■(16)英語訳論文『夢幻能の劇構造と白山信仰との関係考』（1)
By Tadami Yamada
山田維史 「夢幻能の劇構造と白山信仰との関係考」 日本語初出「AZ」誌 1994年 (新人物往来社）
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.
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