Shigin

Shigin (Japanese诗 吟) is an art of reciting or singing of Japanese poetry.

Individual poems are as gin (吟) refers. They usually consist of four or more lines that are written with Chinese characters or kanji. All lines have an identical number of characters. Gin, which will consist of four rows, each with seven characters shichigon - zekku (七言 绝句, " seven- word sentence " ) called.

There are about 5000 different ways to present the poems in ever other melodies and with them all human emotions can be expressed.

History

Shigin believed to date from the first millennium BC and originated in China. Originally they were sung exclusively in Chinese, but later also in Japanese reading. In this form Shigin is still practiced today.

Shigin is the oldest form of Japanese poetry. It is used less frequently than, say, the poetry & haiku and is usually used only by older generations. Gin are also used in Buddhism.

Nevertheless Shigin still have an influence on Japanese culture. They are commonly found in textbooks and play a role in calligraphy.