Dakki's One Hundred

In the late Edo period, she was touted as a poisonous woman who played a role in a family feud in storytelling and historical records. She was named after Daji, the wife of King Chu of the Shang Dynasty in China, who was known for her cruelty and lasciviousness. O-Hyaku was originally a prostitute from Gion, Kyoto, and frequently changed masters and husbands, having affairs with a shipping wholesaler and a kabuki actor where she was employed. While working as a courtesan in Yoshiwara, she became the wife of the owner of a sex shop. Then, during the Akita Disturbance, she is said to have displayed her poisonous side as the mistress of Akita domain's elder retainer Nakagawa Tadazaemon (known as Nakagawa Uneme in the historical records). One Kabuki play written by Kawatake Mokuami and first performed in 1867 (Keio 3) was "Zenakuryomenko no Degashiwa" (commonly known as "Dabi no O-Hyaku"), and was one of the representative works of the poisonous woman kyogen genre that became popular from the end of the Edo period.

[Fumio Inagaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸後期、講談、実録物などで御家騒動の逆意方ヒロインとして毒婦と喧伝(けんでん)された女性。中国殷(いん)の紂王(ちゅうおう)の妃で、残忍性と淫蕩(いんとう)性で知られた妲己(だっき)にちなんでこうよばれた。お百は京都・祇園(ぎおん)の遊女の出で、たびたび主人や旦那(だんな)をかえ、奉公先の廻船(かいせん)問屋や歌舞伎(かぶき)役者と密通。吉原から花魁(おいらん)に出ているうちに揚屋の主人の妻に納まる。一転して、秋田騒動の際、秋田藩の家老那河忠左衛門（実録物では中川采女(うねめ)）の囲い者として毒婦ぶりを発揮したといわれる。歌舞伎脚本に河竹黙阿弥(もくあみ)作、1867年（慶応3）初演の『善悪両面児手柏(ぜんあくりょうめんこのでがしわ)』（通称「妲妃のお百」）があり、江戸末期から流行した毒婦物狂言の代表作の一つであった。

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