Il dramma della gemma che non c'è. Citazioni dal no e relazioni tra Cina e Giappone nel joruri Taishokan (1711) di Cikamatsu Monzaemon

The importance of Nō culture in the Tokugawa period, particularly flourishing in the Kamigata area at the pinnacle of the Genroku era, is a theme which has not often been sufficiently emphasized. As testified for example in Saikaku's fiction or Bashō's haikai poetry, quotations from the yōkyoku texts and Nō drama scenes are numerous. These appear to be a fundamental source and matter of inspiration and reference to create a new literary work. Chikamatsu's jidaijōruri also abound in various allusions to Nō plays and this proves that knowledge of yōkyoku played a prominent role in education and culture, not only of the dramatist himself, but of his audience, required to recognize echoes of familiar chanting and renowned passages of yōkyoku in the narration of puppet drama. On the ground of a survey concerning Chikamatsu’s jidai jōruri dealing with “other” worlds (China, India, other foreign countries, fantastic worlds etc.), this paper tries to reconstruct the cultural background which made possible complexities of allusions to Nō plays (Ama and other) and their appreciation in Chikamatsu Taishokan (1711), and the relationships between China and Japan in this puppet drama.