Sermon - Sekkyo

A form of storytelling. It is more correctly called Setsukyou Joruri or Setsukyou Bushi. It is a folk performing art derived from the Buddhist fushizuke sermons (fushidan sermons) from the end of the Kamakura period to the beginning of the Muromachi period. Originally, Setsukyou (preaching) was the act of educating the masses by preaching scriptures and doctrines, but the Setsukyou masters (preachers) who practiced this practice began to add a melody to the words and recite them in a storytelling style, and it gradually became a performing art and eventually spread among the general public. Setsukyou that came into the hands of wandering Shomonshi (chanters) were the recitation and singing of parables and tales of causation in temple sermons (Shodo) accompanied by a sasara (flute), gongs, and kakko (Japanese traditional drum), but because they performed at the door, it came to be called "Kadozekkyo (gate sepkyo)." Also, because it has a strong song-like quality, it was also called 'Utazekkyo' (Song of the Sutra).

Apart from this lineage, sekkyo who became street performers eventually became sekkyo troupes who used puppets in a tent. In other words, there were two types of sekkyo: (1) the wandering lineage of gate sekkyo and song sekkyo, and (2) the lineage of tent-based performance sekkyo troupes. The lineage (1) had a deep connection with Miidera in the early modern period. Under the control of Gonshoji Temple, which was affiliated with Miidera, was Sekishimizu Semimarumiya, who had many wandering storytellers who performed all over the country. Some of the people in this lineage combined with the saimon (ritual writings) of mountain ascetics to become "sekkyo saimon," which also became a form of entertainment in vaudeville halls during the Bunka, Bunsei, and Tenpo eras (1804-1844).

In the (2) school, the Tamagawa school in the Kanto region and the Higurashi school in the Kansai region were well known in the early modern period and generally divided the power into two groups. The heyday of this school of sekkyo was from the Kan'ei period (1624-1644) to the Manji and Kanbun periods (1658-1673), when famous pundits included Higurashi Kodayu in Kyoto, Sekkyo Yoshichiro in Osaka, Sado Shichidayu, Tenma Hattayu, and Yuki Magosaburo in Edo. The original texts include "Gosuiden" (the original location of Kumano), "Hozo Bhikkhu" (the original location of Amida), "Amida Munewari", "Brahma Heaven", "Mokuren Sonja", "Opening of Zenkoji Temple", "The Original Location of Shaka", "The Five Great Powerful Bodhisattvas", and "Donranki". Among the many plays, "Karukaya," "Shintokumaru (Shuntokumaru)," "Oguri Hangan," "Sansho Dayu (Sansho Dayu)," and "Bon Tengoku" were considered to be the Five Sekkyo, but during the Kyoho era (1716-1736), "Aigo no Waka," "Shinodazuma (Shinodazuma)," and "Umewaka" were interchangeably included in the five sekkyo. This type of sekkyo had many flaws and was vulgar compared to Joruri and Kabuki, so it lost popularity in Kyoto and Osaka around the Hoei and Shotoku eras (1704-1716) and quickly declined.

However, in Edo, there was a school that revived around the Kansei and Kyowa periods (1789-1804) by skillfully utilizing sermons, which had survived as ritual texts from the lineage of wandering arts. The Satsuma and Wakamatsu schools were of this lineage.

[Kazuo Sekiyama]

"Studies on Narration (Dance, Sekkyo, and Old Joruri)" by Yataro Muroki (1970, Kazama Shobo)" ▽ "Sekkyobushi" edited and annotated by Shigeru Araki and Kisso Yamamoto (Heibonsha, Toyo Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

語物。正しくは説経浄瑠璃(じょうるり)、説経節ともいう。鎌倉末から室町初期のころ仏教界の節付(ふしづけ)説教（節談(ふしだん)説教）から派生した民間芸能。もともと説経（説教）とは、経典や教義を説いて民衆を教化する行為をさすが、それを実践する説経師（説教者）たちが、ことばに節をつけて話芸風に口演したためしだいに芸能化し、ついに民間人のなかに入ったのである。民間を流浪する唱門師(しょうもんし)らの手に渡った説経は、寺院の説教（唱導）における譬喩因縁(ひゆいんねん)談を簓(ささら)、鉦(かね)、鞨鼓(かっこ)を伴奏として語り、歌っていたが、門付(かどづけ)をしたために「門説経(かどぜっきょう)」とよばれた。また、歌謡性が強いために「歌説経(うたぜっきょう)」ともいわれた。

　この系統のものとは別に、大道芸人のなかに入った説経は、やがて小屋で人形を遣う説経座となった。つまり説経には、(1)門説経、歌説経の放浪芸の系統と、(2)小屋掛け興行の説経座の系統と2種類があったのである。(1)の系統と三井寺(みいでら)とは近世に深いかかわりをもっていた。三井寺所属の近松寺(ごんしょうじ)の支配下に関清水蝉丸宮があり、その配下に民間を流浪する多数の説経語りがあって全国各地で活動した。この系統の人たちのなかには、山伏の祭文(さいもん)と結び付いて「説経祭文」となり、文化(ぶんか)・文政(ぶんせい)・天保(てんぽう)（1804～1844）のころに寄席(よせ)演芸にもなった。

　(2)の系統では近世において関東の玉川派、関西の日暮(ひぐらし)派が知られ、おおむね勢力を二分していた。この説経の全盛期は、寛永(かんえい)（1624～1644）から万治(まんじ)・寛文(かんぶん)（1658～1673）のころで、京都の日暮小太夫、大坂の説経与七郎、江戸の佐渡七太夫、天満八太夫、結城孫三郎(ゆうきまごさぶろう)らが著名であった。正本として『五翠殿』（熊野之御本地）、『法蔵比丘(ほうぞうびく)』（阿弥陀(あみだ)之本地）、『阿弥陀胸割(むねわり)』『梵天国(ぼんてんごく)』『目蓮尊者(もくれんそんじゃ)』『善光寺開帳』『釈迦(しゃか)の本地』『五大力菩薩(ぼさつ)』『曇鸞記(どんらんき)』などがある。多くの演目のなかで「苅萱(かるかや)」「信徳丸（俊徳(しゅんとく)丸）」「小栗判官(おぐりはんがん)」「三荘太夫(さんしょうだゆう)（山椒太夫）」「梵天国」が五説経とされたが、享保(きょうほう)（1716～1736）のころ「苅萱」「三荘太夫」のほかは「愛護若(あいごのわか)」「信田妻（信太妻）(しのだづま)」「梅若」が入れ替わって五説経といわれたという。この系統の説経は、浄瑠璃や歌舞伎(かぶき)に比べて難点が多く、低俗だったため、宝永(ほうえい)・正徳(しょうとく)（1704～1716）ごろ京坂のほうから人気を失い、早く衰退した。

　しかし、江戸において、放浪芸の系統から祭文として命脈を保ってきた説経を巧みに利用して寛政(かんせい)・享和(きょうわ)（1789～1804）のころに再興した一派があった。薩摩(さつま)派、若松派はその系統である。

［関山和夫］

『室木弥太郎著『語り物（舞・説経・古浄瑠璃）の研究』（1970・風間書房）』▽『荒木繁・山本吉左右編・注『説経節』（平凡社・東洋文庫）』

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