''Matsuyama tengu'' (松山天狗 ''Goblins of Matsuyama'') is a

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuri ...

play revolving around the ex-emperor

Sutoku was the 75th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 崇徳天皇 (75)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Sutoku's reign spanned the years from 1123 through 1142. Genealogy Before his ascension to the Chr ...

and his ghostly encounter with the poet

Saigyō was a Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Biography Born in Kyoto to a noble family, he lived during the traumatic transition of power between the old court nobles and the new samurai warriors. After the start of the ag ...

Historical background

The failure of the attempt by

retired emperor A Retired Emperor may refer to: *Taishang Huang of China *Daijō Tennō of Japan *Taesangwang T'aesangwang () and the related title T'aesanghwang () are titles used at various points in History of Korea, Korean history for retired king or emper ...

Sutoku to seize power in the

Hōgen rebellion The was a short civil war fought in order to resolve a dispute about Japanese Imperial succession. The dispute was also about the degree of control exercised by the Fujiwara clan who had become hereditary Imperial regents during the Heian p ...

led to his exile in

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

. His former associate Saigyō was shocked by the events: "A great calamity shook society, and things in the life of Retired Emperor Sutoku underwent inconceivable change". Saigyō thereafter kept in touch with his former emperor, and after his death made a pilgrimage to his place of exile,

Matsuyama 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, in Japan and is also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243,541 h ...

. There he wrote the

tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the influential poetry anthology (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to disti ...

: "Let it be, my lord./ Surely this is nothing/ like the jewel-floored/ palaces of your past, but can/ anything alter what’s occurred?".

Theme

Saigyō's poem played a key role in the Noh play ‘Goblins of Matsuyama'. There, however, it formed part of the encounter between Saigyō and (the spirit of) Sutoku, figured in goblin form, and as a demonic influence. The tension between the non-attachment offered by the poet/monk’s poem, and the urge for revenge on the part of the ‘goblin’ emperor, formed the heart of the play.

Influence

*Pictures of the goblin encounter became a popular Japanese theme, often drawn directly from the play. *Shiramini by

Ueda Akinari was a Japanese author, scholar and '' waka'' poet, and a prominent literary figure in 18th-century Japan. He was an early writer in the '' yomihon'' genre and his two masterpieces, '' Ugetsu Monogatari'' ("Tales of Rain and the Moon") and '' Ha ...

, in his

Ugetsu Monogatari is a collection of nine supernatural tales first published in 1776. It is the best known work of Japanese author Ueda Akinari. Largely adapted from traditional Japanese and Chinese ghost stories, the collection is among the most important w ...

, developed the revenge theme of the play, with Sutoku, now king of the goblins, prophesying doom for the whole

Taira clan The was one of the four most important Japanese clans, clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period, Heian period of History of Japan, Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto clan, Minamoto, the Fujiwara clan, Fuji ...

.J Stockdale, ''Imagining Exile in Heian Japan'' (2015) p. 117-8

References

External links

Tengu in noh plays
Noh plays {{Japan-lit-stub

Historical background

Theme

Influence

See also

References

External links