Chikamatsu Monzaemon

(1653–1724) - one of the classics of Japanese drama. Real name: Sugimori Nobumori. Born in the Kyoto area into a samurai family and received a good education. But military career did not attract the young man. In 1864, he began writing plays for the Kabuki theater and wrote more than thirty of them. But he was very attracted by the wide possibilities puppet theater, and he began to write exclusively joruri plays. After moving to Osaka, Chikamatsu became a permanent playwright at the permanent puppet theater Takemotoza. Every play by Chikamatsu became an event in theatrical life Japan at that time. Among Chikamatsu's plays there are 24 everyday plays and over 100 historical plays. True, his historical dramas can only conditionally be called historical, since when creating them, Chikamatsu had little regard for true history, drew stories from the old Japanese literature and endowed the characters with the thoughts and feelings of the townspeople of his time. Chikamatsu's domestic dramas became even more famous. Most often, they reflected the struggle in the soul of a person trying to follow a feeling rather than generally accepted feudal morality. At the same time, moral duty almost always won, and the author’s sympathy was on the side of the vanquished. The puppet theater plays created by Chikamatsu had high literary merit. His name and activities in the Takemotoza theater are associated with the heyday of this genre, its golden age.

Japan from A to Z. Encyclopedia. EdwART. 2009.

See what "Chikamatsu Monzaemon" is in other dictionaries:

Chikamatsu Monzaemon ... Wikipedia

- (real name Sugimori Nobumori) (1653 11/22/1724), Japanese playwright. Author of joruri for the puppet theater and drama for the kabuki theater; from 1705 he switched exclusively to joruri. Created numerous historical tragedies based on feudal themes... ...

- (1653 1724) Japanese playwright. Numerous historical plays (Victorious Kagekiye, 1686; Battles of Koxinga, 1715) and bourgeois dramas (Messenger to the Underworld, 1711, etc.) for the jeruri and kabuki theaters, in the center of which is the clash of feelings and... ... Big encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1653 1724), Japanese playwright. Numerous plays for joruri and kabuki theaters, including the historical plays “Victorious Kagekiyo” (1686), “The Battles of Koxinga” (1715), “philistine” dramas “Double Suicide at Sonezaki” (1703), “The Messenger in ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

CHIKAMATSU Monzaemon- (real name Sugimori Nobumori) (16531724), Japanese playwright. St. 120 plays (joruri) for the puppet theater and approx. 30 dramas for the kabuki actors' theater, including history. dramas (jidaimono) “Victorious Kagekiyo” (1686), “Battles of Koxinga” ... ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary

- (real name Sugimori Nobumori; 1653–1724) – Japanese. playwright. Samurai by origin. He made his debut as a poet. Later he wrote ballad plays; from 1705 he switched exclusively to dramas for puppet theater, performed by one singer. The author is numerous... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Pseudonyms

- ... Wikipedia

Chikamatsu Monzaemon Sugimori Nobumori (Japanese 杉森 信盛?, 1653 January 6, 1725), better known by the pseudonym Chikamatsu Monzaemon (Japanese 近松門左衛門?) Japanese ... Wikipedia

Monzaemon (real name Sugimori Nobumori, 1653 1724) was a major Japanese playwright of the era of the disintegration of the feudal system and the emergence of the bourgeoisie (1600 1867). The creator of the townspeople's theater as opposed to the feudal court theater. Coming from a bankrupt... ... Literary encyclopedia

Monzaemon (real name Sugimori Nobumori) (1653 November 22, 1724), Japanese playwright. Author Joruri for puppet theater and drama for Kabuki theater; from 1705 he switched exclusively to joruri. Created numerous historical tragedies on... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Books

• Renaissance in Japan, K. Kirkwood. This book is an extensive overview Japanese culture XVII century (one of the most interesting periods Japanese history), given against a broad background of socio-economic processes. Talking about...

X. Chikamatsu Monzaemon

Third period: puppet theater playwright

During the reign of Shogun Tsunayoshi (1680-1709), Japanese art and literature reached the pinnacle of their development, primarily in Edo and, as we have noted, especially during the period from 1688 to 1704 known as the Genroku era. Although by that time Edo had become the center of a new cultural movement, in the formerly recognized cultural center Kyoto and even Osaka, which was primarily a trading city, where it gained great popularity folk drama, there were no signs of obvious decline yet. The emperor himself - at this time the 113th Emperor Higashiyama (1687-1707) reigned - was roi faineant *. He lived in complete isolation in imperial palace in Kyoto and was more or less dependent on the shogun's annual grants according to the civil list. But court life and ceremony were preserved in the imperial capital, and the court nobility continued to patronize talented artists, artisans and writers. The influence of these cultured people spread to the middle classes - rich and themselves possessing more or less refined taste - and finally to somewhat more accessible to the common people artistic forms penetrated into the lower strata of society.

* (The Idle King (French).)

However, Kyoto's glory faded, especially in the theater field. Decline Kabuki in Kyoto was offset by its popularity in Edo, and the genre joruri, starting with Gidayu, moved from Kyoto to Osaka, where more favorable social conditions existed for its perception.

Throughout his life, Chikamatsu responded immediately to the trends of the times, and soon after the beginning of the century, the boundless influence of Tojuro in Kabuki began to decline, he decided to give in to the flow and move to Osaka to establish even closer contact with his employee Gidayu. So, around 1705, he shook the dust of Kyoto from his feet and went to Osaka, where he was to spend the remaining nineteen years of his life. This was the third period of his activity. One of the biographers quite rightly states: “Thus, Chikamatsu began new life, extremely fruitful and for literary genius, and for human qualities. Had he remained a slave to the actors, his name could have sunk into eternity. This change radically changed his whole life, and at the same time it was a turning point in the history of Japanese drama."

Chikamatsu was fifty-one years old. Remembering what remained ahead of him long years life and the most magnificent works, we can consider that at this time he was in the prime of his life. Contemporaries depict him in paintings as a man with regular facial features, with a thin mustache and small beard, like the ancient Chinese sages, with long thick eyebrows and a high shaved forehead. Sometimes it seemed to the portrait painter who painted him that his cheerful face radiated the intelligence and humor that his writings testify to.

Undoubtedly, Chikamatsu still remained a sociable person and a lover of fun companies. He was, as is clear from his works, well aware of all the events in the lives of the people around him. He had a journalistic nose for news and thoroughly knew all aspects have a fun life city, as befits a man of the theater. Although the printing press did not yet exist, news in those days spread quickly: Chikamatsu himself wrote that the news of the suicide of Jihei, a paper merchant in the “fun quarter,” “the next day will spread throughout the world illustrated sheets containing a detailed story about the tragedy - sheets, printed on exactly the same paper that he himself was accustomed to dealing with, his posthumous shame and humiliation will be spread throughout the country."

There are many legends about the tremendous speed with which Chikamatsu composed his joruri. Even if we make allowance for the exaggeration emanating from his admirers, he apparently possessed amazing ingenuity and efficiency. The double suicide at Amijima occurred on the night of the full moon in October 1720; The theater chronicle notes that Ten no Amijima * was first staged on December 6. They say that one day winter evening, when Chikamatsu was having fun in a tavern near Shinzaike in Sumiyoshi, a man who had arrived from Osaka and was connected with the Takemoto Theater suddenly entered with the words: “Yesterday night on Amijima Island, a double suicide occurred in the Daichōji Temple. Would you like to return to Osaka now and bring this story to life joruri? Then the day after tomorrow we will rehearse all day." Chikamatsu immediately ordered a fast palanquin - kago and hurried back to Osaka. Having left kago, he immediately rushed home and began writing. He called his story " omoi no hashi zukushi" ("full of bridges of reflection"), because in Osaka, the city near which the tragedy occurred, there are a lot of bridges. The play began with the words: "The handwriting was hasty, and the text of the book withhold(drama text But) was Konoe school, and Yaroboshi(hat worn by actors kyogen, often bright color) was purple..." These connecting links are in the form of a "message", a booklet withhold and lilac Yaroboshi evoked well-known associations, so they were convenient for the beginning.

* (The full title of the play is "Shinju ten no Amijima" ("Suicide of Lovers on the Island of Heavenly Nets"). For Russian translation by V. Markova, see: Monzaemon Chikamatsu. Dramas. M., 1963, p. 359-455 (editor's note).)

It is also said that when he wrote Yaoya Shinju, a play about the double suicide of a greengrocer on April 5, 1722, at the Toyotake-za theater, the next day it was published under the title Shinju Futae-obi, and on the 8th the numbers have already been staged. Even if this and similar legends may raise doubts about the almost fantastic speed of writing, they confirm that Chikamatsu had not only the gift of a newspaper reporter, but also professional skills and ease in writing joruri. He should be recognized as almost an improviser, a “ballad maker” similar to the European troubadours.

There are many anecdotes that he did not hesitate to use the services offered to him and even attracted others to cooperate. Once he was composing a suicide scene for the play “Sonezaki Shinju” (“Double Suicide of Lovers of Sonezaki”), and when he came to the words: “The snow melted with every step that brought him closer to death,” he was at a loss, not knowing what to do next. Just at that moment, Ryoto, a poet and writer in the genre, came to visit him. haikai from Ise, and the playwright was quick to turn to him for advice. Ryoto ate, drank and talked about something, it seemed that he was not paying attention to his owner’s persistent questions. Finally, when Chikamatsu repeated the question again, Ryoto playfully suggested the final phrase: “Empty, like a dream within a dream.” Chikamatsu liked such an unexpected metaphor, and he ended the phrase with it.

There is much other evidence in his plays of how quickly, through rumors, officials, spies and pilgrims, news of accidents, scandals or love affairs spread throughout the surrounding provinces. As we have seen, Chikamatsu, even during a feast on the same day, learned about famous suicide lovers. With the makings of a good journalist, he immediately turned such local stories into topical plays, which sometimes appeared on stage just two weeks after the incident. Therefore, it is quite obvious that he closely followed the life of the people in the capital. Undoubtedly, he himself, surrounded by the theater fraternity, attended " fun neighborhoods"Osaka, so beautifully depicted by him.

What this environment was like is clearly shown in one of the most famous plays Chikamatsu: “Sonezaki Shinchi, the quarter of “windy women” in Osaka, fully deserves the name “ocean of love”, and, apparently, it is no coincidence that the river flowing through this quarter is called Shijimi - the River of Shells.

It was dark in the Sonezaki-Shinchi neighborhood, dimly lit by the patterned lanterns of the tea houses. Young rakes walked along the noisy streets, singing as they walked fashionable songs, recited fragments from puppet dramas or pronounced dialogues, imitating famous actors. From the upper rooms of many tea houses came the cheerful plucking of strings. shamisen, and this music was so charming that it lured some of the regulars of the quarter to visit the courtesans. Others, hiding their faces under a mask in order to more freely enjoy the cheerful atmosphere of the street, were identified by maids from brothels and tricked into heading to one house or another."

A little further on, he writes: “It’s past midnight in Sonezaki; not a soul on the street; only occasionally the silence was broken by the faint gloomy murmur of the Shijimi River. The full moon shone so brightly that the lights on the sign of the Yamatoya tea house faded.” A fireman walked past, knocking on his a mallet and in a sleepy voice shouting: “Be careful with the fire! Be careful with fire!”, and it seemed that in the very monotonous sound of his beater something sleepy could be heard.”

Probably in all the cities of Europe at this time a similar scene could be observed, including the night watchman announcing the time and shouting: “Everything is all right!” The only difference is that while such customs have disappeared in Europe, in Japanese cities they persist to this day. Plus ga change, plus c"est la meme chose * .

* (How more change, the more everything remains the same (French).)

The meaning of CHIKAMATSU MONZAEMON in the Encyclopedia Japan from A to Z

CHIKAMATSU MONZAEMON

(1653-1724) - one of the classics of Japanese drama. Real name: Sugimori Nobumori. He was born in the Kyoto region into a samurai family and received a good education. But a military career did not attract the young man. In 1864, he began writing plays for the Kabuki theater and wrote more than thirty of them. But he was very attracted by the wide possibilities of puppet theater, and he began to write exclusively joruri plays. After moving to Osaka, Chikamatsu became a permanent playwright at the permanent puppet theater Takemotoza. Each play by Chikamatsu became an event in the theatrical life of Japan at that time. Among Chikamatsu's plays there are 24 everyday plays and over 100 historical plays. True, his historical dramas can only conditionally be called historical, since when creating them, Chikamatsu took little account of true history, drew plots from old Japanese literature and endowed the characters with the thoughts and feelings of the townspeople of his time. Chikamatsu's domestic dramas became even more famous. Most often, they reflected the struggle in the soul of a person trying to follow a feeling rather than generally accepted feudal morality. At the same time, moral duty almost always won, and the author’s sympathy was on the side of the vanquished. The puppet theater plays created by Chikamatsu had high literary merit. His name and activities in the Takemotoza theater are associated with the heyday of this genre, its golden age.

Japan from A to Z, encyclopedia. 2012

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what TIKAMATSU MONDZAEMON is in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

• CHIKAMATSU MONZAEMON in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  (1653-1724) Japanese playwright. Numerous historical plays ("Victorious Kagekiye", 1686; "Battles of Koxinga", 1715) and "philistine" dramas ("Messenger to the Underworld", 1711, and ...
• CHIKAMATSU MONZAEMON
  Monzaemon (real name - Sugimori Nobumori) (1653 - 11/22/1724), Japanese playwright. Author of joruri for the puppet theater and dramas for the theater...
• TIKAMATSU in the Literary Encyclopedia:
  Monzaemon [real name Sugimori Nobumori, 1653-1724] is a major Japanese playwright of the era of the disintegration of the feudal system and the emergence of the bourgeoisie. Theater creator...
• TIKAMATSU in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  TIKAMATSU Monzaemon (1653-1724), Japanese. playwright. Numerous plays for joruri and kabuki theaters, incl. ist. plays "Victorious Kagekiyo" (1686), "Battles ...
• TIKAMATSU in Modern explanatory dictionary, TSB:
  Monzaemon (1653-1724), Japanese playwright. Numerous historical plays (“Victorious Kagekiye”, 1686; “Battles of Koxinga”, 1715) and “philistine” dramas (“Messenger to the Underworld”, ...
• KABUKI
  - one of the traditional theatrical arts Japan. Originating in the second half of the 16th century, it went through a very long evolution...
• JAPAN in big Soviet encyclopedia, TSB:
  (Japanese: Nippon, Nihon). I. General information Ya - a state located on the islands Pacific Ocean, near the coast East Asia. Consisting of...
• DRAMA (IN LITERATURE) in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  (Greek drama, literally - action), 1) one of three kinds literature (along with epic and lyric poetry; see literary genre). ...
• JORURI in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  a type of song tale, as well as puppet theater in Japan. The name comes from “The Tale of Joruri in 12 Songs” (1530), in ...
• MIZOGUCHI KENJI in the Encyclopedia Japan from A to Z:
  (1898-1956) - film director. Directed more than 80 films. In cinema since 1920. He made his debut with the film “The Day Love Returns” (1922). First …

Chikamatsu Monzaemon.

Suicide in Sanezaki.

Goodbye, oh world, goodbye, oh night.

Who can you compare us with?

those who have entered the mortal path?

We disappear into the white fog

with every step forward along the road,

leading to the cemetery:

the dream from a dream is full of suffering.

Oh, have you counted the tolls of the bell?

After all, out of seven blows,

that separates us from the morning star,

six sounded.

And the one that is left for us to listen to,

the last echo will be

what we will hear in this life.

And in the echo he will repeat,

that happiness lies in self-destruction;

Let's say goodbye to the bell, and at the same time to the grass, -

and look at her in last time, —

with the trees and with the sky;

floating clouds don’t care about us,

Ursa Major, reflected in the water,

shines; and the Weaver with Bootes

united again on the Heavenly Bridge.

Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japanese playwright. His stories, as critics wrote, “distracted children from their games and drove old people out of their cozy corners.” He is often called the Japanese Shakespeare, and for good reason. He took a strong place in the treasury of Japanese literature and drama, and some of his works can still be seen on stage. Chikamatsu, along with Matsuo Basho and Ihara Saikaku, is revered as one of the three great literary figures of Japan. XVII culture century.

Chikamatsu Monzaemon is the author of joruri for the puppet theater and drama for the kabuki theater. From 1705 he switched exclusively to joruri. He created numerous historical tragedies based on subjects from feudal epics, chronicles, etc. The main conflict in them is the clash of feelings with duty, which invariably wins. He also wrote dramas from city life about the unhappy fate of lovers: he was the first in Japan to create a psychological drama.

Thanks to Chikamatsu, joruri theater has changed significantly. Before him, the performance was usually based on a dramatic story, with individual scenes playing a mainly illustrative role. Chikamatsu filled his plays with action, making extensive use of stage possibilities. Many of his plays are still performed in the Kabuki theater and Japanese puppet theater. True, his historical dramas can only conditionally be called historical, since when creating them, Chikamatsu took little account of true history, drew plots from old Japanese literature and endowed the characters with the thoughts and feelings of the townspeople of his time.

Chikamatsu's domestic dramas became even more famous. Most often, they reflected the struggle in the soul of a person trying to follow a feeling rather than generally accepted feudal morality. At the same time, moral duty almost always won, and the author’s sympathy was on the side of the vanquished.

The puppet theater plays created by Chikamatsu had high literary merit. His name and activities in the Takemotoza theater are associated with the heyday of this genre, its golden age.

From 1705, Chikamatsu moved to Osaka and until his death he composed plays for the puppet theater. Previously, jeruri plays focused on musical accompaniment and the narrator's monologues. Chikamatsu increased the amount of dialogue, which was seen as a bold innovation and was welcomed by the public. Real glory Chikamatsu brought two plays - “The Suicide of Lovers in Sonezaki” and “The Suicide of Lovers on the Island of Heavenly Nets”. The second play was especially popular, in which Chikamatsu embodied what was worrying Japanese society at that time. A wave of double suicides has swept across Japan - when a man and a woman, unable to connect, decide to commit suicide at the same time. One of the authors of that era wrote that double suicides had become as common as deaths from tuberculosis. A list of people who died this way was even published.