{"id":14,"date":"2017-10-02T15:30:37","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T12:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/?p=14"},"modified":"2021-10-19T14:24:18","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T11:24:18","slug":"kyogen-farces-about-human-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/kyogen-farces-about-human-life\/","title":{"rendered":"<em>Kyogen<\/em>, Farces about Human Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The short farces that are performed between the serious <i>noh<\/i> plays are called <i>kyogen<\/i>. Together, these two art forms are called <i>nohgaku<\/i>. Both forms have a lot in common. Both are performed on the same stage; in both forms all the actors are men, while they are both highly stylised in their styles of acting. However, in <i>kyogen<\/i> there is a tendency towards realism.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 20%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-14 gallery-columns-5 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/jap35.jpg'><img width=\"404\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/jap35.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-426\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-426'>\n\t\t\t\tA master and his wily servant, Tarokaja, in a play called <em>Tied to a Pole<\/em> <span>Jukka O. Miettinen<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Masks are only rarely used in <i>kyogen<\/i>; the costumes are simple, and music does not have an important role. If instruments are used, they are played softly so that they do not disturb the dialogue. While <i>noh<\/i> describes emperors, warrior lords, gods, and ghosts, <i>kyogen<\/i> concentrates on common people, such as mischievous servants and their gawky masters. Even monks and ghosts are seen from a comical viewpoint.<\/p>\n<h2>The History<\/h2>\n<p><i>Noh<\/i> and <i>kyogen<\/i> evolved from the same older theatrical forms<i>. Sarugaku<\/i> was one of the roots of the traditions of both of them. In the hands of Kan\u2019amis and Zeamis in the early 14<sup>th<\/sup> century <i>sarugaku<\/i> was refined to become an extremely sophisticated form of serious drama, whereas <i>kyogen<\/i> continued to cultivate<i><\/i> its lighter aspects<\/p>\n<p><i>Nohgaku<\/i>, the combination of <i>noh<\/i> and <i>kyogen<\/i>, was the entertainment of the <i>samurai<\/i> class during the Muromachi period (1333\u20131568) and the Edo period (1603\u20131868). An exceptional actor, Hie Mangoro further developed <i>kyogen<\/i> and founded two <i>kyogen<\/i> schools or lineages in the Edo period, the <i>Okura<\/i> and the <i>Sagi Schools<\/i>. The third lineage, the <i>Izumi School<\/i>, was supported by the imperial court in Kyoto.<\/p>\n<p>As was the case with <i>noh<\/i> theatre, <i>kyogen<\/i> also lost its traditional patronage when the old feudal world crumbled at the beginning of the Meiji period (1868\u20131912). During the Edo period, the golden age of <i>bunraku<\/i> puppet plays and sensational <i>kabuki<\/i>, <i>noh<\/i> was still supported by the imperial court, while <i>kyogen<\/i> was regarded merely as an old-fashioned oddity.<\/p>\n<p>One of the three <i>kyogen<\/i> schools, the <i>Sagi School<\/i>, was closed down, but the other two lineages, the <i>Okura<\/i> and <i>Izumi Schools<\/i>, quietly continued to cultivate their art. There was a turn for the better after World War II when many forms of Japanese traditional arts were revived. K<i>yogen\u2019s<\/i> popularity has increased during recent decades. It is still performed as an interlude for <i>noh<\/i>,<i><\/i> while, at the same time, it is also appreciated as an independent art form.<\/p>\n<h2>The Plays<\/h2>\n<p>Today there are some 260 plays in the <i>kyogen<\/i> repertoire<i><\/i>, all of them anonymous. These short plays (of about 30 minutes) may be classified according to their subject matter. The classification differs slightly in the two existing <i>kyogen<\/i> schools, those of the <i>Okura<\/i> and <i>Izumi Schools<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>Roughly speaking, however, they deal with the following main subjects: plays about various gods, plays about feudal lords, plays about their servants, plays about family relationships, plays about Buddhist priests, plays about blind men etc.<\/p>\n<p>Probably the most popular character in the whole <i>kyogen<\/i> repertoire is a wily servant called Tarokaja (<a href=\"http:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/boshibari-or-tied-to-a-pole\/\">synopsis of the play <i>Tied to a Pole<\/i><\/a>). He and, occasionally, his fellow servant Jirokaja do all kinds of mischief, which leads to conflicts with his master. Both servants and master are mercilessly treated as comic characters. Thus it is not always clear who, in fact, is the clever one and who is the fool.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to classifying the farces according to the main character of the play, another way to classify them is based on their endings. A play may be \u201cresolved\u201d or \u201cunresolved\u201d, according to whether the audience is shown what finally happens to, for example, the mischievous servant at the end of the play. These two basic categories are further subdivided into subcategories, such as plays ending with laughter, flute music etc.<\/p>\n<h2>The Actors, their Roles and Technique<\/h2>\n<p>As in <i>noh<\/i>, so too in <i>kyogen<\/i> the actors are named, not according to the character they play, but according to the importance of their role within the play. Thus the actor playing the leading role is, just as in <i>noh<\/i>, called <i>shite<\/i>, and the supporting role is <i>ado<\/i> (<i>waki<\/i> in <i>noh<\/i>). Other secondary actors are called by a generic name, <i>koado<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p><i>Kyogen\u2019s<\/i> stylised body language and its acting technique are, to a great extent, similar to those in <i>noh<\/i>, including the same basic posture, sliding, walking etc. (<a href=\"http:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/noh-crystallised-aesthetics\/#actingtechnique\">see The Acting Technique in the chapter on <i>noh<\/i><\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>However, as mentioned above, the acting in <i>kyogen<\/i> is slightly more realistic than in <i>noh<\/i>. One drastic difference between these two \u201csister\u201d styles is that exaggerated facial expression is used in <i>kyogen<\/i>, while in <i>noh<\/i> the face is kept completely expressionless.<\/p>\n<p>As <i>kyogen<\/i> mainly describes common people, its costuming is much more modest than <i>noh\u2019s<\/i>. While in <i>noh<\/i> the actors\u2019 socks are white, in <i>kyogen<\/i> they are yellowish. The music, including the chorus, both of which are of the utmost importance in <i>noh<\/i>, is only rarely included in <i>kyogen<\/i> plays. Thus the focus is on formally spoken dialogue. A speciality of <i>kyogen\u2019s<\/i> language is the comic onomatopoeic words, which imitate the sounds created by various physical actions.<\/p>\n<h2><i>Mibu Kyogen<\/i>, a <i>Kyogen<\/i> Rarity<\/h2>\n<p>Rare and archaic forms of <i>kyogen<\/i> also exist that are practised outside the two main <i>kyogen<\/i> schools. They are mainly performed in certain temples in Kyoto. One of them, <i>Mibu kyogen<\/i>, is believed to have evolved as early as the early 14<sup>th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 12%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-14 gallery-columns-8 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/jap37.jpg'><img width=\"600\" height=\"443\" src=\"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/jap37.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-428\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-428'>\n\t\t\t\tMasked characters of <em>Mibu kyogen<\/em> in Kyoto <span>Sakari Viika<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 20%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-3' class='gallery galleryid-14 gallery-columns-5 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/jap38.jpg'><img width=\"413\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/jap38.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-3-429\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-3-429'>\n\t\t\t\tMasked characters of <em>Mibu kyogen<\/em> in Kyoto <span>Sakari Viika<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-4 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-4 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 12%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-4 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-4 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-4' class='gallery galleryid-14 gallery-columns-8 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/jap36.jpg'><img width=\"600\" height=\"397\" src=\"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/jap36.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-4-427\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-4-427'>\n\t\t\t\tMasked characters of <em>Mibu kyogen<\/em> in Kyoto <span>Sakari Viika<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><i>Mibu kyogen<\/i> differs in its use of masks from mainstream <i>kyogen<\/i>, which is practised by the two <i>kyogen<\/i> schools mentioned above. Possibly because of the masks, the actors do not speak. Thus the drama is performed entirely as a mime, accompanied by a small group of musicians. As in <i>kyogen<\/i> generally, in this form, too, all the performers are men.<\/p>\n<p>Nowadays there are some 30 <i>Mibu kyogen<\/i> plays. In spite of their clear entertaining quality these folk plays clearly have a moral, didactic purpose, as they often recount the punishments of various, less good deeds. It is believed that these masked mimes stem from older, archaic, now extinct, Buddhist mask plays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The short farces that are performed between the serious noh plays are called kyogen. Together, these two art forms are called nohgaku. Both forms have a lot in common. Both are performed on the same stage; in both forms all the actors are men, while they are both highly stylised in their styles of acting. [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2054,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[36],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3409,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions\/3409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}