When did japanese theatre originate?

Japan is an island country in the Pacific Ocean, facing China, North Korea and Russia across the sea. In the history of world drama, japanese theatre, with its unique form and style, shows completely different artistic characteristics from other oriental nations.

The communication between Japan and China began in the Han Dynasty. After the Tang Dynasty, the two countries established formal diplomatic relations. Japanese culture is deeply influenced by China culture, with obvious traces of imitation and reference. China's Brave Man Lan Ling, Step on a Girl, Drunk Hu and Puppet Show undoubtedly promoted the development of Japanese dance music. In addition, the song and dance arts of ancient Korea and India were also introduced to Japan. In the 7th century, full-time Xianyou was very common in Japanese courts and giants.

About the origin of japanese theatre, historical records are late, but it is obviously related to religious ceremonies. According to legend, in February of the third year of Datong in Pingcheng (AD 808), a big cave appeared in a place called Ape Ze, filled with black smoke and spread to the countryside. Where the black smoke passes, people are poisoned by it, sick and feel terrible. They invited the fortune teller for help. The fortune teller said it was a dark fire from the underworld. If it is not eliminated in time, the people will certainly suffer this disaster. So under the auspices of the fortune teller, people gathered at the cave, piled firewood, lit cigarettes, practiced magic and lifted the disaster. Sure enough, the black smoke disappeared and all the diseases were eliminated. People celebrated the success of exorcism, so they danced happily on the grass of the temple, calling it "the ability".

In Japanese, the word drama is written as "Ju Chi" and "Chi". It means grass, and "being alive" means being, which shows that Japanese dramas are not performed on the stage, but on the grass. Influenced by the popular Buddhist culture in China after the Tang Dynasty, Japanese Shintoism began to prevail, and the samurai class built a large number of buildings. Temples and shrines are widely built, and religious activities and folk sacrificial activities are held regularly. Therefore, in the atmosphere of religious ceremonies, drama gradually took shape with the help of temples and shrines.

In the process of accepting foreign influences, japanese theatre gradually got rid of the model of copying and imitating, and established a drama style to express his national aesthetic taste. In the early stage of drama development, there are mainly several forms of drama, such as prolonging the year, being happy in heaven and being happy in apes.

Yan-nian, also known as Guling Yan-nian or Yan-nian Dance Music, is said to have been learned by a Buddhist monk, Master Cijue, in the Tang Dynasty in China. The performance of prolonging the year is mainly after the religious ceremony, which makes people feel happy. This kind of performance appeared in the middle of Heian (9-12nd century) and prevailed in Kamakura (9-12nd-14th century). Performances are usually performed on the grass of temples, with monks and children as actors. As far as its performance content is concerned, it is rich and there are many kinds of music. There are elegant music appreciated by the aristocrats, such as dance music, divine comedy, urging Ma Le, chanting, times, etc., and there are also "Romance" and "Shi Lian" loved by the common people. In the performances of Romance and Shi Lian, the clues of drama have been revealed, and the performance content is roughly divided into four parts: one is the preface, which is announced by the actors themselves to explain the general plot; Second, question and answer, the actor dressed as a dramatist takes the stage, enters the role and unfolds the plot; Third, the appearance of genies, preaching religious teachings; Fourth, end the sex song and dance or speech scene. Many stories in Romantic Love and Shi Lian come from China folklore, such as "Zhou Wuwang Ship Hit White Fish", "Su Wu Incident", "Zhuangzi Incident" and "Tiantai Mountain Incident". Some people regard this kind of performance as the primary form of religious drama.

Dengaku originated from Tian Dance in ancient Japan, and it is a very old skill performance, which was produced in the 8th century. It originated from farming activities and harvest celebrations. During the performance, drums and flutes are used as accompaniment instruments. Actors wear flower caps and clogs, and perform farming while singing and dancing. Ape music is said to be the myth of China Sanle, written in Japanese Sangaku and Japanese Sarugaku, with similar pronunciation and spelling. At the end of Ping 'an, Dengaku's ape music gradually merged into one, that is, foreign music and dance merged with the inherent acrobatics of the Japanese nation, forming an all-inclusive technical performance like China's hundred plays, which was loved by the people and gradually showed its own artistic charm and vitality.