Well~~~Although it started with women dressing up as men, it has developed into men dressing up as women = =
Kabuki in Japan expresses Japanese culture and spirit. A form
So the elegant kabuki man should be the man who wears gorgeous clothes and expresses the spirit of Yamato rock show
The following is a little introduction to kabuki, no patience It can be seen from the table
Kabuki is a typical national performing art in Japan. It originated in the early Edo period of the 17th century and has been preserved together with Noh and Kyogen for nearly 400 years.
The ancestor of Kabuki is the beautiful woman Okuno, who is well-known to both women and children in Japan. She was a shrine maiden of Izumo Taisha Shrine in Shimane Prefecture (that is, an unmarried young woman who specializes in playing music, praying, etc. at the shrine). She was responsible for repairing the shrine. , Aguo went out to raise donations. She set up a theater in downtown Kyoto and performed "Buddha Dance". This is a dance that expresses religion, but A Guo changed the old formula and created "Teahouse Boss Wife". A Guo woman disguised herself as a man, wearing black clothes, a black bun, a red scarf around her waist, and a red copper ceremonial instrument hanging on it. Japanese swordsman, handsome and handsome, the landlady fell in love at first sight. A Guo also improvised and added humorous plots from real life during the performance, causing a sensation in the performance. A Yuan's innovative "Buddha Chanting Dance" was continuously enriched and improved. It was passed from the folk to the court and gradually became a unique performing art.
The three characters for kabuki are borrowed from Chinese characters. Before the name was corrected, the original meaning was "tilt" because there was a strange movement during the performance. Later, it was nicknamed "Kabuki": song, which means music; dance, which means dance; and ki, which means skills.
Actresses from all over Japan imitated Aguo and competed to perform kabuki. Some samurai fought for the actresses and even killed each other. In 1629, the Tokugawa shogunate banned kabuki performances for violating moral customs. It was not until 1653 that only men were allowed to perform "Yaro Kabuki", and the female roles were played by men, called "on-gata", that is, Dan roles. After 1670, the number of such performances increased, and there were scripts, and the content, plot and performance techniques became more mature. The period 1751-1801 was the heyday of kabuki. In the next 30 years, Kabuki completed the typification, personalization and artistic performance of characters, and the performance procedures were also fixed. Kabuki actors are hereditary. Actors, father and son, from generation to generation. At that time, centered on the three cities of Edo (today's Tokyo), Osaka, and Kyoto, Kabuki became a performing art that citizens loved to watch. By the Meiji Era in the 19th century, this traditional Japanese art had become an increasingly classical form of drama.
There are roughly two types of themes in kabuki: one is describing the world of nobles and samurai, and the other is expressing the lives of the people. The repertoire can be divided into four types: "Yi Dafu" kyogen, which performs comic story dramas through dance; "Jidai-mono" kyogen, which is a historical drama that uses the past to describe the present; "Shihwamono" kyogen, which describes the lives and love stories of ordinary people; The dance drama is about "doing things" and involves moral principles such as loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness, and provides moral education to ordinary citizens about being diligent, thrifty, doing good and punishing evil.
Kabuki is currently more popular than any kind of classical drama in Japan, and many new scripts and productions have been produced in recent years. Kabuki and Chinese Peking Opera are known as the "sisters of oriental art tradition". Huang Zunxian, a poet of the late Qing Dynasty, praised in "Japanese Miscellaneous Poems": "The brocade screen relaxes in the sound of jade, the iron plate stops knocking and the dance begins, and how many infatuated children shed tears while playing and watching Shibaju together." He regarded Kabuki as " Meeting an old friend in a foreign land."
When it comes to Kabuki, foreigners who don’t understand Japanese culture will always think of the following two types: First, it’s a ghost! A white-faced person whose gender cannot be seen appears in front of a dark background, dragging out a singing voice that is longer than that of Peking Opera. There seem to be fallen leaves from Ukiyo-e floating on the stage; the second is the ambiguity caused by the word "gi", and the presence of geisha. Frequent appearances in Japanese movies. All these make it impossible for us to ignore the worldly identity of the kabuki industry. Even the "quintessence of the country" comes from the folk and has its own bitter growth process.
Now in Japan, AV short movies are definitely countless times more famous than Kabuki; moreover, Kabukicho, located in Tokyo, is a world-famous red light district and a tourist attraction.
So what is real Kabuki?
Kabuki was born 400 years ago in 1603. At that time, kabuki was not an integrated art of singing, dancing and acting like it is now, nor was it a man dressing up as a woman, but a There are simple storylines, religious dances, and women disguised as men.
The founder of kabuki is Akuno, the priestess of Izumo Taisha Shrine in Kansai Shimane Prefecture, Japan. In order to raise funds for the renovation of the wooden hall, she came to Kyoto and reformed the "Nenbutsu Yue" (Nenbutsu Yue). (movement dance), adding a simple storyline as a public performance of performing arts, aroused strong repercussions in Kyoto, Osaka and other places, and was very popular among the people. It is the prototype of today's kabuki. As a result, Aguo became the founder of Kabuki.
Kabuki has developed from folklore to Japan's national quintessence culture. It has experienced a twists and turns in its growth process, from "wandering girl (prostitute) Kabuki" to "Wakazuka Kabuki" and finally developed to the current Kabuki The prototype of "Yaro Kabuki" has gradually become the pure song and dance drama art performed exclusively by male actors.
After Aguo created kabuki, the "wandering girls" in Kyoto and Osaka were influenced by him and organized many "wandering girls kabuki". In addition to acting in plays, they also engaged in prostitution. At that time, the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan took measures to ban the lewd behavior of "Yujo Kabuki" and promulgated a law prohibiting women from acting in 1629, ending the era of "Yujo Kabuki". The ban on women's acting did not interrupt the development of Kabuki. The troupe changed its method and used young and beautiful men to play the role of women, creating the "onagata" in Kabuki. This kind of Kabuki is called "Wakazo Kabuki" .
The young male actors in "Wakazo Kabuki" are deeply loved by female audiences because of their youth and beauty. The actors' lifestyles are corrupt, and they often fall in love with the audience. Sometimes they commit suicide or elope, causing social sensations. events occurred. Although the shogunate took various measures to improve it, it was difficult to see the effect, so in 1652, it banned "Wakazo Kabuki" performances.
However, after all, Kabuki became the most important entertainment activity for the Japanese people at that time. The shogunate's ban could not cut off the people's preferences. The theater company came up with a way to deal with the ban and changed the Kabuki performed by young men to It was performed by adult men, so "Yaro Kabuki" appeared, which is the prototype of Japanese Kabuki today. From then on, Kabuki changed its focus on bewitching the audience with beautiful appearance, and instead pursued acting skills, and gradually developed into a pure performing arts performed exclusively by male actors.
On the other hand, intellectuals and politicians who returned from the West saw that art was regarded as a symbol of national culture in Western societies. Therefore, Kabuki was regarded as a representative of Japanese culture. Kabuki has since been regarded as an art for modern people.
Among the kabuki plays I have performed before, the one with the most vivid impression of the female form is "Narukami". The plot of "Narukami" is about a monk named "Narukami Master" who lives in a cave in Beishan Mountain. He is seduced by the beauty "Yunzhong Juejenji" sent by the heavenly court. He loses his virginity and loses his physical power, and becomes drunk. Yunzhong Juejianji took the opportunity to cut the rope that Master Ming Shen used to seal the Dragon God, and caused nectar to fall from the sky for the sake of all people.
When Yunzhong Zemaji used her feminine charm to seduce Master Narukami, Master Narukami couldn't help but start touching her body. In this scene, Yunzhong Juejenji is full of "female" sexiness, voluptuous and gorgeous, which is something that cannot be found in real women. Completely illusory feminine charm.
In the end, she maintained her delicate appearance when she ran away from the angry Narukami Master. She ran away slowly, with the unsteady steps of a woman with small feet.
I heard that Kabuki’s nagata originally valued “beauty”. For example, the existence of the "gagaku" profession in kabuki is a kind of proof. The meaning of "Liying" is equivalent to cross-dressing, which refers to an actor in one profession playing a role in another profession. In particular, generally nagata actors do not play the role of a woman with evil intentions or a woman without a conscience. Such roles are played by actors who are "tachiyaku (equivalent to raw)".
From this example, it seems that the naga must have both appearance and inner "beauty", and the "beauty" of the naga includes the frail and cute appearance of a woman compared to a real woman.
In the Meiji Era, when Japan encountered modern times (called "modern times" in Japanese), although Kabuki also made attempts at modernization like a fashion show, it has still retained the female form of "men dressing up as women" to this day. Until now, contemporary audiences feel very fresh about the image of women retained in Kabuki, as if the audience is intoxicated by the illusory feminine charm. The female form of "men disguised as women" retains the illusion of beauty, and the female roles that adapt to the times begin to pursue the natural and healthy beauty of women as the number of actresses increases.
The content of kabuki performances is divided into "drama", which is mainly about samurai stories in history, and "peace", which is mainly about love stories between men and women in civil society. The stage setting of Kabuki is very particular. It not only reflects the Japanese art of ikebana, but also has a rotating stage and a lifting stage. It is ever-changing and coupled with gorgeous dance performances, it can be described as luxurious and gorgeous. The "female form" performed by male actors is illusory and coquettish, giving people a sense of beauty that transcends reality.
Nowadays, Japanese Kabuki actors wear very heavy makeup, but people in the Edo period (1604-1868) would be surprised to see Kabuki actors without makeup. Because kabuki is performed in indoor theaters very close to the audience, appearance is very important. Moreover, the original Kabuki of Okuni Kabuki (early 17th century) sold oneself after the performance, so the original Kabuki attached great importance to the appearance of the actors. However, since the center of singing and dancing moved to Edo, the audience's preference gradually shifted from beauty to acting.
After the 19th century, the audience of Kabuki expanded to ordinary people. In the past, Kabuki stipulated that the hero must have a noble status, but as the audience changed, people with low status began to become the protagonists of Kabuki. Because the protagonist is closer to the people around him, the actor's makeup gradually fades.
After 400 years of historical evolution, classical Kabuki has become a representative of Japan’s traditional quintessence culture. The Japanese writer Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who is historically famous for writing Kabuki scripts, is known as the Shakespeare of Japan. His dozens of Kabuki plays have become a valuable legacy in the history of Japanese literature. Some kabuki actors continued to hone their acting skills and became famous, and they still have high social status in Japan. The famous singing and dancing families in Japan now include the Ichikawa Danjuro family, the Matsumoto Koushiro family, the Nakamura Utaroku family, the Nakamura Utaemon family, the Onoe Kikugoro family, the Ichikawa Sarunosuke family, the Ichikawa Danshiro family, the Bando Mitsugoro family, and the Kataoka family. The Nizaemon family, Sawamura Sojuro family, etc., these kabuki performing families played a huge role in the spread of kabuki.
Kabuki focuses on communication with the audience. The "flower arrangement" extending to the auditorium is the only way for actors to enter the stage, creating the effect of actors and audience becoming one.
After the Meiji Restoration, the large-scale introduction of Western dramas caused the performing art of Kabuki to decline. After World War II, when MacArthur occupied Japan, kabuki performances were banned for a time because of feudal loyalty content such as caesarean suicide in kabuki. Later, because the occupying adjutant Bavas was a lover of kabuki, he believed that art and real politics should be considered separately. After Bavas became the drama censor, the ban on kabuki performances was gradually lifted. Since then, various kabuki families have promoted and popularized the art of kabuki through various channels. TV stations have also broadcast live broadcasts and held appreciation lectures. Some cultural figures often write articles and introductions, which has led to the revival of kabuki. Western countries such as Europe and the United States have also invited kabuki to perform. .
But in today's Japanese society, like China's Peking Opera, Kabuki is also facing the problem of how to develop. The most common issue is that fewer and fewer young audiences understand and appreciate kabuki. Therefore, the Japanese cultural and artistic circles have also raised the issue of kabuki reform. The famous Kabuki actor Ichikawa Sarunosuke established the "21st Century Kabuki Group" to reform the traditional method of performance, constantly transforming under the cover of umbrellas, trees and other props, which aroused applause from the audience. Such reforms may have been inspired by the face-changing in Chinese Sichuan Opera.
In terms of performance content, many new trends have also emerged. The introduction of "Three Kingdoms" is an example, which is unimaginable in traditional kabuki.
Critics point out that the reform of Kabuki must, on the one hand, preserve the essence of the classics, otherwise it cannot be called Kabuki, but a new drama. In order to adapt to the development of the times and the requirements of the audience, the emergence of various new genres of Kabuki will become inevitable.
Noh Japan's earliest drama "Noh" appeared in the Northern and Southern Dynasties (1336~1392). As early as the 10th century, Japan imported "Sanraku" from China, which promoted the development of Japanese acrobatics. At the end of the 12th century, whenever there was a ceremony in the palace or a Dharma assembly held in major temples, a performance conference was always held. Based on this, the song and dance drama "Sarugaku Noh" with a certain plot was produced, later referred to as "Noh". Among the people, farmers also hold performing arts when celebrating the harvest, which is called "Tian Le Neng". At the beginning of the 14th century, many theater troupes that performed "neng" appeared. The "Yamato Four" ("Za" is the theater group) appeared in the Kyoto area, among which "Yuzakiza" was the most powerful.
The maturity of "Noh" is inseparable from the achievements of Kanami and Zeami, the outstanding artists of the "Yuzakiza" at that time. Their father and son were appreciated by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the supreme ruler of the shogunate at the time, and were protected, thus perfecting this drama. Zeami not only has outstanding acting skills, but is also a "noble" script (ballad) author and drama theorist. The collective name of his handed down works is "Sixteen Collections of Zeami", which is considered to be Japan's most cherished aesthetic work.
"Neng" consists of three elements, namely script (including lyrics and narration), "type" (dance program) and "" (instrumental accompaniment). The lyrics in the ballads absorb a large number of famous lines from Japanese songs and Chinese poems. There are more than 1,700 original versions of ballads in existence, and more than 240 types are still performed today. Most of the authors of "neng" are artists who play "neng". Kanami has written plays such as "Natural Householder" and "Ono Komachi"; Zeami has written hundreds of plays such as "Takasago" and "Minomori". Kanze 11ro Motomasa (Zeami's eldest son) wrote "Sumida River"; Kanze Kojiro Nobumitsu wrote "Parade Liu" and "Anzai"; Kinshun Zenzhu wrote "Xiaodu", "Takebu Island" and other famous plays . Japan's classical "art" implements the "clan system" that is passed down from generation to generation, and they maintain the artistic style of their respective schools. The "No" school was formed after the 17th century. There are five schools: Kanze-ryu, Hosei-ryu, Kinshun-ryu, Kongo-ryu, and Kita-ryu.
Kyogen "Kyogen", which appeared at the same time as "Neng", became popular among the people. It was originally an impromptu and short comedy. By the mid-15th century, the repertoire of "Kyogen" was finalized and divided into three schools: Daizo-ryu, Sagi-ryu and Izumi-ryu. From the time of Zeami, "Kyogen" was performed in the middle of several plays performed by "Noh" every time. After the 17th century, "Noh" was designated as a designated type of drama performed during celebrations held by the Tokugawa shogunate, and "Kyogen" was protected along with "Noh". Kyogen is a short comedy that reflects reality and is humorous. There are about 300 existing plays, among which the most representative of "Kyogen" is the play that depicts the conflict between landlords and slaves. Most of these plays are about clever slaves playing tricks on their masters. Others, such as the conflicts between ghosts and gods, the conflicts between monks and donors, the conflicts between husbands and wives, etc., are also full of ridicule, ridicule or satire, reflecting the democratic spirit of the times. Representative repertoires of "Kyogen" include "Two Daimyos", "Martial Evil", "Aconite", "Forgot to Give Alms", "The Crying Nun", "Thunder God", "The Son-in-Law Fighting for Water", and "Separation with a Sickle" etc.
Ningyo Joruri ("Bunraku") is one of the four classical Japanese stage art forms (Kabuki, Noh, Kyogen, and Puppetry)
It is a Japanese professional The puppet show is also called Puppet Joruri ("Ningyo Joruri"). "Ningyo" means puppet or puppet, and "Ruri" means a kind of dramatic rap accompanied by shamisen performance. The term itself illustrates the origin and essence of puppet theater.
And "Joruri" was originally the name of a rap song. Its pioneers were the wandering blind performer Megukiya Chosaburo and the puppeteer Hiden.
The word comes from An early popular chanting work, this work is about the love story of a samurai and Joruri-hime.
It is about Jorurihime, the daughter of a rich man in Mikawa Kingdom. She is proficient in ancient and modern poetry, music and theory, and is good at playing the pipa. She is a beautiful and versatile girl. When the young samurai Ushiwaka was traveling east, he met Joruri-hime by chance and fell in love. Later, Niu Ruo was seriously ill and was left on the river beach due to being injured by others. After Jorurihime heard the news, she cried endlessly on the beach at night, which moved the gods in heaven and made Ushiwako cry to death.
"It is hard to leave love in this world, but I will say goodbye tonight.
Death in love is like frost on the road in the unpredictable wilderness. Death is approaching step by step, and the dream within the dream is bleak.
The sky is about to dawn, and the sound of the bell is heartbreaking. After counting the six rings, there is only one ring. After listening to the sixth ring, this life will be buried.
The sound of the bell is flying. >
——Shihua Joruri's "Sonezaki Love Death"
Japanese kabuki has visited China many times to perform, and has also performed in Australia, Canada, the United States, Egypt and other countries. Although foreigners cannot understand its highly stylized stage language, it emphasizes the postures, movements, and eyes of the opera, as well as its airs, stunts, exaggerated appearances, rapid costume changes, and magical transformations. Enjoy a kabuki performance.