Kabuki, a unique art form of the Japanese nation, has emerged. The direct inheritance of Kabuki is a kind of enthusiastic dance called "Fengliu".
In the early Edo period, a shrine maiden named Aguo appeared in Izumo. She was very good at dancing and created a dance called "Nenbutsu Yu". Her husband's name was Nagoya Yamasaburo, who was very good at singing folk songs. The two of them harmonized with each other, and they formed a drama troupe and performed in Kyoto. In 1604, Toyokuni Shrine held a grand sacrificial singing and dancing event, with more than 500 attendees. Aguo was invited to perform her kabuki. Inspired by her enthusiastic dance, everyone clapped their hands and twisted their bodies to the beat. Creating a carnival-like atmosphere, Aguo stole the show and established Kabuki's social status in Japan.
One of the characteristics of kabuki performances in Aguo is that a woman disguises herself as a man. She often puts on a black monk's robe, has a black cloth wrapped around her head, and hangs a copper cymbal on her body with a red ribbon, and strikes the cymbal when dancing. , making a rhythmic sound. The actors of Aguo Kabuki are mixed, and there are also children. In between singing and dancing, they have to perform all kinds of funny performances and sing popular tunes at that time. This effectively breaks the boundaries between tragedy and comedy, sublime and comedy, which can be distinguished from raving. Because this kind of performance is lively and flexible, it is widely welcomed by people. Other artists followed suit, and as a result, various elements of performing arts such as Noh and Kyogen were incorporated, and even the shamisen in puppet joruri was used as accompaniment to kabuki.
In the early days of Kabuki, more emphasis was placed on sensual entertainment, and the performance custom of men pretending to be women and women disguising themselves as men was popular. People were more interested in the actors' looks than they appreciated their artistic level. Later, "female kabuki" appeared, with young women as performers. These female kabuki show off their coquettishness during performances, often causing commotion and fights among the audience. Later, female kabuki became very popular among prostitutes, and they were very popular. The pornographic atmosphere became more and more intense, so in 1629, the ruler ordered it to be banned.
After the Japanese shadow puppet female kabuki became less popular, around 1624, the "Wakazo Kabuki" composed of young men in Kyoto came again. In order to cater to worldly tastes, they disguised themselves as women and specialized in acting out the love affairs between prostitutes and their clients. Their sensational and erotic performances were quite sensational for a time and were imitated by many. Officials saw this immoral situation and issued an order in 1652 to ban "Ruo Zhong" from performing on stage. The troupe leader could not bear to give up his lucrative performing arts activities, so he asked the officials to continue to perform on stage. After their repeated pleas, the official allowed them to continue performing, but they must no longer do anything immoral. They also stipulated that all kabuki practitioners must remove the hair in front of their heads and pull the remaining hair up into a bun. This was It is called "Yaro bun", and the kabuki performed by actors with this hair style is called "Yaro kabuki". From then on, Kabuki actors no longer focused on showing off their beauty, but began to concentrate on studying art. Since then, the rule of removing the hair from the top of the head has been followed and has become a unique hairstyle for kabuki actors and an important symbol that distinguishes kabuki from other stage performances.
After focusing on art. Kabuki performances have improved. The Japanese have "Tea Ceremony" for drinking tea, and "Bushido" for being a samurai. Tao, as the name suggests, is rules and norms. Without rules, there is no circle. Therefore, people who engage in Kabuki performances have gradually established Their "geido" and the rise of geido standardized Kabuki performances. A set of increasingly stylized dance movements was established and became a skill that artists carefully honed. However, kabuki performances, which are spontaneous, arbitrary, stimulating and sensational, have gradually faded away from the Japanese stage.