The or ''The Hymn of True Faith'' was written by the founder of

Jōdo Shinshū , also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan. History Shinran (founder) S ...

Buddhism,

Shinran ''Popular Buddhism in Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture'' by Esben Andreasen, pp. 13, 14, 15, 17. University of Hawaiʻi Press 1998, . was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino (now a part of Fushimi, Kyoto) at the turbulent clos ...

. It consists of an outline of the

Pure Land Buddhism Pure Land Buddhism or the Pure Land School ( zh, c=淨土宗, p=Jìngtǔzōng) is a broad branch of Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Pure land, Pure Land. It is one of the most widely practiced traditions of East Asi ...

teaching according to Shinran's personal interpretation. The structure is as follows: * Homage to

Amida Amida can mean : Places and jurisdictions * Amida (Mesopotamia), now Diyarbakır, an ancient city in Asian Turkey; it is (nominal) seat of: ** The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Amida ** The Latin titular Metropolitan see of Amida of the Ro ...

* Adoration to Amida and Shakyamuni Buddhas * Exhortation to take refuge in Amida * Teachings of the Patriarchs: #

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...

Vasubandhu Vasubandhu (; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་ ; floruit, fl. 4th to 5th century CE) was an influential Indian bhikkhu, Buddhist monk and scholar. He was a philosopher who wrote commentary on the Abhidharma, from the perspectives of th ...

# Tanluan #

Daochuo Traditional portrait of Patriarch Daochuo Daochuo ( zh , t=道綽, s=道綽, p=Dàochuò, w=Tao-ch'o, first=p; J. Dōshaku, c. 562–645) was an eminent Chinese Buddhist master of Pure Land Buddhism. He was also known as Chan Master Xihe (Me ...

Shandao Shandao (; ; 613–681) was a Chinese Buddhist scholar monk and an influential figure of East Asian Pure Land Buddhism.Jones (2019), pp. 20-21 Shandao was one of the first Pure Land authors to argue that all Pṛthagjana, ordinary people, and e ...

Genshin , also known as , was a prominent Japanese monk of the Tendai school, recognized for his significant contributions to both Tendai and Pure Land Buddhism. Genshin studied under Ryōgen, a key reformer of the Tendai tradition, and became well kn ...

Hōnen , also known as Genkū, was the founding figure of the , the first independent branch of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism. Hōnen became a Tendai initiate at an early age, but grew disaffected and sought an approach to Buddhism that all people of all ...

* Exhortation The ''Shōshinge'' is followed by six verses from Shinran's Sanjō Wasan. The first six verses of the ''Jōdo Wasan'' (浄土和讃) section of the ''Sanjō Wasan'' (based on Donran's ''San Amida Butsu Ge''), are most frequently used but traditional temples work their way through the whole ''Sanjō Wasan'' on an annual basis. In the past

Hongan-ji , also archaically romanized as Hongwanji, is the collective name of the largest school of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism (which further sub-divides into the Nishi and Higashi branches). 'Hongan-ji' may also refer to any one of several actual temple bu ...

temples chanted the ''Shōshinge'' and ''Wasan'' daily at 6 AM, but some Jōdo Shinshū temples now reserve the ''Shōshinge'' for special holidays due to its length. The ''Shōshinge'' can take up to 30 minutes to chant in its entirety. In Higashi Hongan-ji there are 10 styles of chanting the Shoshinge and in Nishi Hongan-ji 5. Only two or three styles are used regularly. The everyday style is fast, light and monotone whereas the formal styles are often slower, higher toned and more rhythmical.

External links

The Shoshinge and Wasan sung by the ministers of the Honpa Hongwanji in mp3 format

Buddhist music Works by Shinran Buddhism in the Kamakura period {{Japan-reli-stub