Taema
Summary
A Buddhist priest and his accompanying priests (waki and waki-tsure), who have been on pilgrimage to Kumano, stop at Taema Temple (Taema-dera) in Nara on their way back to Kyoto. Wishing to learn the temple’s history, the priest waits to see if someone might tell him about it. An elderly nun (mae-shite) and a young woman (tsure) then appear, praising the wondrous grace of Amida Buddha.
When questioned by the priest, the nuns tell him about the temple and the Taema Mandala, woven from lotus threads.
“Long ago, there lived a noble woman named Lady Chūjō (Chūjō Hime). She secluded herself on Mt. Nijō, where Taema-dera stands, and devoted herself single-mindedly to reciting the sutras. One night, in response to the princess’s deep faith, Amida Buddha appeared in the form of an elderly nun and wove a mandala for her from lotus threads. This is the Taema Mandala that has been handed down to the present day.”
Having told this story, the nun reveals, “I am the very nun who gave the mandala to the lady.” She then ascends Mt. Nijō on a purple cloud and disappears.
A man who lives near the gate of Taema-dera (ai) appears before the priest and tells him more about Taema-dera and Chūjō Hime. That night, the lady herself (nochi-shite) appears in the priests’ dream. In life, the lady had placed profound faith in Amida Buddha; through the merit of that devotion, after death she attained enlightenment and entered the company of the buddhas. Now, in her enlightened form, she expounds the precious teachings of Amida.
When the lady performs a dance for the priest, the light of Amida Buddha shines brightly over the surroundings. The priests watch her dance as if in a dream, until at last dawn breaks and they awaken.
Highlights
The protagonist of this noh play, Chūjō Hime, is a legendary figure. She is said to have been the daughter of Fujiwara no Toyonari, Minister of the Right in the Nara period, also known as Yokohagi no Udaijin. After the lady’s mother died young, her father took a new wife. This stepmother cruelly mistreated the girl and eventually drove her from the house. Fortunately, Chūjō Hime was sheltered by kind people, reunited with her father, and safely returned home.
Deeply devout from childhood, the lady later wove a mandala at Taema-dera. She died while still young and was welcomed into the Buddhist realm. The first half of this legend, up to her reunion with her father, is depicted in the noh play Hibariyama, while Taema draws on the latter half: the episode of the mandala.
The Taema Mandala that appears in Taema is a visual representation of the Pure Land, the Buddhist realm described in the sutras, arranged in a form that is easy to grasp with the eye. Although the actual mandala does not appear to have been woven from lotus threads, it has been designated a National Treasure and is still carefully preserved at Taema-dera as an object of worship.
In the second half of Taema, Chūjō Hime appears carrying a sutra scroll: a transmitted copy of the Shōsan Jōdo Kyō, or Sutra in Praise of the Pure Land. This symbolically expresses her transformation into a bodhisattva through the power of faith. The lady raises the scroll, presents it to the priest, and then performs a haya-mai, a swift dance, praying that the precious teachings of Amida Buddha may save people from suffering.
Through Chūjō Hime’s pure and graceful dance, this play invites us to experience a world of gentle and beautiful prayer.