Sarugaku

It is a performing art that flourished during the Heian and Kamakura periods, and since the early Muromachi period it has been used as the old name for the modern Nohgaku. It is a descendant of Sangaku, which was introduced from China during the Nara period. In China, Sangaku was a general term for folk arts, also known as Hyakugi, and included a wide range of performing arts, including singing, dancing, and imitation, as well as acrobatics and magic. In Japan, it was initially protected by the state, but gradually it spread to the general public, and in the early Heian period, the national training schools were abolished. Eventually, the name was Japanized and became known as Sarugaku. It is said that this is because the phonetic change of "san" to "saru" evoked images of monkeys, who were skilled at imitating others, but there is also a theory that it was because there was a form of Sangaku in which humans dressed up as monkeys.

Sarugaku was also performed by lower-ranking officials of the Imperial Guard as entertainment at sumo festivals at the Imperial Court, but its mainstream spread among the general public, giving rise to professional Sarugaku performers. The Shin Sarugaku-ki, written in the mid-Heian period by Fujiwara no Akihira, lists a wide range of ancient Sangaku performing arts, including the sorcerer, the dwarf dance, the dengaku, the puppeteer, the Tang dynasty, the Shinadama, the ring drum, the eight balls, the solo sumo, and the solo sugoroku. It suggests that the name Sarugaku included a wide range of ancient Sangaku performing arts. However, it also states that skits reminiscent of later Kyogen plays were performed, such as a monk searching for a robes and a nun going around asking for diapers for her child, and the general comment on Sarugaku is, "The words of the cry are like tears that cut the intestines and open the chin," which suggests that humorous impersonation was the main focus of Sarugaku. However, later, acrobatic arts were performed by Dengaku, and magic tricks and other magic tricks were performed by puppeteers, which became independent from Sarugaku. On the other hand, many professional Sarugaku performers were subordinate to large temples or shrines and served at their festivals, and so they began to perform parts of esoteric Buddhist practices that had previously been performed by monks, such as the performances of a sorcerer, which is listed first as a type of performing art in the "Shin Sarugaku-ki."Furthermore, during the Kamakura period, influenced by things like Shomyo, a musical form of sutra chanting; sermons, which could be considered Buddhist storytelling; and Ennen Furyu, which was performed at entertainment competitions after Buddhist ceremonies at large temples, Sarugaku gradually separated into Noh, a serious musical and dance drama, and Kyogen, a humorous dialogue drama, and each established its own style of art.

Eventually, at the beginning of the Muromachi period, Kan'ami and his son Zeami refined Sarugaku into a form similar to today's Nohgaku, and also established the format of alternating Noh and Kyogen performances. Zeami wrote in "Fushikaden" that "Taisho Jogu, for future generations, had made it into Kagura, but removed the radical of the character "kami" (god), and left the side part. This is called Sarugaku because it is a form of the calendar. That is, it is a form of entertainment. It is also a form of Kagura." Zeami gave authority to the origin of the form and wrote it as "Sarugaku," but the traditional spelling of "Sarugaku" was generally used throughout both the Muromachi and Edo periods. However, in the Meiji period, it was changed to "Nohgaku." In 1881 (Meiji 14), the Nohgaku Society was founded mainly by members of the nobility, and in the "Establishment Procedures" it states, "In accordance with the opinion of Maeda Nariyasu, the name Sarugaku was changed to Nohgaku because the characters did not look appropriate...", revealing the reason for the name change to avoid the vulgar impression of the character "saru" (monkey) as a performing art representative of aristocratic society, and suggesting that this occurred around 1879 or 1880. After that, the name "Nohgaku" quickly became popular, and the name "Sarugaku" fell into disuse.

[Kobayashi, Responsible]

"Research on the History of Performing Arts in the Middle Ages" by Tatsusaburo Hayashiya (1960, Iwanami Shoten) " The Origin of Noh" by Yoshitaka Goto (1975, Mokujisha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

平安・鎌倉時代に栄えた芸能で、室町前期以後は現在の能楽の古称として用いられてきた。奈良時代に中国から渡来した散楽(さんがく)の芸系を受ける。散楽は、中国では民間雑芸(ざつげい)の総称で百戯(ひゃくぎ)とも称され、歌舞物真似(かぶものまね)のほか曲芸軽業(かるわざ)、奇術魔法なども含む幅広い芸態をもつものであった。日本では初め国家が保護したが、しだいに一般に普及して、平安初期には国立教習所は廃止され、やがて名称も日本化して猿楽とよばれるようになった。これは、サンがサルと音韻変化した際に物真似(ものまね)上手な猿が連想されたものであろうといわれるが、また散楽のなかに人間が猿に扮(ふん)した芸があったためだとする説もある。

　猿楽は、宮中でも相撲節会(すまいのせちえ)などの余興として近衛府(このえふ)の下級官人らによっても演じられたが、その主流は民間に流れ、職業的猿楽者を生むに至った。平安中期に書かれた藤原明衡(あきひら)著『新猿楽記』には、呪師(のろんじ)、侏儒舞(ひきひとまい)、田楽(でんがく)、傀儡師(かいらいし)、唐術(とうじゅつ)、品玉(しなだま)、輪鼓(りゅうご)、八玉(やつだま)、独相撲(ひとりすまい)、独双六(ひとりすごろく)その他があげられていて、なお猿楽の名称のもとに古代散楽の広範な芸能を含んでいたことを想像させる。しかしそこには、僧侶(そうりょ)が袈裟(けさ)を探したり、尼が自分の子供の襁褓(むつき)（おむつ）を請い歩いたりする、後代の狂言を思わせる寸劇の演じられていたことも記され、猿楽の総評として「嗚呼(おこ)の詞(ことば)は腸(はらわた)を断ち頤(おとがい)を解かずということなきなり」と書かれていることから、滑稽(こっけい)な物真似の芸が中心をなしていたと考えられる。ところがその後、曲芸軽業の芸は田楽が演じて、奇術魔法の類は傀儡師が専業として、猿楽から独立していった。一方、職業的猿楽者の多くは大きな寺院や神社などに隷属し、その祭礼などに奉仕していたので、密教的行法のなかで従来は僧侶が行っていた芸能的要素の強い部分、たとえば『新猿楽記』が諸芸能の最初にあげている呪師(じゅし)の芸などを勤めるようになり、さらに鎌倉時代に入ると、音楽的読経である声明(しょうみょう)や仏教話芸ともいえる説教、あるいは大寺院での法会(ほうえ)後の余興大会で演じられた延年風流(えんねんふりゅう)などの影響を受けて、猿楽はしだいに、まじめな歌舞劇である能と、滑稽な科白(かはく)劇である狂言とに分離し、それぞれの芸態を確立していく。

　やがて室町時代の初め、観阿弥(かんあみ)・世阿弥(ぜあみ)父子らによって、猿楽は今日の能楽に近い姿に整えられ、能と狂言の交互上演の形式も定まった。世阿弥は『風姿花伝(ふうしかでん)』に「上宮(じょうぐう)太子、末代のため、神楽(かぐら)なりしを、神といふ文字の偏を除(の)けて、旁(つくり)を残し給ふ。是(これ)、日暦(ひよみ)の申(さる)なるが故に、申楽(さるがく)と名づく。すなはち、楽しみを申すによりてなり。又は神楽を分くればなり」とその成立を権威づけ「申楽」と表記したが、室町・江戸両時代を通じ一般には伝統的な「猿楽」の表記を用いてきた。しかし、明治期に入って「能楽」と改められた。1881年（明治14）華族を中心に設立された能楽社の「設立之手続」のなかに「前田斉泰(なりやす)ノ意見ニテ猿楽ノ名称字面穏当ナラサルヲ以(もっ)テ能楽ト改称シ……」とあるので、貴族社会を代表する芸能として「猿」の字の野卑な印象を嫌っての改称であった事情がわかり、その時期は1879、80年ごろと推測できる。以後、急速に「能楽」の名が普及し、「猿楽」の呼称は滅びた。

［小林　責］

『林屋辰三郎著『中世芸能史の研究』（1960・岩波書店）』▽『後藤淑著『能楽の起源』（1975・木耳社）』

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