The  no  dramas  are  short  lyrical  stories  founded
for  the  most  part  on  the  folklore  of  Japan,  China,
and  other  Oriental  countries.  They  are  written
in  exceedingly  beautiful  language,  and  are  full  of
quotations  from  ancient  saws  and  songs.  They
bear  a  curious  resemblance  to  the  old  Greek
drama  in  that  they  are  entirely  chanted,  in  that
many  of  the  characters  use  masks,  and  in  that  a
chorus  takes  up  the  action  where  the  dialogue
leaves  off.  But  they  are  too  simple  and  primitive
in  plot,  and  too  deficient  in  lucidity  and  coherence
to  have  much  value  as  dramas.    These  composi-


Digitized  by


Google


OLD  JAPANESE  DRAMAS


tions  were  devised  for  the  entertainment  of  the
military  dasses  in  the  Miiromachi  Period  (1392-
1603),  the  Dark  Age  of  Japan;  and  their  perform-
ance was  favoured  and  protected  by  the  Shogun
and  other  noblemen.  Their  chanted  recitation
is  nowadays  in  much  vogue  among  the  upper
classes.
The  kydgen  or  farces  are  even  shorter  and  more
primitive,  and  of  slight  construction.  They  are
performed  generally  on  the  same  stage  as  the  nd,
in  the  intervals  between  the  more  serious  pieces.
The  no  and  the  kydgen,  therefore,  may  be  called
sister  dramas  for  the  upper  classes.
The  kyaku'hon,  which  are  nearly  the  same  as
the  European  drama,  were  mostly  written  in  the
middle  and  the  latter  days  of  the  Yedo  Period.
They  were,  and  are  much  used  for  the  theatre.
But  most  of  their  authors  were  minor  writers;
and  therefore  the  kyaku-hon,  as  a  whole,  do  not
contain  much  work  of  a  literary  value,  although
they  are  incomparably  superior  as  dramas  to  the
nd  and  the  kydgen.
