Chinese Nuo Opera and Japanese Noh Opera have deep cultural and artistic connections, and each has its own unique aesthetic style. Originating in the Shang Dynasty, Nuo was gradually refined during the Zhou, Han, Tang, and Song dynasties. It was later introduced to Japan via ancient Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges and integrated with local traditions to give birth to Noh Opera. The two art forms share similarities in mask usage and stage characteristics. Comparatively speaking, Nuo Opera builds an aesthetic space for scene blending with “artistic conception beauty” and reflects moderation and harmony under Confucianism with “neutral beauty”. Noh Opera guides the audience to understand the deep spirit with “mysterious beauty” and conveys the mournful understanding of the impermanence of things with “mourning aesthetics”. Both follow the principle of “replacing complexity with simplicity”, Nuo Opera condenses ritual movements as a program, and Noh Opera uses subtle body language to convey emotions, both of which use art to convey spirituality, reflect the history of Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges, and highlight the essence of traditional East Asian drama “carrying the way with beauty”.
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Sun, S. (2025) A Comparative Study of the Aesthetic Characteristics of Chinese Nuo Opera and Japanese Noh Opera. Journal of Social Development and History, 1(1), 65-77.