Matsuyama tengu

{{Short description|Japanese noh play}} {{Italic title}} [[File:Matsuyama tengu.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A goblin dances for the ghost of Emperor Sutoku and Saigyō; woodblock print by Kōgyo Tsukioka from the series ''Nōgaku zue'' or ''Pictures of Noh Plays'']] '''''Matsuyama tengu''''' (松山天狗 ''Goblins of Matsuyama'') is a Noh play revolving around the ex-emperor Sutoku and his ghostly encounter with the poet Saigyō.

==Historical background== The failure of the attempt by retired emperor Sutoku to seize power in the Hōgen rebellion led to his exile in Shikoku. 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".<ref>Quoted in W LaFleur,''Awesome Nightfall'' (2003) p. 27</ref> Saigyō thereafter kept in touch with his former emperor,<ref>H H Honda trans., ''The Mountain Hermitage'' (1971) p. 205-6</ref> and after his death made a pilgrimage to his place of exile, Matsuyama. There he wrote the tanka:

"Let it be, my lord./ Surely this is nothing/ like the jewel-floored/ palaces of your past, but can/ anything alter what’s occurred?".<ref>Quoted in W LaFleur, ''Awesome Nightfall'' (2003) p. 34</ref>

==Theme== Saigyō's poem played a key role in the Noh play ‘Goblins of Matsuyama'.<ref>W LaFleur, ''Awesome Nightfall'' (2003) p. 33</ref> There, however, it formed part of the encounter between Saigyō and (the spirit of) Sutoku, figured in goblin form,<ref>"usually shown as part bird and part human, somewhat like a griffin", L Zolbrod, ''Haiku Painting'' (1982) p. 27</ref> and as a demonic influence.<ref>J Stockdale, ''Imagining Exile in Heian Japan'' (2015) p. 117</ref>

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.<ref>J Stockdale, ''Imagining Exile in Heian Japan'' (2015) p. 115-8</ref>

==Influence== *Pictures of the goblin encounter became a popular Japanese theme,<ref>J Stockdale, ''Imagining Exile in Heian Japan'' (2015) p. 117-8</ref> often drawn directly from the play.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://fujiarts.com/cgi-bin/item.pl?item=763493 |title=Matsuyama Tengu |access-date=2021-08-16 |archive-date=2021-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816074946/https://fujiarts.com/cgi-bin/item.pl?item=763493 |url-status=live }}</ref> *Shiramini by Ueda Akinari, in his Ugetsu Monogatari, developed the revenge theme of the play, with Sutoku, now king of the goblins, prophesying doom for the whole Taira clan.<ref>J Stockdale, ''Imagining Exile in Heian Japan'' (2015) p. 117-8</ref>

==See also== {{Commons category|Matsuyama Tengu (Nō play)}} *''Hōgen Monogatari'' *Onryō *Tengu

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

== External links == * [https://sites.google.com/site/ontheartofthenohdrama/home--On-the-art-of-the-noh-drama/tengu-in-noh-plays__NotesReferences Tengu in noh plays]

Category:Noh plays