A Study of the Relationship Between the Dramaturg of Mugen-Noh and Hakusan Faith
A Study of the Relationship Between the Dramaturg of Mugen-Noh and Hakusan Faith : The Spirit and Form of Faith、1994
By Tadami Yamada
The nesting structure of Mugen Noh
When discussing the theatrical structure of Mugen Noh (夢幻能；A Noch drama of dreams and illusions) as a theory of time and space, the double structure of space-time on the side of the bridge can be pointed out using the bridge as a clue. The uniqueness of this structure is clearer when compared to Kyogen, and it is unparalleled in the history of theater.
Noh and Kyogen are physically performed on the same stage, but in Kyogen, the world on this side of the bridge and the world on the other side are on the same horizon, and time is continuous. However, in Noh, an extremely special space-time is formed, where the other side across the bridge is the "other world" and this side is the "realm of the underworld." In other words, another space-time is incorporated into the space of the stage across the bridge. Completely different worlds are nested inside each other, and a slight set-up acts like a permeable membrane, allowing the common time of a rare encounter to pass through. I think it is possible to posit the theatrical structure of what is called Mugen Noh in this way. Only then can one realize that this structure beautifully captures the ideas around the time of the maturation of Noh, especially the idea of impurity regarding death, and that it also visually shapes the mental images born from the fusion of Pure Land Buddhism and Hakusan faith as a style of the era.
Anyway, let's take a look at the general plot of Mugen Noh.
〔A monk on a trip around the country visits a certain famous place. A villager appears there and tells the traveler a legend of the place. He then says, "I am actually someone in that story. I am currently appearing in a temporary form," and disappears, asking for a memorial service.
Next comes the interlude, and the real villager comes and recounts the same oral tradition. The monk thinks back on his experience and thinks of the opportunity.
Then the mysterious villager appears in his true form, this time telling a story from the past and dancing. The monk witnesses a scene from history right before his eyes.
Then, as dawn breaks, the figure of the so-and-so disappears. The traveling monk stares at the area where the so-and-so has disappeared, wondering if this was all a dream. 〕
Although it is designed as a dream, the time and space to which the traveling monk belongs is clearly nested with a time and space of a different dimension. Moreover, the time and space to which the so-and-so (shite), who is a vengeful spirit, a cursed spirit, or a deceased person who cannot attain nirvana because of his sins, belongs does not undergo any essential change as a result of this encounter.
This is important. An other world beyond the reach of human will has appeared in the middle of this world, and if the other side of the bridge is the afterlife, then you could say that an entrance to it has opened up. The design of dreams is based on the notion of the impermanence of this world.
Below I will consider the thought, or faith, on which this ontological worldview is based. I will also examine how, in an era when faith was total, with no room for even the slightest doubt, "art" was an image imbued in detail with meanings that could be systematically interpreted.
Yomi-no-kuni and Hakusan faith
Izanagi-no-mikoto and Izanami-no-mikoto, who are said to be the gods of creation in the Kojiki (古事記) and Nihon Shoki (日本書紀), later go to Yomi-no-kuni (Underworld of the dead). The male god is purified and revived, but the female god is in charge of death in Yomi-no-kuni.
Regarding this myth, Seiji Okada has noted that shrines dedicated to these two gods are concentrated in the area from the eastern coast of the Seto Inland Sea to Yamato, and that the others are located relatively close to the coast, and he hypothesizes a relationship between the believers of Izanagi and a group of sea people. He also says that the "creation of the country" of Izanagi and Izanami was originally a local "island-making" myth of Awaji Island.
It is now academic common knowledge that the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki myths asserted the legitimacy of the Yamato dynasty's rule over the land, and were political products intended as a measure to assimilate other indigenous peoples into the Yamato region. Moreover, although the strategy was clever and ingenious - "cut the skin to split the flesh, cut the flesh to sever the bones" - it sounds good, but it seems to have been a "lift and drop" type that included "truth" and "pretense". This scheming mentality and cultural consciousness already prepared the space for the emergence of vengeful gods.
In the Kojiki and Nihon shoki, the names Izanagi and Izanami appeared in the Age of the Gods, and Izanagi-no-Mikoto is spoken of as the vengeful god of Awaji Island in the section on Emperor Ingyaku in the Nihon Shoki. Whether the island's land god was originally worshiped as a vengeful god, or whether it was a vengeful god for the Yamato dynasty, cannot be determined without historical documents from the indigenous people. Generally speaking, however, no matter what religion or concept of god there is in the world, it has no meaning to those who do not believe in it. Isn't it natural to think of Izanagi, an indigenous island god, as a curse god for the Yamato dynasty?
After giving birth to the god of fire, Izanami's vagina was burned and she finally died. Her body was buried on Mount Hiba, on the border between the provinces of Izumo and Hakuki (Kojiki).
Also, the Shoku Nihongi (続日本紀) states, "Therefore, he was buried in Arima village in Kumano, Kii province. Local customs worship the spirit of this god with flowers at the time of flowering. They also worship with drums, flutes, flags and singing and dancing."
Izanami fell into the underworld, where, as Yomotsu-Okami, she rules over the world of death and impurity.
Thus, the ruling structure of the Yamato dynasty, consisting of three vertical layers: the sacred, the profane, and the impure, was completed. The indigenous sea people, after having been given the honor of creating the country, were immediately deemed impure and degraded in the ruling class system.
By the way, the "Kintosho (金島書)“, which Zeami wrote when he was exiled to Sado, contains the following poem entitled "Kitayama (北山；Northan Mountain)“.
"Therefore, in the time of the gods Izanagi and Izanami, especially now, Izanagi divides his blessings and appears as the gongen of Kumano, sows seeds in the clouds of Nanzan (南山；Southern Mountain), and rules the country. Izanagi then appears as Hakusan Gongen (白山権現), and while the seeds are collected in the northern sea, the moon's shadow of Bodhi Nirvana, this land of Sado, and the shadow of the northern mountain every month and every day, will not cease to exist, and the land will be rich and the people will be rich. The white clouds of Hakusan and Izanami will be governed by the sea of Sado." (Italics are by Yamada)
I would like to pay attention to the following three points here.
1, Izanagi appears as Hakusan Gongen.
2, This perception was not Zeami's alone, but was most likely the perception of the era in which he lived.
3, The white cloud of Mount Hakusan (later mention).
Hakusan consists of three mountains, Ogozen, Onanji, and Betsuyama, with Ogozen as its main peak. The god residing on these three mountains is Shirayama Hime. It is said that the climbing route to Hakusan was opened in Echizen Baba by Taicho in 717, but by 832, all three of the so-called Hakusan Three Baba routes, including Kaga and Mino, had been opened (Hakusan-ki; 白山記).
At one time, these three regions had different worship of Hakusan and different names for Hakusan Hime, which has given rise to many theories about the deity's status. They are Hakusan Hime, Hakusan Myori Daibosatsu, Kijo, Izanagi-no-Mikoto, Izanami-no-Mikoto, Kukurihime, and Kuzuryu-o.
Morita Shien's "Thoughts on Hakusan Shrine (白山神社考)“ writes, "Since Mt. Hakusan is covered in snow, Shirayama Hime could also be called the Snow God." There is no doubt that in ancient times Mt. Hakusan was worshipped as a barrier mountain due to its steepness, but like many sacred places, it was a place where various gods and Buddhism were mixed up.
Kobayashi Isshin says that the name "Izanagi-no-Mikoto" was either a confusion or an error in copying documents, but that it is possible to imagine a time when "Kijo” was Izanagi-no-Mikoto, and so it is thought that by the Kamakura period, the deity Hakusan-owasu-kami had changed into Izanagi-no-Mikoto. He points out that the reason for this is that Mt. Hakusan was the afterlife, the land of the dead where the ancestral spirits of the people living at the foot of Mt. Hakusan went.
This point is of utmost importance when examining the dramaturgy of Mugen Noh and its dramatic spatial structure. Let us keep this in mind once again.
Zeami clearly recognized Mt. Hakusan as a world beyond. He envisioned his own demise in Sado, a place of exile. Also, while holding up the head of the god, they may have had the hope of purifying themselves of their lowly origins and being reborn in a pure state. Kobayashi says, "What is also important to note is that Izanagi-no-Mikoto must also be considered as the first god to return from the underworld. It is not unrelated that the "Hakusan Event" of the Flower Festival (Hana Kagura) is an event of Hakusan Shugendo (白山修験道；Spiritual training in Mt. Hakusan), and is a ritual of simulated death and rebirth."
The training process of mountain Shugendo symbolically imitates the simulated death and rebirth by returning to the womb, but with regard to Hakusan, the fact that Kukurihime was enshrined is also important. It was Kukurihime who went to the underworld to purify Izanagi-no-Mikoto, who was completely stained by the impurity of death, and allowed him to be reborn into this world again.
By the way, I have given some consideration to Zeami's feelings, but it is known that people who were discriminated against as lowly people had faith in the Hakusan deity.
Miyata Noboru says that among the non-discriminated people, there existed "a group that did not view the impurity of death as impure, but as kigare, and whose occupation was to carry out procedures for regeneration during death rituals." There is no doubt that this point is related to the essence of Hakusan faith.
Miyata goes even further and says, "The absurdity of viewing an occupation that is directly related to the impurity of death as impure and treating them as outcasts stems from the 'common sense' of the settled agricultural people. This 'common sense' was not something that the non-discriminated people were originally endowed with. This absurdity does not arise at the stage of understanding kegare as 'kikare.' The problem lies in the intentional act of making people aware of it as 'impurity' and forcibly instilling a view of impurity in them."
And I cannot help but pay attention to the point that the worldview of the non-discriminated people exists separately from the world of the settled agricultural people, from which the so-called 'common sense' was born. This suggests a relational structure between "Mt. Hakusan = the other world" and "this world," and it seems that they are nested together.
Hakusan Ceremony in Oku-Mikawa
In February 1991, NHK TV aired a documentary called "Flower Festival Fantasy." A folk art called the Flower Festival is handed down in the mountainous area of Oku-Mikawa. This festival was well known from Hayakawa Kotaro's great book "Flower Festival," but the "Hakusan Ceremony,” which was held at the same time as the Flower Festival in years of epidemics and famines, ceased after 1856. The Flower Festival and the Hakusan Ceremony, that is, the Great Kagura, have been revived for the first time in 134 years.
The significance of the Flower Festival is to pray for the arrival of spring and bountiful harvests during the withered winter season, and at the same time to fulfill the wishes of those who beg for life due to illness. It is also thought to be related to the funeral ritual of Izanami-no-Mikoto mentioned above.
In the village square, a maido (舞戸；Dance Space) is set up around the large cauldron used in the Yutate Shinji (湯立神事；Boil water Ritual), and next to it is a square fence of oak and bamboo surrounding Mt. Shirayama, completely cut off from the outside world. Paper streamers are hung from the bamboo leaves. The maido is this world, and Mt. Shirayama is the next world. The bridge of darkness connects the two.
Four more pillars covered in white cloth are erected in the centre of Mt. Shirayama, and a mirror is hung on them. A himorogi (神籬；sacred tree) made of sakaki branches with a kegyo (顕形) sash tied to it is set up, and a Brahma (梵天) and a dragon head (竜頭) are raised up.
This himorogi has a unique ceiling attached to it, which is generally called a byakke (白蓋) or tengai (天蓋), but the one in Toyone Village (Kitashitara District, Aichi Prefecture) is called a "cloud" because it has countless square lantern-shaped, pure white paper streamers with unique slits hanging from it. The eight million gods descend onto this "cloud." A white sash is then stretched between the clouds of Mt. Hakusan and the Maido (this world). The gods travel freely between this world and the afterlife by walking along this sash.
Well, I don't have the space to go into detail about the O-kagura program here, but to give the gist of it:
First, the "Kama-harai (釜払い)“ ceremony is performed. This ceremony is followed by a ritual that symbolizes the four great wishes that are made in a person's life.
First, the "Mai-age (舞い上げ)“ (commonly called "Umareko (生れ子)“; the same applies below in parentheses). This is a ceremony related to childbirth, and originally, the dance involved holding the hand of the newborn baby, but now it has become a dance for children.
Second, the "Yotsu-mai (四ツ舞)“ (Umare-kiyomawari ;生れ清まわり). This is the so-called coming-of-age ceremony. When the child reaches the age of 13, this marks a turning point and a new birth.
Third, the "Hana-no-migushi (花の御髪)“ (Ogigasa；扇笠：fan-shaped hat). This is a dance performed with a fan as a hat, intended to ward off evil spirits around the age of 40, or to celebrate the New Year.
And fourth, the "Hakusan-iri (白山入り)“ (Jyoudoiri；浄土入り：entering the Pure Land). Those in unlucky years wear fan hats, those who have turned 60 wear bamboo hats, put on funeral attire, and form a funeral procession called "hanasodate (花育て)” (flower raising), which is led by Hanatayu (花太夫：The Chief of flowers) into Mt. Hakusan. Eventually, Yamami Oni (山見鬼：The demon gazing intently at the mountain) enters Mt. Hakusan to save the dead, observes the situation, and then comes out again. Next, a purifying lion enters Mt. Hakusan and transforms it from hell into paradise. Then Yamami Oni enters Mt. Hakusan with five-colored demons, saves the dead, destroys Mt. Hakusan, and returns to the gods. The dead return to this world once more, and are sprinkled with water from a kettle of yudate by bamboo. In other words, the birth water is used in a purification ritual of rebirth.
The people rejoice as they watch the dance, and the festival ends.
As we have seen above, the "Hakusan Cermony” is an extremely symbolic ritual of simulated death and rebirth.
In this event, the afterlife and this world are not conceived as parallel worlds. It is conceived as a nested structure, and the whole world is modeled in miniature. Moreover, visually it looks like the larger covers the smaller, but the conceptual truth is that all things in this world are contained within Mt. Hakusan as a part.
Jodo Shinshu has a concept called "Genso Eko (還相廻向).” Suzuki Daisetsu explains in simple terms that "it is not like going to paradise and then coming back to this world, but if you imagine going from here to a hundred billion worlds, it is not such a faraway place, but rather that this is where you are now, here and now." Traditionally, it has been thought of as an interpretive idea of "enlightenment (悟達)“ or "salvation of all living beings (衆生済度),” but as an ontological cosmic image, it can be said to show the idea of a 'nested' world view that is the polar opposite of the idea of parallel worlds.
In this way, the idea that this world and the other world (the other shore) (彼岸此岸) have a nested structure in which they can be transformed by the difference of a single membrane is an idea that permeates not only the theatrical structure and faith in Mt. Hakusan, but also the architectural structure of the Amida Hall and the Noh stage, which will be discussed later.
However, before examining this, let us consider the "clouds" of Mt. Hakusan.
The "Clouds" of Mt. Hakusan and Sarugaku Noh
The unique ceiling of Mt. Hakusan, called "Clouds" in Toyone Village and commonly referred to as "Byakke (白蓋)“ or "Tengai (天蓋)“, is highly symbolic, but has been a great mystery in folklore. Ishizuka Takatoshi discovered that the coffin cover marked "Gyokugai (玉蓋)” in the funeral procession diagram in the ancient documents of the Ono Kengyo family (小野検校家古文書) in Hinomisaki, Shimane Prefecture, has the same shape as “Byakke”. He also discovered that "Gyokugai” is another name for "Tengai".
The suggestion that it is a coffin cover is quite persuasive, in line with the essence of the Mt. Hakusan Ceremonies. However, it must be said that there is a gap between this and the concept of "clouds".
I have pointed out that Zeami sings "Clouds of Mt. Hakusan and Isana-mi". Zeami sees Izanami-no-Mikoto, who appears as Hakusan Gongen, in the clouds and waves that overlap like a white mountain, far away in the sea of Sado. Moreover, the shadow of death looms in the clouds.
An example of using clouds as a synonym for death is seen in the Shin Kokinshu poem (新古今和歌集),
"From what field smoke have they become clouds in the empty sky?"
Also, in volume 8 of Saigyo's Senshusho (撰集抄), there is a poem by Tadamine about Mt. Hakusan, which reads, "Clouds cover Mt. Hakusan in Echizen, and the snow that accumulates over the years piles up."
And in Gesseishu (月清集), Sessho Gokyogoku writes, "In spring, the only thing we should see is the hazy moon, but Mt. Hakusan in Echizen is covered in clouds.”
Tadamine's poem is clearly looking at death at the end of old age. I think that it seems that "clouds" and "snow" are lyrics that are inseparable from Mt. Hakusan. This is why Morita Kakizono believes that snow is the substitute for the spirit of the deity residing in Mt. Hakusan.
The area of Nogo in Gifu Prefecture, which seems to be embraced by the steep peaks of Mt. Hakusan, was a place where Echizen Sarugaku (越前猿楽：Dance drama in Echizen), which had its roots in worship of Mt. Hakusan, was active from around the Northern and Southern Courts period through the Muromachi period. At Nogo Hakusan Shrine, there is a Noh play that has been handed down by 16 hereditary Sarugaku families.
The Noh stage is a simple, ni-ken-shihou (about 360cm square), tentative structure with the worship hall of Hakusan Shrine facing the stage, and a bridge to the right that leads to the dressing room behind the stage. The structure of the bridge seems to have undergone some gradual changes even in recent years. The part of the stage that corresponds to the mirror panel is covered with a curtain with a three-common comma swirl crest and an embraced oak crest.
I note that the "cloud and wind crest" is painted on both ends of the decorative lintel at the top of the front of this Noh stage.
There are many historical studies on the Noh stage, but as far as I know, there has been no academic paper that has made even the slightest mention of the "unkimon" (雲気紋：cloud motif) painted on the decorative lining of the Noh stage at Nogo Hakusan Shrine. At first glance it may seem like a common design, but in fact there are not that many of them.
Nagataki, Shiratori town, Gujo district, also in Gifu prefecture, is the entrance to Kaga Hakusan from Mino. The Nagataki Ennen festival of Nagataki Hakusan Shrine is known for conveying the medieval Ennen tradition to the present day. The "unkimon" is also clearly carved on both ends of the large lining of the haiden veranda, which is the venue for the ritual and dance.
It goes without saying that the "unkimon" on shrine architecture represents a divine spirit, but in relation to Sarugaku Noh, I think that the clouds are somehow a symbolic emblem of the seated deity of Hakusan.
In Buddhism, on the other hand, "unza “ (雲座；cloud seat) can be seen on the pedestals of statues of Amida Nyorai and Myoken Bosatsu. In Pure Land Buddhism, clouds are a symbol of Amida Buddha, as seen in the characteristic depiction of the Amida Raigo painting.
The "clouds" of Mt. Hakusan in Toyone village not only serve as a divine abode or a coffin cover, but also as a symbol of the deity seated on Mt. Hakusan, and the symbol of Amida Buddha has also been adopted as a symbol of the Pure Land, so perhaps they have multiple meanings.
When the Great Monk Taicho Daishi opened Mt. Hakusan, the deity residing on Mt. Gozen was Izanami-no-Mikoto (Hakusan Myori Daibosatsu), whose original form is the Eleven-Headed Kannon. It is said that at this time the Daishi worshipped Shokannon at Betsuzan to the south of Mt. Gozen, and Amida Buddha at Mt. Onanji-mine to the north-northwest.
The Eleven-Headed Kannon is said to transform into various forms to cut off the eleven chapters of ignorance and save all living beings, and all of these represent the will of Amida Buddha.
Esoteric Buddhist practitioners who climbed Mt. Hakusan would practice the Eleven-Headed Kannon ritual to receive the mercy of Kannon, but it can be noted that faith in Amida was later added with the development of Pure Land Faith, which can be seen as a historical development in faith in Mt. Hakusan.
Architectural structure of the Amida Hall
Noh actor Kunio Konparu once questioned whether the fact that the Chusonji Golden Hall is a "sheath hall (鞘堂)“ and its similarity to modern Noh theaters, which also have double roofs, are a complete coincidence. I suspect that this was probably a sharp intuition from him as a performer, rather than a Noh researcher. I also use "nesting" as a keyword to examine the theatrical structure of Mugen Noh, and in this section I am trying to examine the conceptual similarity between the Amida Hall and the Noh stage.
However, I do not think that the current double-roofed Noh theaters retain the same vein of faith and thought. Modern Noh theaters are merely a roof on top of another, and the large roof covering the Noh stage can be thought of as something like the all-weather Tokyo Dome.
Yamazaki Gakudo says, "A Noh stage (including the dressing room area) is always a separate space independent of other buildings, and this has been an inherent feature since the theater's creation. (Omitted) The fact that the Noh stage within a Noh theater is generally a separate building, standing under the lid of the main building, is nothing but a reflection of the original spirit that continues to this day."
As Yamazaki believes, the current Noh stage and the building that covers it are separate buildings that have no relation whatsoever in terms of the dynamism of the architectural structure.
However, the idea that the Noh stage's true purpose is to be a separate building must be considered the view of modern people who have lost the complete view of the world of faith that people around the Middle Ages had.
There is a structural style in shrine and temple architecture called "sou-do (双堂).” This is the gongen-zukuri style (権現造り) of shrines. In this style, the main hall covers the palace where the deity is enshrined, and a worship hall is placed in front of it, and the two halls are connected by a low-floor stone hall. The ridges of the hipped roofs of both halls are covered with a large roof called Ishino-ma Ryosage-dukuri (石之間の両下造り), creating a nested structure. It is very similar to the relationship between the Noh stage and the viewing area in a Noh theater.
However, just as with Gongen-zukuri, it is enough to know that the architectural philosophy supported by faith is due to the fact that the floor heights of the main hall and the worship hall are completely different, and in many cases the height of the base (ground) itself is also different.Furthermore, by uniting the existence of such different phases of worlds with a large roof, it is possible to see that they are recognized as a whole world picture.
Now, I picture in the center of the Noh stage, although it is invisible to the eye, the inner sanctuary of the Buddhist hall, with a canopy over the shumidan (須弥壇) where the Buddha is enshrined, and in front and behind it the worship hall and rear apse.
In Mugen Noh, gods, Buddhas and spirits (often vengeful spirits) manifest in the inner sanctuary.
The architectural feature of placing the sanctuary in the center of the building is not at all common to Buddhist temples in China, Korea, India, Tibet, and other countries. Even in Japan, Buddhist halls up until the mid-Heian period were closer to those in China and Korea in terms of the location of the butsudan (仏壇).
Placing the sanctuary in the center is a style of Buddhist hall with a ikken-square (about 180cm square) plan, which is seen in many examples in Amida halls.
The principal image is enshrined in the main building, which is ikken-square in the center, and ikken eaves area is provided around it to create a ritual space. In other words, the plan of the entire building is sanken square (about 540cm square).
Amida halls were built in great numbers from the mid-Heian period onwards, based on Pure Land faith. People chanted “Onri Edo” (厭離穢土： Abandoning the Impure Land), Gongu Joudo (欣求浄土：Seeking the Pure Land)" and sought to create a Pure Land (the afterlife) in this world.
The one-bay, four-sided Amida Hall was modeled after the Jōgyo-do Hall (常行堂) of Tendai temples, where people would perform Jogyō-zanmai (constant meditation). Jogyō-zanmai is a practice in which people circumambulate around the statue of Amida Buddha while chanting the name of the Buddha, and the building required a centripetal structure. The Amida Hall was thought to have been an architectural form that possessed the rationality required for religious ceremonies.
However, regardless of the religion, the temple reflects and imitates the structure of the universe determined by the religion. The Amida Hall is thought to go beyond the rationality required for religious ceremonies and embody the relational structure between this world and the other world in the form of an architectural structure.
The Golden Hall of Chusonji Temple (中尊寺金色堂) is the oldest remaining structure (1124) that still conveys the basic form of a one-bay, four-sided hall. Shortly after its construction, this hall was converted into a sheath hall. Its original structure is unknown. It has since been rebuilt or restored once or twice, and the Old Sheathe Hall before it was replaced with its current reinforced concrete structure dates from the mid-Muromachi period.
The Golden Hall encases the inner sanctuary with a shumidai (pedestal) in the prayer hall (outer sanctuary).
Its structure consists of wrapped pillars at the four corners of the inner sanctuary, with mume (無目), nageshi (長押), and kashiranuki (頭貫：railings) around the top, mituto (三斗：three squares) at the top of the pillars and a kaerumata (蛙股：frog-legged bracket) in the centre of each mitto.
The ceiling is folded up all around, and each of the four sides is divided into three spaces with latticework, and further kumiko is placed between the lattice spaces, with a canopy attached in the centre.
The relationship between the inner sanctuary and the outer sanctuary is "nested," and it can be said that they are truly built in terms of architectural mechanics (Figure).
Fujiwara no Kiyohira built this hall as his own funeral hall.
As is well known, the mummies of four generations of the Fujiwara clan are enshrined in this hall. The interior of the hall is decorated with advanced craft techniques, reminiscent of the Pure Land described in the Amitabha Sutra. Kiyohira would have wanted to confirm while he was still alive where he would go after death. Moreover, he must have had a strong desire for rebirth (弥勒下生信仰：Faith in Maitreya's descent from the dead). It is also noteworthy that Kaga Hakusan was enshrined in Hiraizumi at an early date.
In front of the main hall of Chusonji Hakusan Shrine there is a magnificent Noh stage with a gabled roof and cypress bark roof. The current stage was rebuilt in 1853, and is similar in form to the North Noh stage of Nishi Honganji (built in the Tensho era, from1573 to 1591). The geographical location of the Noh stage is said to be based on the idea of "the four gods being in harmony" and the ideas of "the Pure Land in the West" and "the Eastward spread of Buddhism" from the Pure Land Sutra. However, the Noh stage at Chusonji Hakusan Shrine faces the main hall of Hakusan Shrine from the side, i.e., north-northeast, in accordance with its location on the mountain.
The place where Hakusan Hime-no-kami resides is the underworld. The bridge clearly connects the other world (the other shore) with this world (this shore), and in the center of the stage, which could be called a Buddhist temple on this shore, it gives the impression of a boundary between the living and the dead, or a special realm where gods and Buddhas are manifested.
The Chusonji Ennen performance on this Noh stage is said to be a continuation of Sarugaku Noh from the Kamakura period.
After the ritual, there is Futofuto Kagura (太太神楽), Shishimai (獅子舞：lion dance), Kaikou (開口：opening of the mouth), Norito (祝詞：prayer), Wakaonna-no-mai (若女の舞：young women's dance), Roujyo-no-mai (老女の舞：old women's dance), and Noh and Kyogen from the Kita and Izumi schools.
The performer performs the norito in kariginu-hanhakama-idetati (狩衣半袴出立) outfit and a hitamen (直面：without Noh mask), but with black hair hanging down from the crown to cover her face, presents a sacred offering and recites the norito as if chanting a sutra. Given her unusual appearance, she may be the grim reaper.
The young woman comes out from the kiridoguchi entrance decorated with bamboo paintings, leading her guardians, and dances quietly, tapping her feet and swinging bells up and down. She is wearing a maeore-eboshi hat (前折烏帽子) and hitoe- kariginu-nagashi-idetachi (単狩衣流出立：a Single kariginu garment). The kariginu outfit signifies that she is a goddess. The bamboo painting represents a barrier, and the side of the kiridoguchi entrance on the stage side is the boundary between the living and the dead. This means that the young woman is likely Kukurihime. Kukurihime is now exorcising the impurity of death in order to ensure the rebirth and purification of the old woman who will appear next.
The old woman comes out from the bridge, her right sleeve pulled by the prayer. Her waist is bent severely. After receiving the bell and fan from the prayer, she stomps her feet vigorously while still bending over, striking the bell. Then she suddenly jumps up. I see in this gesture the old woman gradually becoming filled with life.
You could say that the same meaning as in the Hakusan Ceremony in Toyone village, Oku-Mikawa, lives on in the elegant dance of Chusonji Ennen.
It is rather the idea of modern art to seek liberation from meaning and recognize the highest meaning in meaninglessness. We may be beginning to forget that there was a time when there was no such thing as pure art.
"Bamboo of Sarugaku” and its Rise and Fall
The following is written in Teika's Meigetsuki (藤原定家、明月記) about the Sangaku performance held at Sento Imperial Palace (仙洞御所) on August 17, 1212 (2nd year of Kenreki).
"More than 10 Shiso (monks) miscellaneous performers, one Zaike (child as the source says), Imayo, Shirabyoshi, and Sangaku were performed. The stage was a two-ken square hall facing east, with a bamboo pillar and pine roof, built by Tadatsuna Ason, (omitted)."
In other words, the stage was one-ken (about 300cm) square. At that time, one ken was five shaku (one shaku shorter than today: one Shake is about 30cm). Bamboo pillars were erected at each corner, and a roof was erected and covered with pine. This was not a permanent stage, but Tadatsuna Ason was in charge of constructing it for this occasion. It can be understood as a full-scale form for the Sento Imperial Palace. This fact makes it one of the prototypes of later Noh stage architecture.
Atsuo Suda says, "The form of the Sarugaku stage in this early period is essentially different from the forms of the Izumiden, Haiden, and Maiden. In the history of the performing arts in Japan, the only thing that preceded the Sarugaku stage was the Bugaku stage. However, it is impossible to compare the two in the early Kamakura period and find a relationship between them. (Omitted) Therefore, I think it is fair to say that the Sarugaku stage mentioned above (the Sendo stage: Yamada's note) emerged independently as the original stage for Sarugaku."
Originally, Sarugaku and Dengaku were generally performed within the grounds of shrines and temples, or in the gardens of mansions. The main palace was designated for the nobility, and lower-ranking people watched from the grounds. However, if the purpose was simply to "perform," wouldn't it have been more rational for Noh to use the Bugaku stage that preceded it? Or would it have been rational in itself for the Noh stage to have developed based on the Bugaku stage?
What set such rationality aside and separated the two must have been that Bugaku was court music. And there must have been something about Sarugaku Noh that was completely incompatible with Bugaku, not just in its origins but also in the worldview it sought. We must consider what that was.
I am focusing on the four bamboo pillars on the stage at the Sento Imperial Palace.
I believe that these bamboos had a more important meaning than simply being a convenient building material.
The series of "ancient Noh" plays handed down in the Obasama Hakusan Shrine Festival in Kanenari Town, Miyagi Prefecture, are performed on a grass stage built on an earthen platform at the foot of the stone steps leading to the main shrine building of Hakusan Shrine. This altar has waist-high bamboo pillars at each corner and is wrapped in shime (注連：traditional Japanese Holy string of shrine).
The custom of surrounding the sacred realm of the gods with a bamboo fence has existed since ancient times. It was believed that bamboo had the magical power to ward off impurity and disaster.
At this stage of faith, bamboo was a symbol of purity and innocence. However, as the notion of purity and impurity from esoteric Buddhism was introduced and the bamboo fence was incorporated into the idea of a "barrier," it came to not only distinguish between the pure realm and the impure realm, but also to prevent impurity from entering and to indicate the presence of impurity. Impurity was defined as contagious (Engi Rinji Saisiki：延喜臨時祭式), and so it was necessary to show this and avoid it.
In funeral rites, there is a custom of surrounding the coffin with a green bamboo fence and tying bamboo fences around the funeral hall. According to Okiura Kazumitsu, "This is also a kind of barrier, indicating a taboo boundary. This bamboo fence simultaneously represents both a sacred place where the spirits of the dead reside before departing for the Pure Land, and a place where the impurity of the corpses arises."
By the way, there is an ancient document known as the "Kawara Scroll (河原巻物)“ that has been handed down to old families of discriminated communities in the early modern period. The contents seem to vary depending on the region, but their intention is to proudly proclaim one's occupation and family origins. Among these, the description of bamboo catches my attention. It is something that cannot be overlooked, especially in relation to faith in Mt. Hakusan and in relation to Sarugaku Noh.
I would like to quote a section related to Mt. Hakusan from the copy of "Chori Konso Narabini Hisatsu (長吏根素并秘察)“ introduced by Honda Yutaka.
"1. The bamboo of Mt. Hakusan Daigongen is the bamboo of the field for the funeral of the deceased, the bamboo of the Tenjiku Hatazao climbing cage, the bamboo of the curtains, the bamboo of the armor for the dead, the bamboo of the cage of the Jyurokumine ascetic, the bamboo of the pilgrims' cage, the bamboo of the various walkers' use, the bamboo of the Kongo walking sticks for pilgrimages to the mountains and rivers, the bamboo of the various walkers' use, the bamboo of the ascetics' walkers, the bamboo of the monks' walkers, the bamboo of the bamboo for personal use, the bamboo of Sarugaku, the bamboo of the monkey pullers, the bamboo of the eight-tassel gongs of the Komuso monks, the bamboo of the various walkers' use, the bamboo of the flutes for the flutes, the bamboo of the tea whisks, the bamboo of the bamboo [character unknown], the bamboo of the bamboo of the bamboo craftsmen ... (the rest is omitted)”
There are some unclear passages that appear to have been copied incorrectly, but if we supplement similar passages with the Origin of the Mikuni Chori (三国長吏由来) and interpret it as follows, we can get the following general idea:
In other words, the bamboo for the Nobe (Funeral Procession in the field)) curtain used to give the deceased their final farewell and cover the body, the bamboo in front of the gate, the bamboo for the four banner canopies, the bamboo for Ennen Kagura (延年神楽), the bamboo for Sarugaku, the bamboo used by the monkey trainers, the bamboo for Ennogyoja's backpack (役行者笈板の竹), the bamboo for the gongs, Yatsufusa (八房：pompöse of use etc. unknown), and Chasen (茶筅：A tool used to stir Match in a teacup), the kongo staff (金剛杖) of mountain ascetics, the bamboo for craftsmanship, and the bamboo for travellers are all bamboo belonging to Hakusan Gongen, and are supervised and managed by the Hakusan Chori (the head of the so-called discriminated communities).
What do the ``bamboos for Ennen Kagura'' and ``bamboos for Sarugaku'' refer to? Although all is unknown, the bamboo used at Hakusan in Toyone village and the bamboo on the grass stage at Obasama Hakusan Shrine can probably be said to be Hakusan Gongen bamboo. I also think that the four bamboo pillars on the Sarugaku stage at Sento Imperial Palace were also Hakusan Gongen bamboo.
However, the bamboo used for Sarugaku under the direction of Hakusan Chori seemed to have completely disappeared in the subsequent history of the development of Noh stages. It was not until the Azuchi-Momoyama period that bamboo reappeared, in the form of bamboo paintings painted on the side panels of the kiridoguchi (切戸口：traditional Japanese door entrance in the Nho stage).
The following entry about the pillars of Noh stages from the early Muromachi period appears in the Mansai Jugō Diary (満済准后日記) for April 23, 1430: They were installed in preparation for Shogun Yoshinori to watch Noh.
"Tonight in the east garden of the Seiryoden Hall of the Imperial Palace, Enami Sarugaku was summoned, Sarugaku was forbidden, and the stage, dressing room and below were all handled by the Emperor himself."
It also states that this was the first Sarugaku performance in the Imperial Palace. What is remarkable is that the Emperor himself took special care in constructing the stage and dressing room and below. This must have been a truly welcome development for the development of Sarugaku.
However, under these circumstances, Ennen Sarugaku no Take (延年猿楽の竹), which was under the command of the Hakusan Chori, who was discriminated against as an outcast, must have had no choice but to disappear, at least in the capital. If we consider that Noh performers, who were looked down upon as impure, such as Kan'ami and Zeami (father and son), had no choice but to become followers of the Ji sect (時宗) and eventually be added to the Doboshu sect (同朋衆) in order to gain access to the nobility, the venerable bamboo of Hakusan Gongen also had to remain hidden as bamboo used in Shinto and Buddhist ceremonies at local shrines and temples, until its significance was completely forgotten.
Towards the end of his life, Zeami sang about his place of exile superimposing it onto the place of Hakusan Gongen, but during the time when he enjoyed the shogun's favor, he was not aware of the liberation of his social status.
Hayashiya Tatsusaburo says, "It seems that starting his life as a Favourite of the shogun Yoshimitsu did not give him such awareness."
Noh became increasingly refined and followed the path to ceremonial music. Along the way, a few years after Zeami's death, Kanze and Konparu allied with the power of the shogunate and even went so far as to oppress other popular forms of sarugaku. How shameful of them to try to destroy the place where they were born, driven by their own arrogant desires. This was far from liberation.
Regarding the bamboo paintings on the side panels of Noh stages, Yamazaki Gakudo says the following: "The bamboo paintings on the side panels do not have any particularly ancient history or deep causes, and are merely a design that was created in later times to correspond to pine trees in order to fill the gaps in the paneling."
It is truly unfortunate, but I have not found any 'direct' evidence that would allow me to assert with certainty that the bamboo paintings on the side panels are a transformed version of the bamboo at Hakusan Gongen. However, like Yamazaki, we cannot simply overlook the existence of the bamboo paintings.
How does Yamazaki explain the unusual scene in the Noh play "Lady Aoi," in which the shrine maiden leaves through a doorway painted with bamboo paintings?
For better or worse, we have long since lost the consensus of cultural creation supported by faith in modern times, and I cannot help but feel the fear that we may have overlooked or misread something.
It is no exaggeration to say that Noh is full of vengeful spirits. How do these vengeful spirits pray to attain enlightenment and be reborn in a pure state? In that sense, Noh is a play to appease vengeful spirits. And the "nested" structure is the most ingeniously constructed perspective that connects this world and the other world for the purpose of appeasing vengeful spirits and for the purpose of rebirth in a pure state. In linear perspective, vengeful spirits do not appear near humans on a daily basis. The other world must be completely contained within this world.
I believe that the dramaturgy of Noh is clearly the same as that of Hakusan faith. I would also say that I believe it is related to the structure of the Yamato dynasty's rule over other ethnic groups.
References (excluding historical materials)
[1] Nose Tomotsugu, "A Study of the Origins of Nohgaku," Iwanami Shoten
[2] Hayashiya Tatsusaburo, "A Study of the History of the Arts in the Middle Ages," Iwanami Shoten
[3] Goto Yoshi and Hagiwara Hidesaburo, "Ancient Noh," Kawade Shobo Shinsha
[4] Okada Seiji, "Ritual and Mythology of Ancient Royal Power," Hanawa Shobo
[5] Wakita Osamu, "The World of Kawara Scrolls," University of Tokyo Press
[6] Honda Yutaka, "Hakusan Shrine and the Burakumin," Akashi Shoten
[7] Okiura Kazumitsu, "Folklore of Bamboo," Iwanami Shoten
[8] Shimode Sekiyo (ed.), "Hakusan Faith," Yuzankaku
[9] Miyata Noboru, "Folklore of the Gods," Iwanami Shoten
[10] Hayakawa Kotaro, "Flower Festival," Kokusho Kankokai
[11] Suda Atsuo, "Research on the History of Japanese Theater," Sagami Shobo
[12] Yamazaki Gakudo, "Noh Stage," Nogami ed., "Complete Book of Noh," Vol. 4, Tokyo Sogensha
[13] Yamagishi Tsunehito, "Medieval Temple Society and Buddhist Halls," Hanawa Shobo
[14] Architectural Institute of Japan ed., "Illustrated History of Japanese Architecture," Shokokusha
[15] Mozuna Monta, "Strange Buildings and Strange Feelings 9," Architecture, Vol. 175, Chugai Shuppan
[16] Konparu Kunio, "Invitation to Noh," Tankosha
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