From ancient times, theater and religion have had a close, often symbiotic, relationship in East Asia. Theatrical performance is an integral part of certain animistic, Confucian, and Buddhist rites in China, Korea, and Japan. Priests have been performers, and even today temples and shrines provide places for performance. Play cycles based on religious myth and legend are numerous. Aesthetic systems reflect religious worldviews. Although drama is increasingly secularized in the contemporary world, religious values and beliefs continue to be projected to audiences through masked plays (sandae in Korea, satokagura and nō in Japan), popular dramas (kabuki in Japan and jingxi and other forms of Chinese opera), and puppet plays (gogdu gagsi in Korea and bunraku in Japan).

Shamanism and Animism

Since prehistoric times people in northeast Asia have communicated with animistic spirits for the benefit of the living through songs...