book first.
 
Last edited:
That was a great site and article.

Yeah. Always wanted to learn Kendo. Got myself a genuine pair of swords, but they are seriously lethal and not suitable for horseplay :)

Yeah. Musashi is one of my favourite historical persons. He grew up from smallvillage bully into a true master of himself and his art. True inspiration :)
 
Two cents--Tibetan Buddhism

I'm told and shown in a number of books that the Jedi may be modeled after Tibetan Buddhists. Buddhist legend is filled with all sorts of tales much like the Jedi, and there's a reason that Crouching Tiger invokes notions of Star Wars that has nothing to do with the special effects: there are legends of Chinese Buddhism which reflect the abilities displayed in Crouching Tiger; the legends of Tibetan Buddhism are even more spectacular.

Currently, however, my favorite psuedo-Buddhist is off reflecting somewhere, so I can't just call him and type down what turned out to be an impressively cohesive argument in support of Buddhist legends as the inspiration for the Jedi.

It was mostly bong-talk, though, so it's not like I have extensive notes of my own on that one. I'll see if I can dig anything up.

thanx,
Tiassa :cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top