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Accounting, Finance, Sustainability, Governance & Fraud:
Theory and Application

Sandro Brunelli
Emiliano Di Carlo Editors

Accountability,
Ethics and
Sustainability
of Organizations
New Theories, Strategies and Tools
for Survival and Growth
Accounting, Finance, Sustainability, Governance
& Fraud: Theory and Application

Series Editor
Kıymet Tunca Çalıyurt, Iktisadi ve Idari Bilimler Fakultes, Trakya University
Balkan Yerleskesi, Edirne, Turkey
This series acts as a forum for book publications on current research arising from
debates about key topics that have emerged from global economic crises during the
past several years. The importance of governance and the will to deal with corrup-
tion, fraud, and bad practice, are themes featured in volumes published in the series.
These topics are not only of concern to businesses and their investors, but also to
governments and supranational organizations, such as the United Nations and the
European Union. Accounting, Finance, Sustainability, Governance & Fraud: Theory
and Application takes on a distinctive perspective to explore crucial issues that
currently have little or no coverage. Thus the series integrates both theoretical
developments and practical experiences to feature themes that are topical, or are
deemed to become topical within a short time. The series welcomes interdisciplinary
research covering the topics of accounting, auditing, governance, and fraud.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13615

Sandro Brunelli • Emiliano Di Carlo
Editors

Accountability, Ethics
and Sustainability
of Organizations
New Theories, Strategies and Tools
for Survival and Growth
Editors
Sandro Brunelli Emiliano Di Carlo
Department of Management and Law Department of Management and Law
University of Rome Tor Vergata University of Rome Tor Vergata
Rome, Italy Rome, Italy

ISSN 2509-7873 ISSN 2509-7881 (electronic)

Accounting, Finance, Sustainability, Governance & Fraud: Theory and Application
ISBN 978-3-030-31192-6 ISBN 978-3-030-31193-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31193-3

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the
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Preface

The aftermath of financial scandals has fostered the consciousness that the share-
holders’ profit maximization, especially in the short term, does not improve the
wellness for either firms or society. Such an issue, on the one hand, questions the role
of the firms in the economy and, on the other hand, queries the validity of capitalism
as the best model to foster economic growth. The well-known belief “too big to fail”
has been jeopardized by facts. This determined significant damages in terms of jobs
losses, fewer tax collections, considerable drops in money savings and so on.
In this scenario, scientific community has to move on from the traditional scope
of business activity represented by the profit towards a broader purpose, which
embraces the well-being of society as a whole. As a consequence, academics and
social scientists are looking for other theories or have endeavoured other existing
theories, such as the stakeholder theory.
Analysing the various theories about corporate social responsibility, in the liter-
ature four main dimensions related to the ultimate aim of companies were identified:
(1) pursuing objectives to get profit in the long term, (2) using the power of business
in a responsible manner, (3) taking into account claims from all stakeholders and
(4) fostering ethical corrected behaviours. In our opinion, merging these dimensions,
future research should strive to outline a new theory, which allows us to overcome
the limits of the existing ones. However, it requires a profound knowledge of reality
and a strong ethics basis.
In other words, scholars should devise new theories and/or models aimed at
capturing and summarizing the aforementioned dimensions, debarring all of the
aspects that are not oriented to the common good. Delving more into the issue, it
is easy to note that each group of stakeholders has interests only in some dimensions
over another. Hence, a critical point to begin with is considering the firm itself as an
entity, distinguished from all the other stakeholders, with its proper aim. Once this
concept is grasped, the ultimate goal of whatever type of organization should be to
recognize the ability to actively—and positively—contribute to the common good.
On the same wavelength, in 2015, United Nations defined 17 Sustainable Devel-
opment Goals (SDGs) aimed to achieve the development of countries consistent with

v
vi Preface

the common good. To that end, efforts should deal with the improvement of health
and education, reduction of inequality and defence of the environment. Therefore,
the objectives of both organizations (profit and non-profit) and individuals should be
aligned in order to face challenges included in each SDG.
In accordance with this preamble, the book is organized into three parts.
The first part—Organizations Towards 2030: the Primary Interest of the Eco-
nomic Entity—treats the reasons behind and the scope of the firm in the contempo-
rary era. Hence, in Part I the concept of “primary interest of the firm” is explored in
depth. It addresses the conditions that guarantee the survival and growth of firms as
well as the achievement of the common good for the various stakeholders and
society as a whole. Within this perspective, the mission statement of organizations
was queried in order to highlight its importance over time. Besides, other critical
issues, which scholars active in the field of business administration have to disen-
tangle in the next years, were proposed in the first part. In particular, it has shed light
on some issues (i.e. economic democracy, fair wages and logical tax schemes) that
so far were analysed mainly from a macroeconomic standpoint. Approaches and
tools, such as integrated thinking and reporting, may support accountants to over-
come the sole financial disclosure. It is fundamental, indeed, embracing both finan-
cial and non-financial measures for adequately informing about how an organization
is performing and how it will perform in the future.
The second part—Financial and Non-Financial Reporting and Sustainability:
Challenges and Changes—is devoted to exploring the newness in the area of
non-financial reporting and auditing according to recent changes in legislation at
European and single country levels. First of all, a descriptive and analytical review of
how the Directive 2014/95/EU has been transposed in most important European
countries is provided. Then, the debate moves on with an empirical investigation
aimed at assessing how firms are coping with climate change issues in their
non-financial reporting disclosure. The focus of the analysis was on Italy and France.
Lastly, consistently with the effects engendered by the mentioned Directive and in
line with the demand for higher accountability, a narrative literature review around
the role of auditors to assure sustainability in financial reporting and, indeed, the
continuity of the firms is carried out, highlighting the importance of the social audit.
The third part—The Relevance of Public Sector: New Pathways for Sustainable
Accounting, Accountability and Performance—shifted the analysis on the public
sector. Firstly, the theme of healthcare sustainability was addressed. Developing
sustainable practices within health systems is fundamental not only to guarantee the
right to care but also to enhance the growth of a country. Moreover, the demographic
dynamics in developed countries ask for urgent actions from healthcare organiza-
tions not only in terms of macro policies but also at the single organization level. In
this sense, the role of accountants and managers can no longer be neglected. Within
this complex mosaic, therefore, management accounting tools could represent the
common language to orient health management towards a higher sustainable value
for the patient. As accounting scholars we should help politicians and economists in
the allocating process of public resources into the public subsectors of every single
country. Accordingly, focusing on the European context, harmonization of public
Preface vii

accounts both at European level and at a national level represents a never-ending

debate. Hence, it deserves a specific analysis in order to disentangle the pros and
cons of accounting principles. This matter is paramount in order to foster a fair
economic policy within the European Union and to operate in the lens of SDGs.
Taking into account the relevance of the environmental dimension in the public
sector, the last chapter deals with the map of leading practices and their environ-
mental impact. Hence, a study about the state of the art of the Green Public
Procurement in the light of the newest tendencies promoted by the United Nations
in the Agenda 2030 is proposed.

Rome, Italy Sandro Brunelli

Emiliano Di Carlo
Acknowledgements

The editors are grateful to the University of Rome Tor Vergata, which has provided
funds useful for making all researches outlined in the book. This book is one of the
results of the project “Fostering the debate between continuity, ethics and overall
sustainability of the firm: Building a new theory for the survivor and growth of the
firms”, grant code “SustGc17”, which sees Prof. Sandro Brunelli as principal
investigator. All information about the public competition and resource granted is
available at: https://web.uniroma2.it/module/name/Content/action/showpage/con
tent_id/22793
Chapter 1
Chapter 1 “The Real Entity Theory and the Primary Interest of the Firm:
Equilibrium Theory, Stakeholder Theory and Common Good Theory”
should be entirely attributed to Emiliano Di Carlo.
Chapter 2
The sections included in Chap. 2 “The Incentives of a Common Good Based
CSR for SDG’s Achievement: the Importance of Mission Statement” should
be attributed to Emiliano Di Carlo (2.1, 2.2 and 2.3) and Cristina Quaranta (2.4,
2.5 and related subparagraphs, 2.6, 2.7 and 2.8).
Chapter 3
The sections included in Chap. 3 “SDGs Achievement: Commitment, Chan-
nels of Action and the Role of Integrated Reporting in the Disclosure
Mechanisms” should be attributed to Sandro Brunelli (3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and related
subparagraphs) and Francesco Ranalli (3.4).
Chapter 4
The sections included in Chap. 4 “Harmonization of Non-Financial
Reporting Regulation in Europe: a Study of the Transposition of the Direc-
tive 2014/95/EU” should be attributed to Silvia Testarmata (4.2, 4.4, 4.4.6 and
4.5), Mirella Ciaburri (4.3 and related subparagraphs), Silvia Sergiacomi (4.4.1,
4.4.2, 4.4.3, 4.4.4 and 4.4.5) and Fabio Fortuna and Silvia Testarmata (4.1).

ix
x Acknowledgements

Chapter 5
The sections included in Chap. 5 “Corporations’ Eco-Consciousness in the
New Deal of Non-Financial Information Disclosure System: Preliminary
Evidence from Italian and French Practices” should be attributed to Sandro
Brunelli (5.1, 5.3, 5.5 and 5.6) and Pascale Delvaille (5.2 and 5.4).
Chapter 6
Chapter 6 “The Role of Auditors to Improve Sustainability in Financial
Reporting” should be entirely attributed to Chiara Carlino.
Chapter 7
The sections included in Chap. 7 “Value-Based Healthcare Paradigm for
Healthcare Sustainability” should be attributed to Camilla Falivena (7.1, 7.2,
7.3, 7.5 and 7.6) and Gabriele Palozzi (7.4).
Chapter 8
Chapter 8 “Public Sector Accounting and the Sustainability of Public
Finance among Accounting Bases, Harmonization and Flexibility Concerns”
should be entirely attributed to Alessandro Giosi.
Chapter 9
The sections included in Chap. 9 “The State of the Art of Green Public
Procurement in Europe: Documental Analysis of European Practices”
should be attributed to Irene Litardi (9.3 and 9.4), Daniele Alimonti (9.1 and
9.2) and Irene Litardi and Gloria Fiorani (9.5).
Contents

Part I Organizations Towards 2030: The Primary Interest of the

Economic Entity
1 The Real Entity Theory and the Primary Interest of the Firm:
Equilibrium Theory, Stakeholder Theory and Common
Good Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Emiliano Di Carlo
2 The Incentives of a Common Good-Based CSR for SDG’s
Achievement: The Importance of Mission Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Cristina Quaranta and Emiliano Di Carlo
3 SDGs Achievement: Commitment, Channels of Action and the Role
of Integrated Reporting in the Disclosure Mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Sandro Brunelli and Francesco Ranalli

Part II Financial Reporting, Non-financial Reporting and

Sustainability: Challenges and Changes
4 Harmonization of Non-financial Reporting Regulation in Europe:
A Study of the Transposition of the Directive 2014/95/EU . . . . . . . . . 67
Silvia Testarmata, Mirella Ciaburri, Fabio Fortuna,
and Silvia Sergiacomi
5 Corporations’ Eco-Consciousness in the New Deal of Non-financial
Information Disclosure System: Preliminary Evidence from Italian
and French Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Sandro Brunelli and Pascale Delvaille
6 The Role of Auditors to Improve Sustainability in Financial
Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Chiara Carlino

xi
xii Contents

Part III The Relevance of Public Sector: New Pathways for Sustainable
Accounting, Accountability and Performance
7 Value-Based Healthcare Paradigm for Healthcare Sustainability . . . 133
Camilla Falivena and Gabriele Palozzi
8 Public Sector Accounting and the Sustainability of Public
Finance Among Accounting Bases, Harmonization, and Flexibility
Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Alessandro Giosi
9 The State of the Art of Green Public Procurement in Europe:
Documental Analysis of European Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Irene Litardi, Gloria Fiorani, and Daniele Alimonti
Contributors

Daniele Alimonti Institute of Political Economy and Governance, Barcelona,

Spain
Sandro Brunelli Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor
Vergata, Rome, Italy
Chiara Carlino Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor
Vergata, Rome, Italy
Mirella Ciaburri Department of Economics, Niccolò Cusano University, Rome,
Italy
Pascale Delvaille Department of Financial Reporting and Audit, ESCP Business
School, Paris, France
Emiliano Di Carlo Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor
Vergata, Rome, Italy
Camilla Falivena Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor
Vergata, Rome, Italy
Gloria Fiorani Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor
Vergata, Rome, Italy
Fabio Fortuna Department of Economics, Niccolò Cusano University, Rome, Italy
Alessandro Giosi Department of Human Science, LUMSA University, Rome, Italy
Irene Litardi Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor
Vergata, Rome, Italy
Gabriele Palozzi Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor
Vergata, Rome, Italy

xiii
xiv Contributors

Cristina Quaranta Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor

Vergata, Rome, Italy
Francesco Ranalli Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor
Vergata, Rome, Italy
Silvia Sergiacomi Department of Economics, Niccolò Cusano University, Rome,
Italy
Silvia Testarmata Department of Economics, Niccolò Cusano University, Rome,
Italy
About the Editors

Sandro Brunelli is aggregate professor of financial reporting, qualified for associ-

ate professorship in accounting, at the University of Rome Tor Vergata—Depart-
ment of Management and Law. He got a PhD in public management and governance
from the University of Rome Tor Vergata. He is Member of the Teaching Board of
the PhD in Business Administration, University of Rome Tor Vergata. His research
interests lie in accounting, auditing and accountability for both the private and public
sectors. In recent years, he focused research efforts on A4S deepening aspects such
as accounting and accountability for climate changes as well as the adoption of
sustainable procurement practices in healthcare organizations. He teaches financial
analysis, financial accounting and financial reporting at undergraduate, graduate and
postgraduate levels. Moreover, he has been visiting professor of accounting at the
Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP Europe Business School). He
published numerous articles on leading academic journals as well as several books
with leading publishers. He is currently member of the Centre for Social and
Environmental Accounting Research promoted by the University of St. Andrews
(Scotland).

Emiliano Di Carlo is associate professor in Business Administration at the Uni-

versity of Rome Tor Vergata—Department of Management and Law. He got a PhD
in banking and finance from the University of Rome Tor Vergata. He is Member of
the Teaching Board of the PhD in Business Administration, University of Rome Tor
Vergata. His research interests lie in finance and governance of business groups,
business strategy, accounting and financial management, international accounting
standards, corporate governance, conflict of interests, corruption, business ethics and
corporate social responsibility. He teaches economics of business groups, gover-
nance and ethics and the fundamentals of business at undergraduate, graduate and
postgraduate levels. Moreover, he teaches social responsibility and reputation at

xv
xvi About the Editors

LUMSA University of Rome. He is the executive Vice-director of the Master in

Anticorruption at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. He published numerous
articles in leading academic journals as well as several books with leading
publishers.
List of Figures

Fig. 3.1 SDGs achievement: commitment, channels of action and

disclosure. Authors’ elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Fig. 3.2 SDGs achievement: A focus on sustainable business models via
strategic alliances. Authors’ elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Fig. 3.3 SDGs achievement: A focus on A4S. Authors’ elaboration . . . . . . . . 54
Fig. 7.1 Outcome–cost ratio. Authors’ elaboration inspired by Kaplan and
Witkowski (2014) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Fig. 7.2 The outcome hierarchy. Authors’ elaboration inspired by Porter
and Teisberg (2006) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Fig. 7.3 Time-Driven ABC development steps. Source: Authors’
elaboration inspired by Keel et al. (2017) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Fig. 7.4 The value matrix. Source: Authors’ elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Fig. 7.5 The leverage of economic productivity. Source: Authors’
elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Fig. 7.6 Value-based healthcare towards sustainable development goals.
Source: Authors’ elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Fig. 8.1 The migration from pure cash basis to full accrual accounting.
Source: Author’s elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Fig. 8.2 Information needs and complexity: An interpretive approach.
Source: Author’s elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Fig. 8.3 Trade-off between harmonization and flexibility. Source: Author’
elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Fig. 9.1 Year of implementation. Source: Authors’ elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Fig. 9.2 Administrative level of the case studies. Source: Authors’
elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Fig. 9.3 The economic impact in the cases examined. Source: Authors’
elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Fig. 9.4 The environmental impact in the cases examined. Source: Authors’
elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Fig. 9.5 Type procedures used. Source: Authors’ elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
xvii
List of Tables

Table 1.1 Theoretical framework of the primary interest of the firm . . . . . . . . 6

Table 2.1 Managers’ contribution to business value creation according to
CSR orientation . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . 29
Table 2.2 Common good: Conditions and definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Table 4.1 The transposition of the NFI Directive into national laws of the
selected member states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Table 4.2 The transposition of the NFI directive—company scope . . . . . . . . . 82
Table 4.3 The transposition of the NFI directive—reporting format . . . . . . . . 82
Table 4.4 The transposition of the NFI directive—reporting framework . . . 82
Table 4.5 The transposition of the NFI directive—reporting principles . . . . . 83
Table 4.6 The transposition of the NFI directive—reporting topics and
content . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . 84
Table 4.7 The transposition of the NFI directive—verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Table 4.8 The transposition of the NFI directive—implications of
non-compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Table 5.1 The system of exemptions under the Directive 2013/34/EU . . . . . . 91
Table 5.2 The principle-based nature of the guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Table 5.3 Domestic companies capitalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Table 5.4 Main data of firms selected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Table 5.5 Unweighted climate-related disclosure index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Table 5.6 Companies’ unweighted climate disclosure index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Table 7.1 Most adopted economic evaluation approaches . . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . 143
Table 8.1 Summary of findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Table 9.1 Relevant policies on Green Public Procurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Table 9.2 Relevant policies on Green Public Procurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Table 9.3 Geographic origin of the cases analyzed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Table 9.4 Connection between SDGs, targets, and the results of the
documental analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

xix
 Part I
Organizations Towards 2030: The Primary
Interest of the Economic Entity
Chapter 1
The Real Entity Theory and the Primary
Interest of the Firm: Equilibrium Theory,
Stakeholder Theory and Common Good
Theory

Emiliano Di Carlo

Abstract According to the entity theory, the firm is a real person interested in
survival and growth quantitatively and qualitatively. However, the literature is
often vague and ambiguous for what concern the conditions to achieve for the
survival and growth, as well as the modalities through which find the right compro-
mise between continuity (or long-term profitability) and social function (or sociality)
of the firm. This chapter wants to contribute to the theories that consider the firm as a
real entity, proposing the concept of ‘primary interest of the firm’, which includes the
conditions that allow firms to survive and grow, as well as to serve the common good
of their stakeholders and society. The primary interest concept is multidimensional
and derives from the intersection of three theories: equilibrium theory, stakeholder
theory and common good theory.

Keywords Primary interest of the firm · Equilibrium theory · Stakeholder theory ·

Common good · Purpose of the firm

1.1 Introduction

During the last decades, the corporate failures (both financial and environmental) and
the global financial crisis, have fed the economic, political, social and academic debate
on what should be the objective of the firm (Asher et al. 2005; Blair 2002; Bower and
Paine 2017; Fontrodona and Sison 2006; Freeman et al. 2004; Hart and Zingales 2017;
Jensen 2001; Keay 2008; Sundaram and Inkpen 2004). Indeed, the choice may be
based on the effect of the purpose on the durability of the firm as well as on the
economic development, and thus on the social well-being. This consciousness has led

E. Di Carlo (*)
Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
e-mail: dicarloe@uniroma2.it

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 3

S. Brunelli, E. Di Carlo (eds.), Accountability, Ethics and Sustainability of
Organizations, Accounting, Finance, Sustainability, Governance & Fraud: Theory
and Application, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31193-3_1
4 E. Di Carlo

many scholars and practitioners to criticize the theories that have been used for several
years to understand and guide managerial behaviour (e.g. shareholder theory).
Recently (August 2019), in the USA nearly 200 chief executive officers belonging
to the Business Roundtable redefine the role of business in society, stating that the
interests of shareholders do not come before the interests of all other stakeholders.
Corporations should take into consideration, simultaneously, different groups of
stakeholders, as well as the society as a whole.
Using the entity theory approach, that considers the firm as a real person with its
own interest, this chapter wants to contribute to the debate on corporate finalism by
proposing a combination of arguments from the intersection among three theories:
equilibrium theory, stakeholder theory and common good theory. This intersection
gives the concept of ‘primary interest of the firm’, which includes the conditions that
allow firms to survive and grow, as well as to serve the common good of their
stakeholders and society. The equilibrium theory asks to achieve simultaneously, in
the short term and long term, the economic, financial and monetary equilibriums.
However, to be sustainable the firm should achieve the so-called equilibrium of
interests that derives from the intersection between stakeholder theory and common
good theory. The overall equilibrium needs to achieve simultaneously, in the short
and long period, four interdependent equilibriums: the economic, financial, mone-
tary and interest equilibriums.
According to the primary interest model the profit cannot be considered as the
purpose of the firm, instead it is a condition to survive and grow. In the long run,
good ethics is good business and vice versa, being ethics an aspect of the business.
The chapter consists of eight sections. In Sect. 1.2, the theoretical framework of the
primary interest is presented. Sections 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5 are dedicated to the description
of the three theories that comprise the primary interest model: equilibrium theory,
stakeholder theory and common good theory. Section 1.6 analyzes the intersections
among the three theories, while Sect. 1.7 focuses on the overall equilibrium of the firm
according to the primary interest model. Section 1.8 is dedicated to the conclusions.

1.2 Theoretical Foundation of the Primary Interest

of the Firm as a Real Entity

In literature, as well as in both the corporate governance code and code of ethics, the
terms ‘interest of the firm (or company)’, ‘interest of the company’, ‘best interest of the
firm’ and ‘self-interest of the firm’ are often used but rarely defined. Furthermore, even
when defined, scholars and practitioners give different contents and meanings to those
terms that may be grouped into three main categories depending on the theory used:
shareholder theory, stakeholder theory and entity theory. These theories find their basis
on the notion (or nature) of the firm (Chassagnon 2011).
While for shareholder and stakeholder theory the firm is an artificial person
(or legal fiction), a nexus of contracts (Coase 1937; Jensen and Meckling 1976),
1 The Real Entity Theory and the Primary Interest of the Firm:. . . 5

according to the entity theory the firm is a real person with its own interest (i.e. its
survival and growth), even though it needs the law to be conceived (Mark 1987).
Garriga and Melé (2004, pp. 65–66) point out that the theories on corporate social
responsibility are focused on four dimensions: (1) meeting objectives that produce
long-term profits; (2) using business power in a responsible way; (3) integrating
social demands and (4) contributing to a good society by doing what is ethically
correct. On the basis of this classification, the two scholars observe that ‘further
research could analyze these four dimensions and their connection in the most
relevant theories and consider their contributions and limitations. What seems
more challenging, however, is to develop a new theory, which would overcome
these limitations’ (Garriga and Melé 2004, p. 66).
We assume that the starting point of the new theory should be the assumption that
the firm is a separate real entity with its own interest and responsibilities to achieve
simultaneously all these dimensions. The governance body should exercise a mediat-
ing role among the different stakeholders’ interest with the final end to conduct the
firm toward its interest (i.e. the common good). Indeed, a theory that seeks to address
only the interest of a specific group of stakeholders (e.g. shareholders or employees) or
a stakeholder group (e.g. both shareholders and employees) can only partially succeed
in achieving all those ambitious goals, since any stakeholder (or stakeholder group) is
normally oriented only to one or some of these dimensions (e.g. shareholders to the
profitability of the firm, employees to the continuity of the firm regardless the effect on
society).
Our purpose derives from the intersection of three theories: (1) the theory of
equilibrium (from the Italian doctrine Economia Aziendale), (2) stakeholder theory
and (3) common good theory (from the Social Doctrine of the Church) (Table 1.1).
The intersection between stakeholder theory and common good theory was pro-
posed by Argandoña (1998) who says that the normative approach of the stakeholder
theory can find a theoretical foundation in the common good theory.
According to Argandoña the firm participates to the common good, ‘producing
useful goods and services, and producing them efficiently (so as to create wealth)
and sustainably, so as to guarantee the conditions in which each participant receives
from the company what he or she can reasonably expect’ (1998, p. 1097). However,
the author does not specify how to achieve the right compromise between continuity
and the social function of the firm. In order to fill that gap, we add the equilibrium
theory (Amaduzzi 1948) to the stakeholder theory and common good theory.
The intersection among these three theories includes the two elements of what we
call ‘primary interest of the firm’: (1) the scope of the economic activity (i.e. producing
useful goods and services to satisfy customers’ needs) and (2) a condition that allows
the firm to survive and grow (i.e. ensuring a sustainable value creation in the short,
medium and long term).
The three theories, individually, present all the advantages and limitations regard-
ing the conditions for the survival and growth of the firm, as analyzed in the
following sections. However, the limitations of one or more theories are compen-
sated by the advantages of the others. The intersection finds a simultaneous equilib-
rium among various dimensions of responsibilities of the firm.
6 E. Di Carlo

Table 1.1 Theoretical framework of the primary interest of the firm

Economic, financial and monetary equilibriums
Doing good because it is
Doing good because it is convenient.
convenient. Instrumental approach (to the
Instrumental approach of the Equilibrium theory business continuity) of the
theory of the common good, i.e. the (Economia Aziendale stakeholder theory, i.e. the
company is oriented towards the doctrine; Amaduzzi, 1948) company satisfies the interests of
common good to favour its survival the stakeholders in order to
and growth favour its survival and its growth

Cavalieri Primary Cavalieri

(2010) interest (2010)
of the firm
Produce useful goods
and services and create
Common Good sustainable value Stakeholder
Theory Theory
Reconciliation between (Social Doctrine Freeman (1984) Doing good because it is
Argandogña (1998)
instrumental and normative of the Church) ethically right. Normative
approach. In the long term, (or ethical) approach to
safeguarding the survival and stakeholder theory, i.e.
growth of the firm is the right the firm satisfies the
thing to do in the interest of all interests of stakeholders
stakeholders and the community Equilibrium of interest because it is right from an
ethical point of view

Source: The author’s elaboration

The satisfaction of needs through the production of useful goods and services is
the basis of the business, the purpose of the economic activity, that is a prerequisite
for value creation. If an entity does not meet the needs it cannot create value for itself
or for its stakeholders.

1.3 The Economia Aziendale and the Theory of Equilibrium

1.3.1 The Economia Aziendale

The Economia Aziendale (EA) is an Italian doctrine founded in 1927 by Gino Zappa
(1927) who focuses on the ‘azienda’ as a coherent unity (i.e. inseparability) of
‘economic operations’, which characterizes institutions. Zappa (1956) states that the
azienda is an ‘economic institution intended to last for an indefinite length of time and
that, with the aim of meeting human needs, manages the production, procurement or
consumption of resources in continuous coordination’ (p. 37, our translation). In
particular, the EA focuses on the ‘existence conditions and life manifestations of the
azienda’ (Zappa 1927). The concept of azienda includes three different types of
organizations (Cavalieri 2010): (1) business entities (or firms), (2) public administra-
tions and (3) non-profit organizations. As cells of the economic system, they can all
contribute to society well-being. ‘It is not possible to have, in fact, the development of
the national economy without the development of the individual cells, the aziende,
1 The Real Entity Theory and the Primary Interest of the Firm:. . . 7

where the national wealth is concretely produced’ (Cassandro 1969, our translation).
Onida observes that the firm does not follow solely economic purposes, and its life has
not only economic problems, since ‘as social institution, the firm has necessary to
contribute to the human being, to promote the development of his personality and to
better achieve the purposes of human life associated to it, which they are essentially of
ethical nature’ (1971, p. 44, our translation). Ferrero points out that the firm is a
‘durable source of present and future common welfare’ (1968, p. 63, our translation).
The concept of the institution in Zappa’s definition allows separating the stake-
holders’ interests from the azienda’s interest. According to Anselmi, ‘human beings
could not defeat the course of time while aziende can be immortal’ (2014, p. 39, our
translation). The life of the organization ‘goes beyond the permanence of people
constituting, in a specific moment, the organization itself’ (Airoldi et al. 1994,
p. 163, our translation).
More recently, some scholars of the Economia Aziendale studied the link between
that doctrine and the stakeholder theory (Signori and Rusconi 2009; Rusconi 2018),
and the principle of the common good of the social doctrine of the Church (Caldarelli
et al. 2011; Costa and Ramus 2012).

1.3.2 The Theory of Equilibrium: Contributions

and Limitations

The theory of equilibrium was proposed by Aldo Amaduzzi (1948), one of the Zappa’s
pupils. Amaduzzi gives the conditions of continuity and growth of business entities
(one of the three types of aziende). In particular, the economic equilibrium, both in the
long and short term, is considered, in a mathematical system, together with the
financial and monetary equilibriums. The work of Amaduzzi has been pioneering in
having underlined the survival conditions of the firm in the long term, giving an
answer to how and why the EA can contribute to the debate on the objective of the firm
(Cavalieri 2010).
The following describes the three equilibriums.

1.3.2.1 Economic Equilibrium: The Long-Term Profitability of the Firm

The economic equilibrium requires that in the long term the flow of revenues is higher
than that of costs. The value is created when the positive difference between revenues
and costs achieves a certain level, called ‘pure’ profit, that is when revenues are able to
remunerate the all factors of production (Ferrero 1968, p. 200; Onida 1971, p. 18),
considering in these factors also the capital of the owners and the entrepreneur for
his/her work. The undistributed profit favours the durability of the firm. Indeed, the
ratio of retained earnings/total assets is one of those that allow the evaluation of the
probability of bankruptcy of the firm (Altman 1968). In this sense, all stakeholders, not
only shareholders, should be interested in the profit.
8 E. Di Carlo

The value creation condition must be achieved in the long term. This obviously
does not mean that the short-term equilibrium is not important, but instead that
imbalances in the short term (costs higher than revenues) do not affect the going
concern assumption when it derives from accidental factors that will be absorbed by
effective and efficient management of the firm.
According to this view, achieving the long-term profitability is not the purpose of
the firm, but a condition for its continuity and growth. As stated by Cassandro,
‘limiting the objective of the company to profit maximization will diminish the
fundamental economic and social functions of the company. The most important
ones are to create new wealth for the community and distribute it among those that
have contributed to it’ (1969, p. 826, our translation).
In order to achieve long-term economic equilibrium, the firm should also have
financial and monetary equilibriums. These two short-term equilibriums were deeply
analyzed in the fields of accounting and finance as bankruptcy predictors (the
so-called financial ratios) (Altman 1968; Beaver 1966, 1968), highlighting the
importance of these equilibriums for the continuity of the firm.

1.3.2.2 Financial Equilibrium

The financial equilibrium is achieved when the firm has the right correlations between
the typology of investments (assets) and that of financial sources (liability and equity).
This equilibrium allows the firm to satisfy timely its financial obligations, without
prejudicial effects on the future (Cavalieri 2010). Having an appropriate relationship
between assets and liabilities plus equity allows reaching and maintaining the financial
stability of the firm, especially in periods of crisis. Indeed, that equilibrium is referred
to as the capital structure or long-term solvency of the firm.
The overuse of debt to leverage returns for the financing of corporate assets was
considered to be one of the causes of the 2007 global financial crisis. This overuse was
determined by the financial incentives used to solve the conflict between the managers
and the short-term oriented shareholders. However, financial incentives are extrinsic
motivations (Osterloh and Frey 2004) that may increase the conflict with the survival
and growth of the firm as well as with all the other stakeholders, for example, when
managers are incentivized to engage in excessive risk-taking, or to increase exces-
sively the level of debt-equity which has a leverage effect on the return of the
shareholders (Naidu 1984). In these cases, a conflict of interest between the firm and
its creditors arises (Leland 1998; Myers 1977).
Financial equilibrium can be measured through the solvency ratios that indicate
the ability of the company to meet its long-term debts. For instance, the financial
leverage ratios provide an indication of the long-term solvency of the company,
measuring the extent to which the firm is using long-term debt.
1 The Real Entity Theory and the Primary Interest of the Firm:. . . 9

1.3.2.3 Monetary Equilibrium

The firm achieves the monetary (or cash flow) equilibrium when it is able to pay
timely its obligations, for example, to suppliers, financiers and employees. Thus, it is
referred to as the liquidity of the firm, its solvency in the short term. This may require
the provision of suitable means of access to credit, when the flow of payments (for
purchased supplies or contractual commitments) is not aligned, over time, with the
flow of receipts (arising from the sale of products or by recovery of loans). In the long
run, monetary equilibrium is closely related to the economic one, in the sense that if
the latter is achieved, the former will be respected (Cavalieri 2010, p. 28). Indeed, in
the long term, the cash inflow connected to the revenues is higher than the stream of
payments that measure the costs.
In the short term, monetary equilibrium may have time lags between cash inflows
and cash outflows, which, albeit temporary, must be compensated. Consequently,
even if the firm records a positive income, according to the accrual accounting, in the
short term the monetary equilibrium is not necessarily achieved. This time lag is due
to the dynamics of purchases and sales, the different methods of contracting, as well
as the dynamics of borrowings and granted loans. Monetary equilibrium is also linked
with financial equilibrium, which is summarized in two elements, financial solidity
and firm solvency. Thus, financial equilibrium also sets the basis for monetary
equilibrium because having financial stability/solidity increases the likelihood of
balancing cash outflow with cash inflow over time.
Monetary equilibrium can be measured through the liquidity ratios that indicate
the company’s ability to pay debt obligations and its margin of safety through the
calculation of metrics including current ratio, quick ratio and operating cash flow
ratio.
Following the contribution and limitations of the equilibrium theory.

Contributions
(a) It gives the conditions to achieve for the survival and growth.
(b) It asks to achieve, in the short term, simultaneously, the economic, financial and
monetary equilibriums, allowing the study of their mutual relationships, linking
the effect that the short-term management has on the long term.
(c) The equilibrium system allows the highlighting of the boundary between entre-
preneurial conduct, oriented towards business continuity and speculative and
irresponsible conduct, typically oriented to the short period.

Limitations
(a) Even though the equilibrium theory underlines the need to suitably remunerate all
stakeholders, it does not deal with their classification in order to understand their
expectations and, therefore, determine how to maintain them linked to the firm.
(b) It draws the attention to the duties of the company towards its stakeholders,
while it seems to consider less the duties of stakeholders towards the company.
10 E. Di Carlo

1.4 The Stakeholder Theory: Contributions

and Limitations

Stakeholders are any group or individual who may affect or be affected by the
obtainment of the company’s goals (Freeman 1984, p. 25). According to the stake-
holder theory, there is a need to take into consideration the needs of all stakeholders
(not only shareholders). The reason behind the stakeholder theory can be normative
and instrumental (Donaldson and Preston 1995). The former underlines the impor-
tance to consider not only the economic and legal dimensions of the business but also
the ethical one (Phillips et al. 2003, p. 481). The instrumental approach asks to pay
attention to the stakeholder’s needs when it allows to create value for the shareholders
(Jensen 2001; Jones 1995; Plender 1997).
Following the contribution and limitations of the stakeholder theory.

Contributions
(a) The long-term orientation of the corporate governance must consider the stake-
holders’ expectations in the process of value creation (Jensen 2001).
(b) Considering the stakeholders’ interests is not only a moral imperative but also an
economic necessity ‘in a world where competitive advantage derives increas-
ingly from intangible contents in human and social capital’ (Plender 1997, p. 2).
(c) It stimulates the stakeholder’s segmentation, even if they belong to the same
group (for instance subgroups of suppliers, shareholders), to understand their
expectations, their bargaining power and therefore suggestions for their man-
agement (Coff 1999; Mitchell et al. 1997; Vilanova 2007), in order to maintain
good relationships with them;
(d) It allows understanding why the methods of distribution of value among stake-
holders affect the ability of the company to transform competitive advantage into
positive economic performance or, on the other hand, why certain companies,
despite their competitive advantage, fail to have good performance (Coff 1999).
(e) It requires focusing not only on the economic results but also on their causes, that
is how the results are obtained. It was noted that to ‘improve organizational
performance by monitoring the financial performance is as useless as trying to
improve the performance of a sport team looking just at match results’ (Atkinson
et al. 1997, p. 35).

Limitations
(a) The interest of the firm is considered as a sum of stakeholder interests that are in
trade-off among them. These competing interests could bring too much complex-
ity in the decision process of the management, creating difficult ethical dilemmas
(for instance is it right to satisfy the shareholder’s interest or that of the employees
when such interests compete each other?) (Argenti 1997; Jensen 2001).
(b) It leaves too much discretion to managers (Keay 2008), confusing the choices to
be made, with a negative impact on business continuity (Jensen 2001; Sundaram
1 The Real Entity Theory and the Primary Interest of the Firm:. . . 11

and Inkpen 2004). In this regard, Jensen (2001) states that stakeholder theory
‘allows managers and directors to devote the firm’s resources to their own
favorite causes—the environment, art, cities, medical research (. . .) By
expanding the power of managers in this unproductive way, stakeholder theory
increases the agency costs in the economic system.’ (p. 14). Moreover, Tirole
points out that ‘management can almost always rationalize any action by invok-
ing its impact on the welfare of some stakeholder’ (2010, p. 62).
(c) It does not consider the conditions that allow the company to survive and
prosper, that is the effect of stakeholders’ management on the equilibrium
conditions.
(d) It does not solve the problem on how to mitigate the managerial opportunistic
behaviour (Phillips et al. 2003, p. 496).
(e) It puts more emphasis on the company’s obligations towards the stakeholders
than on the duties that stakeholders have towards the company (Argandoña
1998, p. 1099; Fassin 2012), since the particular interests of the stakeholders
are not associated with a common interest in which all actors involved would
enjoy the benefits.

1.5 The Common Good Theory: Contributions

and Limitations

The common good is the set of a society’s living conditions that promote the well-
being and human progress of all citizens (Arjoon 2000; Martini 1993, p. 35), that is
their cultural, moral and economic flourishing and growth. The concept of common
good appears when the social human dimension is considered (Melé 2009, p. 235).
While the shareholder approach and the instrumental stakeholder approach consider
the man as a mere means to an economic end, the common good approach considers
the man as an end in itself. It follows that his/her happiness and perfection
(or flourishing) constitute the objective of the activity that he/she carries out.
The result of the application of the concept of common good to business entities
(Argandoña 1998; Melé 2002, 2009; Sison and Fontrodona 2011, 2012, 2013) is to
consider individuals as members of the same corporate community (Melé 2012),
who support the recognition and promotion of a common interest, together with the
pursuit of their particular interests.
Stakeholders must see in their contribution to the firm the possibility to better
meet their needs, while the firm should be interested in meeting stakeholders’ needs
in order to improve its survival and growth. Argandoña observes that ‘the common
good has to do with the creation of these conditions that will allow for those involved
in the business to achieve his personal objective. It can be said that there is no
conflict between the common and the personal good (. . .) The common good is not
the sum of the individual goals of members: first, because these individual targets
include many more things than the company can offer; and secondly, because the
company facilitates the achievement of personal goals indirectly, through the
achievement of its objectives’ (1998, p. 1097).
12 E. Di Carlo

Individuals have needs (or wishes) who are satisfied with certain goods. For
example, the remuneration that one receives for his/her job is a good that allows
him/her to satisfy certain needs through the purchase of goods and services. The
work, in turn, produces other goods for the individual, such as the possibility to
perform an interesting job, to establish relationships with other people, to develop
him/herself. Despite these goods being able to satisfy needs and desires, usually in
the economy some of them are not considered as such, although they motivate the
individual and contribute to the common good. Argandoña (2009, pp. 3–4) distin-
guishes three categories of goods extrinsic goods (both physical goods, such as
remuneration, and intangible goods, such as the satisfaction from recognition by
superiors); intrinsic goods (e.g. the satisfaction for a well done job, the acquisition of
knowledge, the development of certain capacities, interaction with other people);
and transcendent goods (e.g. to satisfy the needs of customers, contribute to the
success of the employees, and ensure profit to shareholders and the continuity and
growth of the firm). This classification of goods becomes crucial since it gives
importance not only to extrinsic motivations but also to the internal ones (Osterloh
and Frey 2004), and thus not only on the results but also on the actions performed to
enable those results. According to Arjoon et al. ‘Unethical practices occur when
there is a disorder between internal and external goods (i.e., between means and
ends). An exclusive focus on goods of efficiency can distort one’s perception and
judgment through blind spots and moral slippages, which make it difficult to
recognize ethical issues and to determine what is the right thing to do’ (2018, p. 150).

Contributions
(a) Stakeholders are not seen as only self-interested ‘individuals’ but as ‘persons’
(Argandoña 1998, p. 1094) capable of cooperating with a spirit of service,
altruism and reciprocity, thus they have intrinsic and transcendent motivations
to develop, for the common good of the community (hence for themselves),
collaborative relationships. The observance of moral rules derives from intrinsic
motivations rather than economic incentives, which may most foster opportunis-
tic behaviours rather than mitigate them.
(b) It offers ‘the means for determining, in each specific case, the rights and duties of
the participants, in accordance with the common good of the company, of the
particular “society” it has with its stakeholders, and of society as a whole’
(Argandoña 1998, p. 1100).
(c) Stakeholders have an interest in the common good company, so the firm itself
should reciprocate by having an interest to meet their needs (Argandoña 1998,
p. 1099).
(d) It underlines not only the rights of the stakeholders but also their duties to
contribute to the continuity of the firm and consequently to the common good
of society (Argandoña 1998, p. 1100). The rights and duties of individuals, in
fact, are components of the common good. The company is, therefore, instru-
mental to stakeholders and vice versa.
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The theatre was a large barn-like structure; and it was filled with an
audience who sat in its boxes, or small, square divisions marked off
by narrow boards, where they arranged themselves for the most part
as they were assorted by domestic or friendly ties. Although they
obviously kept fully aware of what was going on upon the stage, and
at times seemed to look and to listen intently, or to break forth into
irrepressible applause, the most exciting scenes did not appear
greatly to interrupt their incessant smoking and indulgence in various
kinds of cheap drinks and eatables. Incessant tea-drinking went on
as a matter of course.
The principal play on this occasion celebrated the daring and
unflinching loyalty of a confidential servant to his Samurai master.
The purposes of the master were by no means wholly honourable as
judged by our Western standards of morals; and the means
contrived by the servant for carrying out these purposes were
distinctly less so. Especially was this true of the heartless and base
way in which the servant, in furtherance of his master’s interests,
treated the daughter of his master’s enemy, who had trusted him
with her love and her honour. I am sure that for this sort of behaviour
the rascal would have been hissed off the stage of even the lowest
of the Bowery theatres. But when he was detected and caught by the
father of the girl, the servant who was so despicably base toward
others, remained still so splendidly loyal to his master, that the
climax of the entire drama was reached and successfully passed in a
way to astonish and disgust the average audience in Western and
Christian lands. For he cheerfully bares his neck and, kneeling,
stretches it out to catch fully the blow of the father’s sword,—
protesting that he esteems it an honour and a joy to die in this
honourable manner for his lord and master. So impressed, however,
is the would-be executioner with the rascal’s splendid exhibition of
the noblest of all the virtues, that he raises the betrayer of his
daughter from his knees, pardons him, praises him unstintedly for his
honourable excellence, makes peace with the servant’s master, and
gladly bestows upon the servant his own beloved daughter in
honourable marriage.
As I have already said, it was undoubtedly the influence of such
dramas which helped to keep alive the extreme and distorted views
of the supreme excellence of loyalty as a virtue, in the narrower
significance of the terms, that went far toward securing the
remarkable character for self-sacrificing courage and endurance of
the Japanese private soldier during the late war with Russia. It would
not be fair, however, to infer from this, or other similar experiences,
the inferiority of the Japanese as a race in either ethical maxims or
moral practice. For, has not an extravagant and perverted
conception of the Christian virtue of “love” served in Occidental lands
to obscure and overshadow the even more fundamental virtues of
courage, endurance, and a certain necessary and divine sternness
of justice? And, with all its restrictions and deficiencies, the
Japanese Bushidō has hitherto resisted the temptations to avarice
and a selfish indulgence in luxury, on the whole, rather better than
anything which these Western nations have been able to make
effective in its stead. But when Japan gets as far away from the
Knightly spirit of Feudalism as we have for a long time been, its
moral doctrines and practices of the older period are likely to
undergo changes equally notable with those which have taken place
in Europe since feudal times prevailed there.
It was not until my second visit, in 1899, that I enjoyed the
opportunity of seeing Japan’s then most celebrated actor, Ichikawa
Danjuro. “Danjuro” is the name of a family that has been eminent in
the line of histrionic ability for nine or ten generations. Ichikawa, of
that name, was especially remarkable for combining the several
kinds of excellence demanded of the actor by Japanese dramatic art.
He had very uncommon histrionic power; even down to his old age
he was able almost equally well to take all kinds of parts, including
those of women and boys; and he had “marvellous agility as a
dancer.” As respects his ideals and characteristic style—making due
allowance for the wide differences in language and in the traditions
and requirements of the stage in the two countries—Danjuro has
been called “The Irving of Japan,” not altogether unaptly.
On this occasion I had not my usual good fortune of being in the
company of an intelligent and ready interpreter, who could follow
faithfully and sympathetically, but critically, every detail of the
scenery and the wording of the plays, as well as of the performance
of the actors. But the two of the three plays in which Danjuro took
part, between the rising of the curtain at eleven o’clock and our
departure from the theatre at about four in the afternoon, were quite
sufficient to impress me with the high quality of his acting. I need
scarcely say that he gave me that impression of reserve power and
of naturalness which only the greatest of artists can make. But,
indeed, reserve, and the suggestiveness which goes with it and is so
greatly intensified by it, is a chief characteristic of all the best works
of every kind of Oriental art.
It was a still different exhibition of Japanese histrionic skill which I
witnessed on the afternoon and evening of October 15, 1906. In the
most fashionable theatre of Tokyo a Japanese paraphrase of
Sardou’s “La Patrie” was being given by native actors. It was in
every way a most ambitious and even daring attempt to adopt
outright rather than to adapt, foreign dramatic models, in all their
elaborate details. How far would it be—indeed, how far could it be—
successful? I could see and judge for myself; since I was to have the
best of interpreters. The advertised time for the rising of the curtain
was five o’clock; but the actual time was a full half-hour later. The
entire performance lasted for somewhat more than five hours. The
scenery and stage settings were excellent. The scene of the meeting
of the Prince of Orange and the Count of Flanders in the woods by
moonlight was as artistically charming and beautiful a picture as
could be set upon the stage anywhere in the world. Much of the
acting, considering the difficulty of translating the motifs and the
language, was fairly creditable; but the Japanese have yet a great
deal to learn before they can acquire the best Western and modern
style of the dramatic art. Indeed, why should they try? The stilted
stage-manners of their own actors in the past, and the extravagance
of posturing and gesturing for the expression of strong emotions, still
hamper them greatly in this effort. Why then should they spend time
and money on the attempt at this reproduction of foreign models,
rather than in the reproduction and development of the best of their
own dramatic art? Certainly, artistic success in such an endeavour,
even if it could easily be attained, could not have the same influence
upon the conservation of the national virtues which have
distinguished their past that might reasonably be hoped for by a
more strictly conservative course. As a piece of acting the attempt to
reproduce the French play was a failure. The performance of the
drama was followed by a very clever farce called “The Modern
Othello,” which was written by a business man of Tokyo, a friend of
our host on this occasion.
For witnessing the latest developments of the highest-class dramatic
art of Japan, it was a rare opportunity which was afforded by a series
of performances lasting through an entire fortnight in November of
1906. The occasion was a “Memorial,” or “Actor’s Benefit,”
commemorative of the life-work of Kan-ya Morita, who, in a manner
similar to the late John Augustin Daly, had devoted himself to the
improvement and elevation of the theatre. All the best actors in
Tokyo, including the two sons of Morita, took part in these
performances, which consisted of selected portions of the very best
style of the dramas of Old Japan. I cannot, therefore, give a more
graphic picture of what this art actually is, and what it effects by way
of influence upon the audience, than to recite with some detail our
experiences as members of a theatre party for one of these all-day
performances.
A former pupil of mine and his wife were the hosts, and the other
guests, besides my wife and myself, were Minister and Madam U
——, and Professor and Mrs. U——. Since we were the only
foreigners among the members of the party, our hostess came to
conduct us to the tea-house, through which, according to the
established custom, all the arrangements for tickets, reserved seats,
cushions, hibachis, refreshments, and attendance, had been made.
There we met the husband, who had come from his place of
business; and after having tea together, we left our wraps and shoes
at the tea-house, and, being provided with sandals, we shuffled in
them across the street into the theatre. Four of the best boxes in the
gallery, from which a better view of the stage can be obtained than
from the floor, had been thrown into one by removing the partitions of
boards; and every possible provision had been made for the comfort
of the foreigners, who find it much more difficult than do those to the
manner born to sit all day upon the floor with their legs curled up
beneath them. The native audience—and only a very few foreigners
were present—was obviously of the highest class, and was in
general thoroughly acquainted with the myths, traditions, and
histories, which were to be given dramatic representation. As the
event abundantly showed, they were prepared to respond freely with
the appropriate expressions of sentiment. It is an interesting fact that
Japanese gentlemen and ladies, whom no amount of personal grief
or loss could move to tears or other expressions of suffering in
public, are not ashamed to be seen at the theatre weeping copiously
over the misfortunes and sorrows of the mythical divinities, or the
heroes of their own nation’s past history.
The curtain rose at about eleven o’clock; and the first play was a
scene from an old Chinese novel, and bore the name “zakwan-ji.” It
represented three strong men who, meeting in the night, begin to
fight with one another. Snow falls, while the battle grows more fierce.
Two of the men are defeated; and the victor, in his arrogance, then
attacks the door of a shrine near by. But the spirit of the enshrined
hero appears and engages the victor of the other men in combat. Of
course, the mere mortal is easily overcome by his supernatural foe;
but when he yields, all parties speedily become friends. The acting
was very spirited and impressionistic; but no words were spoken by
the actors. The story was, however, sung by a “chorus” consisting of
a single very fat man, who sat in a box above the stage; but the
language was so archaic that even our learned friend, the professor,
could not understand much of it.
The second play was a version of the celebrated story of the Giant
Benkei and the warrior Yoshitsune. It differed materially from the
version given by Captain Brinkley in his admirable work on Japan. In
this scene, when Yoshitsune and Benkei have arrived at the “barrier,”
disguised as travelling priests, and are discussing the best means of
procedure, three country children appear with baskets and rakes to
gather pine leaves. On seeing the priests, the children warn them
that yesterday and the day before two parties of priests have been
killed by the soldiers at the barrier, on suspicion of their being
Yoshitsune and his followers in disguise. Benkei then comes forward
and asks of the boys the road the travellers ought to take. In very
graceful dances and songs the children give a poetical description of
this road. Benkei then takes an affectionate leave of his master, and
goes up to the gate to ask for passports of its guardian. It is agreed
that the signal for danger shall be one sound of Benkei’s horn; but
that if the horn is sounded three times, it shall mean “good news.”
Soon the horn is sounded once, and Yoshitsune rushes to the
rescue of his faithful attendant. At this point the stage revolves, and
the next scene presents the guardian of the gate seated in his
house, while in the foreground Benkei is being tortured to make him
confess. Yoshitsune attempts to rescue Benkei, but the latter
prevents his master from disclosing his identity. The guardian,
however, suspects the truth; but since he is secretly in favour of
Yoshitsune, he releases Benkei, and after some hesitation grants the
coveted passports and sends the whole party on their way.
The third play, like the first, was also Chinese; it was, however, much
more elaborate. A Tartar General, while in Japan, has married a
beautiful Japanese girl, and has taken her back with him to live in
China. After a great battle the General returns to his home, and an
old woman among the captives is introduced upon the stage to plead
for the release of her son, a Captain in the Japanese army, who had
also been taken captive. The old woman proves to be the step-
mother of the young wife and the Japanese Captain is her brother.
When the wife recognises her mother, she is much overcome, and
joins in pleading for the life of both the captives. The husband
becomes very angry and threatens to kill both mother and daughter;
but the mother, although her arms are bound, throws herself before
him and saves her daughter. The daughter then goes to her room,
and according to a prearranged signal with her brother, opens a vein
and pours the blood into a small stream that runs below. The brother,
who is in waiting on a bridge over the stream, sees the signal and
hurries to the rescue of his sister. He reaches the palace and
compels the men on guard to carry his sword within; it requires eight
men to accomplish this stupendous task, so exceedingly strong is
the swordsman! He overcomes the Tartar General and gets himself
crowned Emperor; but he comes out of the palace in time to see his
sister die of her self-inflicted wound. The aged mother, thinking it
would be dishonourable to allow her step-daughter to make the only
great sacrifice, stabs herself and dies to the sound of doleful music
long drawn-out.
During the intermission which followed this impressive but crudely
conceived and childish tragedy, we enjoyed an excellent Japanese
luncheon in the tea-house near by.
When the curtain rose for the next performance, it disclosed a row of
ten or twelve actors clothed in sombre Japanese dress, all on their
knees, who proceeded to deliver short speeches eulogistic of the
deceased actor in whose memory this series of plays was being
performed. The next play represented Tametomo, one of the twenty-
three sons of a famous Minamoto warrior, who with his concubine,
three sons, his confidential servant, and some other followers, had
been banished to an island off the coast of Japan. The astrologers
had prophesied that he and his oldest son would die; but that his
second son would become the head of a large and powerful family.
Not wishing his future heir to grow up on the barren island, he
manages to get a letter to a powerful friend on the mainland, who
promises that if the boy is sent to him, he will treat him as his own
son and educate him for the important position which he is destined
to fill in the world. But the father does not wish to disclose his plan to
the rest of the family. He therefore bids the two older boys make a
very large and strong kite; and when it is finished and brought with
great pride to show to the father, he praises the workmanship of
both, but calls the younger of the two into the house and presents
him with a flute. The child is much pleased with the gift and at once
runs away to show it to his brother, but stumbles and falls at the foot
of the steps and breaks the flute. This is considered a very ill omen,
and Tametomo pretends to be very angry and threatens to kill his
son. The mother, the old servant, and the other children plead for the
life of the boy; and at last the father says that he will spare his son,
but since he can no longer remain with the rest of the family, he will
bind him to the kite and send him to the mainland. A handkerchief is
then tied over the boy’s mouth and he is bound to the huge kite and
carried by several men to the seashore. Then follows a highly
emotional scene, in which the mother and brothers bewail the fate of
the boy and rebuke the hard-hearted father. The wind is strong, and
all watch the kite eagerly; while the father reveals his true motive for
sending away his son, and the youngest of the brothers, a babe of
four years old, engages in prayer to the gods for the saving of his
brother. The servant announces that the kite has reached the shore;
and soon the signal fire is seen to tell that the boy is safe. Tametomo
then assures his wife that the lives of the family are in danger from
the enemy, whose boats are seen approaching the island. At this the
wife bids farewell to her husband and takes the two children away to
kill them, with herself, before they fall into the hands of the enemy.
Tametomo shoots an arrow at one of the boats, which kills its man;
but the others press forward, and just as they are about to disembark
on the island the curtain falls.
On this lengthy and diversified programme there follows next a
selection of some of the most celebrated of dramatic dances. The
first of these was “The Red and White Lion Dance.” Two dancers
with lion masks and huge red and white manes trailing behind them
on the floor, went through a wild dance to represent the fury of these
beasts. The platforms on which they rested were decorated with red
and white tree-peonies; for lions and peonies are always associated
ideas in the minds of the Japanese. Another graceful dance
followed, in which the dancers, instead of wearing large masks,
carried small lion heads with trailing hair, over the right hand. The
masks of these dancers had small bells, which, as they danced,
tinkled and blended their sound with the music of the chorus. Then
came a comic dance, in which two priests of rival sects exhibited
their skill,—one of them beating a small drum, while his rival
emphasised his chant by striking a metal gong.
The seventh number on the programme was very tragic, and drew
tears and sobbing from the larger part of the audience, so intensely
inspired was it with the “Bushidō,” and so pathetically did it set forth
this spirit. Tokishime, a daughter of the Hōjō Shōgun, is betrothed to
Miura-no-Suké. The young woman goes to stay with the aged
mother of her lover, while he is away in battle. The mother is very ill,
and the son, after being wounded, returns home to see his mother
once more before she dies. The mother from her room hears her
son’s return and denounces his disloyal act in leaving the field of
battle even to bid her farewell; she also sternly forbids him to enter
her room to speak to her. The young man, much overcome, turns to
leave, when his fiancée discovers that his helmet is filled with
precious incense, in preparation for death. She implores him to
return to his home for the night only, pleading that so short a time
can make no difference. When they reach the house, a messenger
from her father in Kamakura presents her with a short sword and
with her father’s orders to use it in killing her lover’s mother, who is
the suspected cause of the son’s treachery. Then ensues one of
those struggles which, among all morally developed peoples, and in
all eras of the world’s history, furnish the essentials of the highest
forms of human tragedy. Such was the moral conflict which
Sophocles set forth in so moving form in his immortal tragedy of
“Antigone.” The poor girl suffers all the tortures of a fierce contention
between loyalty and the duty of obedience to her father and her love
for her betrothed husband; who, when he learns of the message,
demands in turn that the girl go and kill her own father. The daughter,
knowing her father to be a tyrant and the enemy of his country, at
last decides in favour of her lover, and resolves to go to Kamakura
and commit the awful crime of fratricide. After which she will expiate
it by suicide.
The closing performance of the entire day was a spectacle rather
than a play. It represented the ancient myth of the Sun-goddess, who
became angry and shut herself up in a cave, leaving the whole world
in darkness and in sorrow. All the lesser gods and their priests
assembled before the closed mouth of the cave and sang enticing
songs and danced, in the hope of inducing the enraged goddess to
come forth. But all their efforts were in vain. At last, by means of the
magic mirror and a most extraordinarily beautiful dance, as the cock
crows, the cave is opened by the power of the strong god, Tajikara-
o-no-miko-to; and the goddess once more sheds her light upon the
world.
At the close of this entire day of rarely instructive entertainment it
remained only to pick at a delicious supper of fried eels and rice
before retiring,—well spent indeed, but the better informed as to the
national spirit which framed the dramatic art of the Old Japan. It is in
the hope that the reader’s impressions may in some respect
resemble my own that I have described with so much detail this
experience at a Japanese theatre of the highest class.
 CHAPTER VIII
THE NO, OR JAPANESE MIRACLE-PLAY

The comparison of the Japanese dramatic performance which bears

the name of “Nō” to the miracle-plays of Mediæval Europe is by no
means appropriate throughout. Both, indeed, dealt in the manner of
a childish faith, and with complete freedom, in affairs belonging to
the realm of the invisible, the supernatural, the miraculous; and both
availed themselves of dramatic devices for impressing religious
truths and religious superstitions upon the minds of the audience.
Both also undertook to relieve a protracted seriousness, which might
easily become oppressive, by introducing into these performances a
saving element of the comic. But in some of its prominent external
features, the Japanese drama resembled that of ancient Greece
more closely than the plays of Mediæval Europe; while its literary
merit, and the histrionic skill displayed upon its stage, were on the
whole greatly superior to the Occidental product. In the “Nō,” too, the
comic element was kept separate from the religious, and thus was
never allowed to disturb or degrade the ethical impressions and
teachings of the main dramatic performances.
In the just previous chapter the account of the probable origin of this
form of dramatic art in Japan has been briefly given: and a few
words as to its later developments will serve to make the following
description of some of the performances which I have had the good
fortune to witness, in the company of the best of interpreters, more
interesting and more intelligible. It has already been pointed out that
the Nō was at first performed by Shintō priests in the shrines, and so
the acting, or “dancing,” and the music are of a religious or
ceremonial origin and style. But the texts of the drama called by this
name came from the hands of the Buddhist priests, who were the
sources of nearly all the literature of the earlier periods.
The popularity which these ceremonial entertainments attained at
the court of the Tokugawa Shōguns received a heavy blow at the
time of the Restoration. With all their many faults, the Tokugawas
were active and influential patrons of art and of the Buddhist religion.
After their overthrow, important material and military interests were
so absorbing, and the zeal for making all things new was so
excessive, that there was no small danger of every distinctive form of
native art suffering a quick and final extinction instead of an
intelligent and sympathetic development. Besides, the philosophical
and religious ideas of Buddhism, as well as of every form of belief in
the reality and value of the invisible and spiritual, were at the time in
a deplorable condition of neglect or open contempt. About the
fifteenth year of the Era of Meiji, however, an attempt was made to
revive these religious dramatic performances. And since this
movement has been more and more patronised by the nobility,
including even some of the Imperial family, and by the intellectual
classes, the equipment, the acting, and the intelligent appreciation of
the audiences, have so improved, that it is doubtful whether the “Nō,”
during its entire historical development, has ever been so well
performed as it is at the present time. According to a pamphlet
prepared by a native expert, it is the supreme regard given by the
suggestion of spiritual ideals to a trained and sympathetic
imagination, which furnishes its controlling artistic principles to this
form of the Japanese drama.
“The Nō performance,” says the authority whom I am quoting, “is a
very simple kind of dance, whose chief feature is its exclusive
connection with ideal beauty, wholly regardless of any decorations
on the stage. The old pine-tree we see painted on the back wall of
the stage is only meant to suggest to us the time when performances
were given on a grass plot under a pine-tree. Sometimes such rudely
made things are placed on the stage, but they may be said to
represent almost anything, as a mound, a mountain, a house, etc.;
their chief aim is accomplished if they can be of any service in calling
up even faintly the original to the imagination of the audience. The
movements of the performer, in most cases, are likewise simple and
entirely dependent upon the flourishes of a folding fan in his hand,
for the expression of their natural beauty. Any emotion of the part
played is not studiously expressed by external motions and
appearances, but carelessly left to the susceptibility of the audience.
In short, the Nō performance has to do, first of all, with the interest of
a scene, and then with human passion.”
The last sentences in this quoted description are liable to serious
misunderstanding; for what the author really means is unfortunately
expressed through lack of an accurate knowledge of the value of
English words. That anything about this style of dramatic
performance is “carelessly left” to the audience, is distinctly contrary
to the impression made upon the foreign critical observer of the
Japanese Nō. The truth which the writer probably intended to
express is the truth of fact; both the ideas and the emotions which
are designed for dramatic representation are suggested rather than
declaimed or proclaimed by natural gestures; and this is, for the
most part, so subtly done and so carefully adapted to conventional
rules, that only the most highly instructed of the audience can know
surely and perfectly what ideas and emotions it is intended to
express.

“IN ONE CORNER OF THE STAGE SITS THE CHORUS”

The regular complement of performers in the Japanese Nō is three
in number: these are a principal (Shité), and his assistant (Waki);
and a third, who may be attached to, and act under, either of the
other two (a so-called Tsuré). In one corner of the stage sits the
chorus (Jiutai), whose duties and privileges are singularly like those
of the chorus in the ancient Greek drama. They sing, or chant, a
considerable portion of the drama, sometimes taking their theme
from the scene and sometimes from the action of the play.
Sometimes, also, they give voice to the unuttered thoughts or fears,
or premonitions of the performer on the stage; and sometimes they
even interpret more fully the ideas and intentions of the writer of the
drama. They may give advice or warning, may express sympathy
and bewail the woes or follies of some one of the actors; or they may
point a moral motif or impress a religious truth. At the rear-centre of
the stage sits the orchestra, which is regularly composed of four
instruments,—a sort of snare-drum at one end and a flute at the
other; while in between, seated on low stools, are two players on
drums of different sizes, but both shaped like an hour-glass. As to
the function of this rather slender, and for the most part lugubrious
orchestra, let me quote again from the same expert native authority.
“Though closely related to one another and so all learned by every
one of the players, the four instruments are specially played by four
respective specialists, each of whom strictly adheres to his own
assigned duty, and is not allowed in the least to interfere with the
others. Now this music is intended to give assistance to the Shité in
his performance, by keeping time with the harmonious flow of his
song, which is usually made up of double notes, one passage being
divided into eight parts. The rule, however, may undergo a little
modification according to circumstances. In short, the essential
feature of the music is to give an immense interest to the audience,
by nicely keeping time with the flow of the Shité’s words, and thus
giving life and harmony to them.” More briefly said: The instrumental
part of the Japanese performance of Nō punctuates the tempo,
emphasises the rhythm of the actor’s chant or recitative, and helps to
define and increase the emotional values of the entire performance.
One or two attendants, dressed in ordinary costume and supposed
to be invisible, whose office is to attend upon the principal actor,
place a seat for him, arrange his costume, and handle the simple
stage properties, complete the personnel of the Nō as performed at
the present time.
It was customary in the period of the Tokugawa Shōgunate, and still
continues to be, that a complete Nō performance should last through
an entire long day, and should consist of not fewer than five
numbers, each of a different kind. As has already been said, these
serious pieces were separated by Kyogen, or comediettas of a
burlesque character. The shorter performances, to which tickets may
be obtained for a moderate fee, have doubtless been visited by
some of my readers. But I doubt whether any of them has ever spent
an entire day in attending the regular monthly performances of the
rival schools, as they are given for the entertainment and instruction
of their patrons among the nobility and literati. It is, perhaps, more
doubtful whether they have had the patience to hold out to the end of
the day; and altogether unlikely that they have had the benefit of any
such an interpretation as that afforded us by the companionship of
my friend, Professor U——. For this reason, as well as for the
intrinsic interest of the subject, I shall venture to describe with some
detail the dramas which I saw performed during two all-day sessions
of the actors and patrons of the Nō, in November, 1906.
The first of these performances was at the house of an actor of note
who, although ill-health had compelled him to retire from the stage,
had built in his own yard a theatre of the most approved conventional
pattern, and who conducted there a school for this kind of the
dramatic art. The enterprise was supported by a society, who paid
the expenses by making yearly subscriptions for their boxes. Two of
the boxes had been kindly surrendered to us for the day by one of
these patrons.
Although we reached the theatre, after early rising, a hasty
breakfast, and a long jinrikisha ride, before nine o’clock, the
performance had been going on for a full hour before our arrival. The
first play for the day which we witnessed bore the title of “Taira-no-
Michimori”; it is one of the most justly celebrated of all the extant Nō
dramas, both for its lofty ethical and religious teaching and also for
its excellent artistic qualities. The scene is supposed to be near
Kobé, on the seashore. A very sketchy representation of a
fisherman’s boat was placed at the left of the stage. The chorus of
ten men came solemnly in, knelt in two rows on the right of the
stage, and laid their closed fans on the floor in front of them. The
four musicians and two assistants then placed themselves at the
rear-centre of the stage. In addition to the use of their instruments,
as already described, they emphasised the performance by the
frequent, monotonous emission of a cry which sounds like—“Yo-hé,
yo-hé, yo-hé.”
This play opens with the appearance of two characters, who
announce themselves as wandering priests, and who proclaim the
wonderful results which their intercessory prayers have already
achieved. They then relate the fact of the battle on this very spot, in
which the hero of the play, Taira-no-Michimori, was slain. So great
was the grief of his wife that, when she heard of the death of her
husband, she threw herself over the sides of the boat in which she
was seated at the time, and was drowned. Since then, the ghosts of
the unhappy pair have been condemned to wander to and fro, in the
guise of simple fisher-folk. When the priests have finished, they seat
themselves at the right-hand corner of the stage; and the chorus
take up the story of the battle and its sequent events. First, they
describe in poetic language the beauty of the moonlight upon the
sea and its shore. But as they enter upon the tale of so great and
hopeless a disaster, the chorus and the orchestra become more
excited, until—to quote the statement of my learned interpreter—
they cease to utter intelligible words, and “the Hayaskikata simply
howl.”
But now the ghosts themselves appear at the end of the long raised
way on the left, by which they must reach the stage; and with that
strange, slow and stately, gliding motion which is characteristic of so
much of the acting in this kind of drama, they make their way to the
skeleton boat, step softly into it, and stand there perfectly
motionless. (It is explained to us that, in Nō “ladies are much
respected” and so the wife stands in the boat, in front of her
husband,—a thing which she would by no means have done in the
real life of the period.)
Standing motionless and speechless in the boat, with their white
death-masks fixed upon the audience, the wretched ghosts hear the
church-bells ringing the summons to evening prayer, and catch the
evening song which is being chanted by the priests within the temple
walls. As though to enhance their wretchedness by contrasting with it
the delights of earth, the chorus begins again to praise the beauty of
the Autumn moonlight scene. The persuasive sounds of the intoning
of the Buddhist scriptures, and the prayers of the priests imploring
mercy upon the faithful dead, are next heard; and at this, the chorus
take up their fans from the floor and begin to extol the saving power
of both scriptures and priestly intercession. And now the ghostly
forms fall upon their knees, and the woman, as though to propitiate
Heaven, magnifies the courage and fidelity of the hero and recites
his death-song in the recent battle. At this the chorus break out into
loud lamentations that the entire family of so famous a hero has
perished and that no soul is left alive to pray for the souls departed.
After a period of kneeling, with their hands covering their faces in an
attitude of hopeless mourning, the ghosts rise and slowly move off
the stage; and the first act of the drama comes to an end.
Between the acts, a man appears and recites in the popular
language what has already been told by the chorus and the actors in
the more archaic language of the drama itself. The priests ask for a
detailed narrative of the character and life of the two noble dead; and
in response to this request, the reciter seats himself at the centre of
the stage and narrates at length the story of the love of Itichi-no-Tami
(the hero’s personal name) for his wife Koshaisho; of his knightly
character; and of her great devotion to her husband. When the
priests confess themselves puzzled by the sudden disappearance of
the fisherman and his wife, the reciter explains that their prayers
have prevailed, and that the ghosts of Itichi-no-Tami and Koshaisho
will now be permitted to resume their proper shape.
During this popular explanation, the audience, who, being for the
most part composed of learned persons, might be supposed not to
stand in need of it, engaged freely in conversation, and availed
themselves of the opportunity to take their luncheons; while through
the window at the end of the “bridge” the ghosts might be seen
changing their costumes and their wigs, with the assistance of
several “green-room” dressers.
In the second act of the drama, the ghost of the hero appears in his
proper form, gorgeously dressed as a prince, and is joined by his
wife upon the stage. He performs a very elaborate dance, and
recalls his parting from his wife, the different events of the battle, his
wounding and defeat, and the wretched conditions that followed.
These recollections work him into a state of fury; the passion for
revenge lays hold of, and so powerfully masters him, that all which
has already been done for his salvation is in danger of being lost.
And now begins a terrible spiritual conflict between the forces for
good and the forces for evil, over a human soul. The priests pray
ever more fervently, and rub their beads ever more vigorously, in
their efforts to exorcise the evil spirits. The beating of the drums and
the “yo-hés” become more frequent and louder. But at last the
prayers of the priests prevail; the soul of the doughty warrior is
reduced to a state of penitence and submission; and Itichi-no-Tami
and Koshaisho enter Paradise together.
No intelligent and sympathetic witness of this dramatic performance
could easily fail to be impressed with the belief that its influence, in
its own days, must have been powerful, and on the whole salutary.
For in spite of its appeal to superstitious fears, it taught the
significant moral truth that knightly courage and loyalty in battle—
important virtues as they are (and nowhere, so far as I am aware, is
there any teaching in the Nō performances which depreciates them)
—are not the only important virtues; nor do they alone fit the human
soul for a happy exit from this life or for a happy reception into the
life eternal. And as to the doctrine of the efficacy of prayers for the
dead: Has not this doctrine been made orthodox by the Roman-
Catholic Church; and is it not taught by the Church of England
prayer-book and believed by not a few in other Protestant churches?
The next of the Nō performances which we saw the same day was
less interesting and less pronouncedly a matter of religious dogma. It
bore the title of Hana-ga-Tami, or “The Flower Token.” This drama
tells the story of a royal personage who lived one thousand years
ago in the country near Nara. For his mistress he had a lovely and
devoted country maiden. Although he had not expected ever to
become Emperor, the reigning monarch dying suddenly, the young
man is selected for the succession, and is summoned in great haste
from his home to ascend the vacant throne. So great, indeed, was
his haste that he could not say farewell to his lady-love, who had
gone on a visit to her parents; but he leaves a letter and a flower for
her as a token of his undiminished affection. Overcome by gratitude
for his goodness and by loneliness in her abandoned condition, the
girl at last decides to follow him to Nara,—at that time the Capital of
the country. She takes with her only one maid and the precious
flower-token. After many frights—for travelling at that time was very
dangerous—by following the birds migrating southward, she at last
reaches Nara. Being poor, and without retinue, she cannot secure
entrance to the Palace; but she manages to intercept a royal
procession. When one of the Imperial followers reprimands her and
attempts to strike from her hand the flower-token, to which she is
trying to call the Emperor’s attention, she becomes indignant and
performs a dance that wins for itself the title of the “mad dance.” In
the procession the part of the Emperor is taken by a young boy;
since to have such a part performed by an adult man would be too
realistic to be consistent with the Imperial dignity. The attention of the
Emperor being attracted by this strange performance, he expresses
a wish to see the “unknown” in her “mad dance.” But when she
appears, dressed in bridal robes of white and red, and tells the story
of her life in a long song accompanied by expressive movements,
and finally sends her love to His Majesty, who “is like the moon,” so
far above a poor girl like her, and like the reflection of the “moon in
the water,” so unobtainable; the Emperor recognises her by the
flower-token and gives orders to admit her to the Palace. She then
exhibits her joy in another song and dance, which ends with the fan
“full-open,” to denote happiness complete and unalloyed and
admitting of “no more beyond.”
The last of this day’s Nō performances dealt again with the power of
the prayer of the minister of religion to exorcise evil spirits. Two
itinerant Buddhist priests find themselves at nightfall in the midst of a
dense forest. They send a servant to discover a place for them,
where they may spend the night. The servant returns to tell them of a
near-by hut, in which an old woman lives alone. They go to the hut,
boasting by the way that their prayers can even bring down a bird on
the wing; but when they reach the hut and ask for shelter, its
occupant at first declines to receive them, on the ground that her
dwelling is too poor and small to shelter them. At last they persuade
her; whereupon she comes out of the bamboo cage, which
represents her hut, and opens an imaginary gate for them. The
priests show much interest in her spinning-wheel. But she appears
sadly disturbed in mind at their presence; and finally announces that,
as the night is so cold, she will go out and gather a supply of
firewood. With an air of mystery she requires from them a promise
not to enter her sleeping-room while she is absent; and having
obtained their promise, she takes her leave.
The aged servant of the priests, however, becomes suspicious of
something wrong, and begs permission of his masters to enter the
forbidden room, since he has himself taken no part in their promise;
but as a point of honour they refuse his earnest request. The
servant, in spite of their refusal, feigns sleep for a time, and then
when his masters have fallen into a sound slumber, he steals away
to the bedroom of the old woman. On the first two or three attempts,
he makes so much noise as to waken the priests; but finally he
succeeds in entering the room which, to his horror, he finds filled with
human bones,—all carefully classified! He then rushes to his
masters and wakens them with the information that their hostess is
really a cannibal witch, and that they must escape for their lives. This
advice he at once puts into practice by making good his own escape.
But the flight of the priests is only symbolised by their standing
perfectly motionless in one corner of the stage, while the chorus
eloquently recites these blood-curdling experiences.
When the witch, in her demon-like form, overtakes the ministers of
the Buddhist religion, the two spiritual forces represented by the
actors then on the stage enter into the same kind of conflict as that
which has already been described. The demon rages furiously; the
priests pray fervently, and rub their rosaries with ever-increasing
vigour; for the contest is over a human soul. But at the last the evil