Taiheiki "The Matter of the Shrine of Sugawara no Michizane" This account was written in the 13th century (300 years after Michizane's death), and reflects medieval attitudes towards Michizane. It was based on the Kitano Tenjin Engi (Origin of the Kitano Deity) scrolls (click here and here). Pages 351-357 describe his life in an idealized fashion; you should concentrate on pp. 357-363, which describe Michizane's activities as an angry ghost/deity. Note that the "Kan minister" is Michizane; the "Great Subject of the Main Cloister" is his enemy Fujiwara Tokihira. "Tenno" means Emperor.

1) How does this story differ from what we know of the actual history of Michizane's life (see Borgen)? What facts have been changed?

2) In what form does Michizane appear to Hosshobo (13th abbot of Enrakuji)? How is the representation of Michizane similar to and different from the earlier oracles and dream visions we read about in Borgen's book?

3) How does Michizane attack the capital? How is he stopped? What shamanic and magical powers does the esoteric priest Hosshobo display?

4) How does Tokihira die? Why does Jozo (the brother of Nichizo ) stop praying?

5) How is Michizane eventually pacified? What is his Buddhist manifestation?

6) To what factors would you attribute the changes in the story?

7) Generally in this excerpt is it possible to separate out Shinto and Buddhist beliefs about ghosts?

Raiden (The God of Lightening and Thunder) This Noh play is clearly based on the Taiheiki version of the Michizane story. You should read Michele Marra's introduction ("The Michizane Legend as Seen in the Noh Drama Raiden"), but Brad Torre's translation. Note that this translation was done by an undergraduate at UCI when he was a sophomore (he's now graduated and teaching English in Japan). One of the difficulties of translating this play is that the speaking voice alternates between first person (I) and third person (he) regardless of whether Hosshobo , Michizane, or the chorus is speaking (a fairly common occurence in Noh). So occasionally Michizane will appear to speak about himself in third person, or the chorus will speak for Michizane in the first person.

1) How does the Noh play take the materials from the Taiheiki version of the story and transform them into a  Noh play? What does it use and what does it ignore? Does it add anything new?

2) What is the structure of this play: Present-time Noh (Genzai Noh) or Dream Vision Noh (Mugen Noh)? Is it an overt or hidden exorcism?

Yashima This is an example of a warrior noh (shuramono) by Zeami (who invented the category and wrote nearly all the warrior plays still in the reportoire). As explained by Royall Tyler in the introduction, it is based on several incidents in Tale of the Heike, an account of the Genpei civil war (1180-85) between the Minamoto (Genji) and Taira (Heike). Most warrior noh plays are about members of the Heike clan, who were on the losing side in the war. Yashima is unusual in that it is about Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the most famous hero of the winning side. After the war was won, however, Yoshitsune's (paranoid) brother Yoritomo (now shogun) turned on him and eventually managed to have him killed. For this reason he is seen as a tragic hero, and thus appropriate for a Noh play. Besides Yashima, he also figures in Funa Benkei [JND pp. 82-95) and several other plays.

1) What is the structure of this play: Present-time Noh (Genzaimono) or Dream Vision Noh (Mugen Noh)?

2) Why is the main character (Minamoto Yoshitsune) drawn back to this world? Is he released from his attachment in the end?

3) How are samurai men portrayed in this play? What appears to be the ideal?

4) What does the Ashura (Mayhem) world appear to be like?

5) Why do you think this play appealed to someone like Zeami's patron Ashikaga Yoshimitsu?

Week 6a: Kyôgen: Parodic Ghosts, Bumbling Gods, and Ineffectual Priests

2) What is the attitude toward religion, ghosts and the afterlife conveyed in each of these plays? How does it satirize the medieval attitude towards deities and ghosts that we've seen exemplified in the Hell and Hungry Ghost scrolls? How does it subvert that attitude? Reinforce it?

2) Compare this version of a Thunder God with Sugawara no Michizane. What is similar? What is different?

3) Does the play have any possible function as a religious ritual?

2) Look for allusions to Aoi no Ue. How does Mushrooms parody that play?