Event

Fabio Rambelli
University of California, Santa Barbara

This paper is part of my new and ongoing research project, a cultural history of a peculiar Japanese musical instrument, the shō 笙. After a brief description of the instrument and its repertory, I will focus on a unique document, the Taigenshō 體源鈔 (1511, with later additions), one of the most influential music encyclopedias of premodern Japan, written by court musician Toyohara Muneaki 豊原統秋 (1450-1524). This text provides us with a number of important clues to reconstruct the universe of meaning of medieval court musicians and intellectuals, and at the same time offers a view into the world of medieval music and its relations with religion. Next, I will discuss some concepts from the medieval Japanese metaphysics of music, as based on Taigenshō. Finally, I will highlight a number of blind spots that affect the study of Japanese religious culture, especially but not limited to the premodern period: the systematic and consistent erasure of music from studies of Japanese religion and culture; the role of music at the imperial court and the shogunal bakufu; and the role of music in religious rituals.