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In the play, Hyakuman has been driven mad by her distress after her child goes missing. She travels to [[Seiryo-ji|Seiryô-ji]] in western [[Kyoto]], where an annual prayer to [[Amida]] is being held. There, she offers a dance to the deity as a prayer for the safe return of her child.
In the play, Hyakuman has been driven mad by her distress after her child goes missing. She travels to [[Seiryo-ji|Seiryô-ji]] in western [[Kyoto]], where an annual prayer to [[Amida]] is being held. There, she offers a dance to the deity as a prayer for the safe return of her child.
In an earlier version of the play, this dance was the ''[[Jigoku no kusemai]]'' (Dance of Hell), a dance already extant as its own separate piece in the ''kusemai''. This dance reenacted or represented four of the [[Six Realms]] (''rokudô'') of Buddhist existence. At some point, however, a new and different dance became the standard one performed in this play. In the new ''kuse'' section of the play, the dance represents Hyakuman's distressed mental state as she travels from [[Nara]] to Kyoto searching for her child. [[Zeami]] claims credit for this revision.
In earlier versions of the play, this dance was the ''[[Jigoku no kusemai]]'' (Dance of Hell), a dance already extant as its own separate piece in the ''kusemai''. This dance reenacted or represented four of the [[Six Realms]] (''rokudô'') of Buddhist existence. At some point, however, a new and different dance became the standard one performed in this play. In the new ''kuse'' section of the play, the dance represents Hyakuman's distressed mental state as she travels from [[Nara]] to Kyoto searching for her child. [[Zeami]] claims credit for this revision.
As she dances at the temple, her child, who is among the crowd, recognizes her and the play ends with their reunion.
As she dances at the temple, her child, who is among the crowd, recognizes her and the play ends with their reunion.
The play incorporates elements from an earlier play, ''Saga no dainenbutsu no onna monogurui'' (Madwoman at the Great [[Nenbutsu]] Chanting at Saga), which fell out of the repertoire long ago.
==References==
==References==
*Shelley Fenno Quinn, ''Developing Zeami'', University of Hawaii Press (2005), 58.
*Shelley Fenno Quinn, ''Developing Zeami'', University of Hawaii Press (2005), 58, 60.
[[Category:Muromachi Period]]
[[Category:Muromachi Period]]
[[Category:Poetry and Theater]]
[[Category:Poetry and Theater]]
