Hannya

The hannya (般若) is a mask used in a traditional Japanese Noh theater, representing a jealous female demon. It is characterized by two sharp bull-like horns, metallic eyes, and a leering mouth. In Noh plays, the type of mask changes according to the degree of jealousy, resentment, and anger of the female characters. The hannya is a mask that represents a female onryō (怨霊, vengeful spirit) even more resentful, jealous, and angry than the namanari (生成), a woman on the verge of becoming a demoness.
The hannya is also called chūnari (中成). The shinjya (真蛇), also called honnari (本成), is a mask that represents the appearance of a female onryō (vengeful spirit) that is even more intense than the hannya. These masks, which represent the jealousy, resentment, and anger of female demons, are classified as jya (蛇, snake) masks.
It is said that there are now more than 250 types of Noh masks, but the oldest historical record of Noh masks, Sarugaku dangi [ja], mentions only about 14 types of masks, and the name hannya is not found among them. However, the Sarugaku dangi records a performance of the Noh play Aoi no Ue, and it is possible that snake-like demoness masks such as hannya were used.
The differentiation of mask types seems to have progressed in the 16th century, and the name hannya appears in the works of Shimoma Nakataka, a monk, samurai and Noh actor active from the 1580s to the 1610s.
The word hannya (般若) is a Japanese phonetic transcription of the Sanskrit word prajñā (प्रज्ञा), meaning 'wisdom'. There are several hypotheses as to why the mask used in Noh, which represents a vengeful spirit expressing female jealousy and resentment, was named hannya. According to the first hypothesis, the mask was named hannya because it is said to have been perfected by Hannya-bō (般若坊), a Japanese monk of the Bunmei era (1469–1487). The second hypothesis is that it was named after the line Ara osoroshi ya, hannya goe ya (あら恐ろしや般若声や, 'What a horrible voice reciting the Heart Sutra') in the Noh play Aoi no Ue. The hannya-goe in this line refers to the voice reciting the Heart Sutra, which repels evil spirits. An alternative explanation is that the artist would need a great deal of wisdom (hannya) in order to create this mask.
The hannya mask is used in many Noh and kyōgen plays, as well as in Shinto ritual kagura dances. The hannya mask portrays the souls of women who have become demons due to obsession or jealousy, similar to the Buddhist concept of a hungry ghost. Plays in which a person may wear the hannya mask include Aoi no Ue and Dōjōji; its use in these two plays, two of the most famous of the Noh repertoire, and its distinctive and frightening appearance make it one of the most recognizable Noh masks.
The hannya mask is said to be demonic and dangerous but also sorrowful and tormented, displaying the complexity of human emotions. When the actor looks straight ahead, the mask appears frightening and angry; when tilted slightly down, the face of the demon appears to be sorrowful, as though crying. The ability to change the expression of the mask through use of perspective is a feature commonly seen in Noh theatre.
Hannya masks appear in various skin tones: a white mask indicates a woman with a refined character (such as the aristocratic Lady Rokujō in Aoi no Ue), a red mask depicts a less refined character (like the spirit of peasant girl seen in Dōjōji), and the darkest red depicts true demons (revealed after appearing as women, as in Momijigari and Kurozuka).
In Noh plays, the type of mask changes according to the degree of jealousy, resentment, and anger of the female characters.
The deigan (泥眼) and hashihime (橋姫) masks described below are each classified as a separate mask type, while the namanari (生成), hannya (般若), jya (蛇), and shinjya (真蛇) masks are classified as jya (蛇, snake) masks. The adachi onna (安達女) mask type is a type of hannya mask and is used exclusively in the Adachigahara (安達ヶ原) performance.
The deigan (泥眼) mask is a mask that represents the first stage of a woman's transformation into a demoness as her emotions begin to rise. The gold-painted eyes and tooth tips on the masks indicate that the women have already begun the transformation from human to onryō (怨霊, vengeful spirit) or ikiryō (生霊, disembodied spirit). It is used in the Noh plays Kanawa and Aoi no Ue. The deigan mask is also used as a mask that is not associated with a woman's resentment, jealousy, or anger, but simply represents that she has gone from human to supernatural beings. For example, in the Ama (海士) and Taema (当麻) performances, the mask is used to represent a woman who has become a dragoness or a bodhisattva.
The hashihime (橋姫) mask is painted red from the eyes down, and has more disheveled hair and more prominent golden eyes than the deigan mask. These features of the mask indicate that the woman has a strong desire for revenge. It is used in the Noh plays Kanawa and Hashihime.
The namanari (生成) mask represents a woman in the process of becoming a demoness, with short horns sprouting from both sides of her forehead. Compared to the hannya, the namanari mask represents the psychological state of a woman who is still emotionally attached to her husband. Namanari is used exclusively as a mask for the Noh play Kanawa.
The mask that represents a woman who has become a demoness is hannya, and hannya is also called chūnari or nakanari (中成) in contrast to namanari.
The mask that represents a demoness who becomes even more furious and looks like a snake is a jya (蛇), meaning 'snake', and the one that is even more furious is shinjya (真蛇), meaning 'true snake'. These masks are sometimes called honnari (本成) in contrast to namanari and chūnari. The masks of jya and shinjya have tongues peeking out of their mouths, and some masks have no ears, making them look more like snakes than humans. In Buddhism, a person who hindered enlightenment was sometimes likened to a poisonous snake. While women, unlike men, were regarded as beings incapable of attaining enlightenment, they were often likened to demoness or poisonous or evil snakes, and when their desires were not satisfied, they were believed to kill people in order to take revenge. In some schools, jya or shinjya is used as an alternative mask to hannya in Dōjōji.
Hannya also appears in Bunraku, a puppet theater that began in the Edo period. The Japan Arts Council (ja) lists 129 types of puppet heads, and hannya is one of them. A puppet head of the gabu type can also represent hannya. The gabu is equipped with a device that allows the puppet to change its facial expression instantly by pulling a string. In this way, a single head can represent the transformation of a beautiful woman into hannya. When the puppeteer pulls the string attached to the gabu, the puppet with the face of a beautiful woman is transformed into a terrifying hannya with golden horns, large golden eyes, a mouth that reaches to the ears, and fangs.