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But the difference, in most cases, between the lords and the warriors of the Buke was a difference of rank based upon income and title: all alike were samurai, and nearly all were of Kobetsu or Shinbetsu descent.
Florenz accounts for the distinction between Kobetsu and Shinbetsu as due to the existence of two military ruling classes, resulting from two successive waves of invasion or immigration. The Kobetsu were the followers of Jimmu Tenno; the Shinbetsu were earlier conquerors who had settled in Yamato prior to the advent of Jimmu. There was a division also into castes kabane or sei.
The chief of a great clan was lord over the chiefs of the subclans attached to it: his authority was both religious and military. It must not be forgotten that religion and government were considered identical. All Japanese clan-families were classed under three heads, Kobetsu, Shinbetsu, and Bambetsu.
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