Japanese masterless samurai .
Because samurai received their livelihood from their lord in return for service, a masterless samurai was essentially a vagabond unless he could enter the service of another lord. Rōnin could be disruptive to society; at the beginning of the Tokugawa period (the early 17th century), rōnin led unsuccessful revolts against the shogunate. The most famous rōnin were the 47 whose actions were celebrated in the kabuki play Chūshingura . By avenging their lord's death in defiance of a shogunal order forbidding the vendetta, the 47 rōnin , who were subsequently forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide), came to be seen as embodiments of the ideals of bushidō , the warrior's code.