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Japanese Buddhist Chanting (Shomyo) and Court Dance
Chanters from the Shingon Sect, Chisan Branch and the Tendai Sect
Tokyo Gakuso Ensemble (Gagaku music with Bugaku Dance)
Directed by Professor Toshiro Kido
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Sunday 4 December, 3pm
Logan Hall, Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL
Tickets: £10 (£5 concessions)
Booking: e-mail centres@soas.ac.uk Tel: 020 7898 4892
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A rare occasion to see monks from two major schools of Japanese Buddhism, Shingon and Tendai, joining voices to sing highly stylised, meditative shomyo chants. In this ritual performance, known as bugaku-hoe , they are accompanied by the gagaku musicians of the Tokyo Gakuso Ensemble. Directed by Professor Toshiro Kido.
Shomyo is melodic chanting used in Japan to recite Buddhist scriptures. It is often likened to Gregorian chanting. In the Nara period (710-784) grand-style performances became popular during the religious rituals of the imperial family and the aristocracy. On these occasions monks were joined by court musicians and dancers. Musical instruments were brought from Central Asia to Japan in the 8th century, via the Silk Road, and were used for a type of court music called gagaku. It was often played to accompany a highly stylised dance called bugaku. The tradition of performing Buddhist chanting on a stage whilst simultaneously dancing and playing is thus more than a thousand years old. Indeed, in old shomyo music scores there are often notes for chanting together with gagaku instruments. There is also evidence of a 7th century Imperial order that required Buddhist chanting and music, both transmitted via the Silk Road, to be performed together in order to give the rituals a more sublime nuance. This tradition was kept alive throughout the pre-modern period.
In this bugaku-hoe (liturgical ceremony) two mandalas, sacred diagrams that embody the reality of esoteric Buddhism, are placed on the stage for a rite called mandala shomyo. The womb mandala (taizokai) represents compassion, and the diamond mandala (kongokai) knowledge; they are used together to signify non-duality. The chanting performed by the monks seated on the left, which is associated with the eastern direction and the sun, is Tendai shomyo, and the monks on the right, which is associated with the western direction and the moon, chant Shingon shomyo. The bugaku dancers will perform two different pieces, one called ryo-o, in praise of the taizokai mandala, and the other called nasori, in praise of the kongokai mandala.
The event is part of the Creative Tradition 2005 EU-Japan Tour event, which includes an exhibition of digitalised Buddhist paintings at Brunei Gallery, SOAS, 2-5 December.
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Organised by Studio Nohara Co. Ltd, supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan and the Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions, SOAS.
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