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Height, 14.8cm., width, 15cm.; manuscript copy; one book; square format; retchou binding (sealed at the back); gold leaf paper cover, frontispiece of the same paper; thin high-quality hishi paper blended with choshi,; ink on ninety-three pages; no outer title; inner title reads "Fuushikaden."
Zeami's first theoretical work on noh performance. The work begins with three sections devoted to the ages appropriate for training, dramatic imitation, and question and answers on important points in performance, to which a fourth section on the sacred origins of noh, containing an account of the origins of sarugaku, has been added. A fifth section on the deepest secrets, ougi, added to conclude the manuscript.
As it contains the fifth section, the Houzanji text is the best manuscript from the late-Muromachi period. The phonetic script, furigana, accompanying the text appears to be in the same hand as that responsible for the main text. |
