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Zeami was born [[Hata no Kokatsu|Hata]] no Motokiyo, the son of performer [[Kan'ami]], with whom he was invited at a young age to become a court performer in service to [[Shogun]] [[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]]. While at the shogun's court, and charged with organizing entertainments, Motokiyo and his father developed rural dances known as ''sarugaku'' into the beginnings of what is now known as Noh theatre or Noh drama. There would eventually develop five orthodox schools of Noh performance, with the [[Kanze school]] claiming the most direct connection to Zeami, and claiming Kan'ami as its first head.  

Zeami was born [[Hata no Kokatsu|Hata]] no Motokiyo, the son of performer [[Kan'ami]], with whom he was invited at a young age to become a court performer in service to [[Shogun]] [[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]]. While at the shogun's court, and charged with organizing entertainments, Motokiyo and his father developed rural dances known as ''sarugaku'' into the beginnings of what is now known as Noh theatre or Noh drama. There would eventually develop five orthodox schools of Noh performance, with the [[Kanze school]] claiming the most direct connection to Zeami, and claiming Kan'ami as its first head.  

Upon his father's death in [[1384]], Zeami succeeded him, becoming the second head of the Kanze school. With the monetary wellbeing of the troupe now in his hands, Zeami took steps to adapt the style of his more provincial [[Yamato province|Yamato]]-based troupe, to better compete with those situated closer to the capital (Kyoto) and closer to Kyoto tastes. His own Yamato style, as passed down from his father, took the portrayal of women and of demons as its greatest strengths, for example, but these were precisely the things which were not much appreciated by more sophisticated Kyoto audiences. Zeami attempted to resolve this by adopting elements of the [[Omi province|Ômi]] troupes' aesthetic of ''[[yugen|yûgen]]'', not adopting it wholesale, but refashioning it so as to maintain Yamato traditions and styles of performance, while making Yamato performance more sophisticated and appealing to Kyoto audiences.<ref>Hare, 10.</ref>

Upon his father's death in [[1384]], Zeami succeeded him, becoming the second head of the Kanze school. With the monetary wellbeing of the troupe now in his hands, Zeami took steps to adapt the style of his more provincial [[Yamato province|Yamato]]-based troupe, to better compete with those situated closer to the capital (Kyoto) and closer to Kyoto tastes. His own Yamato style, as passed down from his father, took the portrayal of women and of demons, and the techniques of ''monomane'' (imitation) more generally, as its greatest strengths, for example, but these were precisely the things which were not much appreciated by more sophisticated Kyoto audiences. Zeami attempted to resolve this by adopting elements of the [[Omi province|Ômi]] troupes' emphasis on cultivating an aesthetic mood of ''[[yugen|yûgen]]'' (mysterious beauty), not adopting it wholesale, but refashioning it so as to maintain Yamato traditions and styles of performance, while making Yamato performance more sophisticated and appealing to Kyoto audiences.<ref>Hare, 10., Quinn, 49.</ref>

Zeami began writing the earliest and today most famous of his treatises, the ''[[Fushikaden|Fûshikaden]]'' ("Transmission of the Flower, Forms, and Style"), in [[1400]]; much was completed within the following two years, but the latest portions of the text are dated [[1418]]. In [[1401]], he took on the [[art-name]] (''gô'') Zeami.

Zeami began writing the earliest and today most famous of his treatises, the ''[[Fushikaden|Fûshikaden]]'' ("Transmission of the Flower, Forms, and Style"), in [[1400]]; much was completed within the following two years, but the latest portions of the text are dated [[1418]]. In [[1401]], he took on the [[art-name]] (''gô'') Zeami.