taigi-meibun ( 大義名分): As I wrote in Samurai Assassins, morals in Tokugawa society were largely based on the state ideology of Neo-Confucianism, which began to flourish in Japan under the Bakufu. Neo-Confucianism taught that harmony in society was maintained by the justice of taigi-meibun—the morally correct relationship between a benevolent superior and his obedient and loyal subordinates, such as between a daimyo and his samurai vassals.