Konju　胡飲酒

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

Lit. Barbarian drunkard. Also Suikoraku 酔胡楽 or En'onraku 宴飲楽. A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 and the mask of a bleary-eyed drunkard worn in the performance. Classification (for terms see bugaku): A dynamic dance hashirimai 走舞 of the Left sa-no-mai 左舞 introduced from China tougaku 唐楽 and performed by a single man using sweeping gestures. He dresses in a fringed tunic and pantaloons ryoutou shouzoku 裲襠装束 and carries a short stick with a rounded ball at the end. Although the dance was probably composed in China, an alternative story attributes the composition to 9c members of the Imperial troupe. As the name suggests, the dance represents drunkenness and is thus related to the bugaku dance *Kotokuraku 胡徳楽 and the *gigaku 伎楽 performance *Suiko 酔胡 (popular in 7-8c.). Tradition has it that the dancer drinks a cup of sake 酒 before mounting the stage and that he staggers off through the wrong exit. The tight mouthed, round-eyed mask housed at Tamukeyama Jinja 手向山神社 in Nara is the only example and dates from the Kamakura period (13c). Despite the intensity of the sharply rising eyebrows, broad forehead and large triangular nose, this Konju mask has a softened fuzziness around the eyes suggesting inebriation. Tufts of what were once long strands of hair falling about the face remain and indicate the hair had a broad central parting. This hairstyle constitutes the most characteristic point of difference between this mask and another, similar bugaku mask *Batou 抜頭.

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