(4) It was doubted whether in the fourteenth century Sarugaku had already become a serious dramatic performance. We now know that it then differed little (and in respect of seriousness not at all) from Nō as it exists to-day.
(5) It was supposed that the Chorus existed from the beginning. We now learn from Seami that it was a novelty in 1430. Its absence must have been the chief feature which distinguished the Sarugaku of the fourteenth century from the Nō of to-day.
(6) Numerous passages prove that Nō at its zenith was not an exclusively aristocratic art. The audiences were very varied.
(7) Seami gives details about the musical side of the plays as performed in the fourteenth century. These passages, as is confessed even by the great Nō-scholar, Suzuki Chōkō, could be discussed only by one trained in Nō-music.
FOOTNOTES
[1] For example in yuku kata shira-yuki ni ... shira does duty twice, meaning both “unknown” and “white.” The meaning is “whither-unknown amid the white snow.”
[2] These dates have only recently been established.
[4] Not to be confused with the forged book printed in 1600 and used by Fenollosa.