Shigin
Participants kneel in the lotus or seiza position, thought to be the optimum posture to allow strong and steady projection during chanting.
Conversely, singing from the chest, as would be encouraged in classical Western operatic style, is deemed unauthentic.
Finally, because Japanese and Chinese word orders differ, further (sino) numerical marks to the left of some characters indicate their correct sequence.
Because of this, recital of longer gin is sometimes seen as more accomplished (being harder to remember, and more likely to vary from the standard melodic form).
(Furusato no yama wa arigataki kana) The second example is a Kanshi poem by Japanese educator Tanso Hirose (1782 – 1856, ja:広瀬淡窓#史跡), who encouraged his students to live together as well as study together at his institution in Kyushu: 桂林荘雑詠示諸生 （桂林荘雑詠、諸生に示す） 休道他郷多苦辛 （道（い）ふを休（や）めよ、他郷苦辛多しと。） 同胞有友自相親 （同胞友あり、自（おのずか）ら相親しむ。） 柴扉暁出霜如雪 （柴扉（さいひ）暁に出づれば、霜雪の如し。） 君汲川流我拾薪 （君は川流（せんりゅう）を汲め、我は薪（たきぎ）を拾はん。） A Statement at Keirin Institute, To the Students (Keirin so zatsuei, Shosei ni shimesu) You must not complain that it is too much trouble to study here.
(Doho tomo ari, onozukara ai-shitashimu) When you open the door in the early morning, the frost outside looks like snow.
(Saihi akatsuki ni izureba, shimo yuki no gotoshi) You go to the river to get water, and I will go collecting wood.
(Kimi wa senryu wo kume, ware wa takigi wo hirowan) The third example below illustrates a typical gin from Chinese poet Zhang Ji (8th century), written in the original Chinese, and in Japanese (as written and pronounced in parentheses): 楓橋夜泊 （楓橋夜泊） 月落烏啼霜満天 （月落ち烏啼いて、霜天に満つ） 江楓漁火對愁眠 （江楓の漁火、愁眠に対す） 姑蘇城外寒山寺 （姑蘇城外、寒山寺） 夜半鐘声到客船 （夜半の鐘声、客船に到る） Night Mooring at the Maple Bridge (Fukyo Yahaku) The moon falls, crows call, frosty mists fill the heavens (Tsuki ochi karasu naite, shimo ten ni mitsu) Looking out from maple bridge, distant fishing lamps pierce these lonely eyes (Kofu no gyoka, shumin ni taisu) Outside Suzhou City, from the Cold Mountain Temple (Koso jogai, kanzanji) The midnight gong rings out, as the boats return (Yahan no shosei, kyakusen ni itaru) (NB: Subject terms have been added to give a sense to the poem, but no such terms exist in the original Chinese.)
