, sometimes called Hada no Kōkatsu, was a legendary figure in Japanese folklore, who is believed to have introduced ritual
Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
dances to Japan in the sixth century. He is also considered the progenitor of a hereditary line which includes many of
Noh
is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...
's greatest playwrights and actors, such as
Hata no Ujiyasu,
Zeami
(c. 1363 – c. 1443), also called , was a Japanese aesthetician, actor, and playwright.
His father, Kan'ami Kiyotsugu, introduced him to Noh theater performance at a young age, and found that he was a skilled actor. Kan'ami was also skil ...
and
Komparu Mitsutarō. Though in legend he is portrayed as the reincarnation of the first emperor of Qin, if Kawakatsu truly existed he was likely a Chinese immigrant to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, or someone from further afield who came to Japan via
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(see
Hata tribe).
Legend
According to legend, as told by the preeminent Noh playwright Zeami, Hata no Kawakatsu first appeared as a child, during the reign of
Emperor Kinmei
was the 29th Emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 欽明天皇 (29) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834)pp. 34–36 Brown, Delmer. (1979) ''Gukanshō,'' pp. 261– ...
(509–571), discovered in a jar near the gates to the
Miwa Shrine by a high court official. The Hatsuse River had overflowed its banks, and the jar had been carried along on the current. As the official believed the child to have come from heaven, these events were reported to the emperor. That night the emperor dreamed of the child, who said that he was the spirit of
Qin Shihuangdi, first Emperor of
Qin Qin may refer to:
Dynasties and states
* Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China
* Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC
* Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...
, reborn. The child also explained his appearance in the dream as a result of his destiny being connected to Japan's.
As a result, the child was brought to the Court, by order of the Emperor, to serve as a Minister. He was given the family name of Chin (Qin), which was read as ''Hata'' in Japanese, and it was thus that the child came to be called Hata no Kawakatsu. Kawakatsu was then asked by
Shōtoku Taishi Shōtoku may refer to:
* Prince Shōtoku (574-622), a politician of the Asuka period
* Empress Kōken, or Empress Shōtoku (718-770), the 48th imperial ruler of Japan
* Shōtoku (era)
was a after ''Hōei'' and before '' Kyōhō.'' This period ...
to perform sixty-six dramatic pieces, in order to help settle disturbances in the land. The Prince made sixty-six masks to be used for this purpose, and the performances were then done at the Shishinden (Great Attendance Hall) of the imperial palace at
Tachibana The term has at least two different meanings, and has been used in several contexts.
People
* – a clan of ''kuge'' (court nobles) prominent in the Nara and Heian periods (710–1185)
* – a clan of ''daimyō'' (feudal lords) prominent in the Mu ...
. Since this was successful in creating peace for the land, Prince Shōtoku decided that this form of entertainment should be kept for the ages, and dubbed it ''kagura'' (, "entertainment given by the gods"). The form of entertainment known as ''
sarugaku
was a form of theatre popular in Japan during the 11th to 14th centuries. One of its predecessors was a , a form of entertainment reminiscent of the modern-day circus, consisting mostly of acrobatics, juggling, and pantomime, sometimes combined w ...
'', along with its name, would later be derived from ''kagura''.
Kawakatsu is said to have served a number of rulers, including not only Kimmei and Shōtoku, but
Emperor Bidatsu,
Emperor Yōmei
was the 31st Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 用明天皇 (31)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
Yōmei's reign spanned the years from 585 until his death in 587.
Traditional narrative
He was cal ...
,
Emperor Sushun
was the 32nd Emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')崇峻天皇 (32)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
Sushun's reign spanned the years from 587 through 592.
Traditional narrative
Before his ascension t ...
, and
Empress Suiko
(554 – 15 April 628) was the 33rd monarch of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 推古天皇 (33)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
Suiko reigned from 593 until her death in 628.
In the history of Japan ...
. Having passed on his art to his descendants, Kawakatsu fled
Naniwa in a hollowed-out wooden boat. The winds and currents took him to
Harima Province
or Banshū (播州) was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is the southwestern part of present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. Harima bordered on Tajima, Tanba, Settsu, Bizen, and Mimasaka Provinces. Its capital was Himeji.
During the ...
, where he came ashore no longer in human form. It is not clear from Zeami's version of the tale what sort of spirit or demon Kawakatsu was meant to have been, but it is implied that from the time he was discovered in the jar to this point he was never truly human. In any case, he haunted and cursed the people of Harima until they began to worship him as a ''
kami
are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...
'', in order to placate him. They called him ''Taikō Dai-Myōjin'' (, "Great Raging ''Kami''"), and later recognized him as an incarnation of
Bishamonten. Prince Shōtoku is said to have prayed to the spirit of Kawakatsu for victory against
Mononobe no Moriya
was an '' Ō-muraji'', a high-ranking clan head position of the ancient Japanese Yamato state, having inherited the position from his father Mononobe no Okoshi. Like his father, he was a devoted opponent of Buddhism, which had recently been int ...
, who led an armed force in opposition to Japanese adoption of Buddhism.
Konparu Zenchiku
was a skilled Japanese Noh actor, troupe leader, and playwright. His plays are particularly characterized by an intricate, allusive, and subtle style inherited from Zeami which convolved yūgen with influences from Zen Buddhism (his Zen master ...
considered Kawakatsu to be a manifestation of the ''shukujin'', a universal god of destiny. According to Zenchiku, Taiko Daimyojin can also be considered to be analogous to the deity
Matarajin, formerly commonly worshiped by the
Tendai
, also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...
school of Japanese Buddhism and associated with various performing arts, especially sarugaku and noh. The Kōryūji temple in Kyoto, according to legend created by Kawakatsu, is considered a prominent site of Matarajin worship.
[Sujung Kim, ''Transcending Locality, Creating Identity: Shinra Myōjin, a Korean Deity in Japan'', New York 2014, p. 205-208]
References
*Rimer, J. Thomas and Yamazaki Masakazu trans. (1984). "On the Art of the Nō Drama: The Major Treatises of Zeami". Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hata no Kokatsu
Japanese mythology
Noh
Deified Japanese people