On Shigin 詩吟

Jun11

From a question on the SCA Japanese Facebook page about early Japanese music, someone mentioned poetry being chanted. My answer:

Poetry was originally chanted or sung in an art called Shigin 詩吟. It started out with the Chinese poetry, but spread to Japanese styles like tanka. I don’t know a lot about it, but here is a video with a bit of explanation. If you search for “shigin” on YouTube, there are several modern performances. The practice dates back to before the Asuka period, but I’m not sure how much it changed over time. Certainly something to look into!

Here’s a performance from the 46th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival 2013 @ JCCCNC in San Francisco Japantown on April 13, 2013. There are several other examples on YouTube.

There are examples of Chinese poems with pitch notation from the Heian period. Again, I’m not sure when the practice spread to Japanese-style poetry, and I don’t know how much the practice was refined during the Edo period, and if pre-Edo Shigin was significantly different from what is practiced now. I would certainly be interested in learning more about it.

On Recruitment in the SCA

Jun8

I posted this in response to a discussion in the SCA FB group, and I thought I’d share it here as well. The question asked what people were doing to recruit/retain younger members into the SCA. Honestly, the question made me wince, because I think new members of any age have a lot to offer, but I tried to answer as best I could:

As a long-time member and former chatelaine, I would advise listening carefully to any newcomer (of any age!). There’s a time for introducing all the SCAdianisms to new folk, but first, find out what they want from the group, what they are looking for, what they need help with. Some areas are going to have more resources than others (speaking as one who has lived in large baronies and also in a small rural contact group), but do the best you can. Make sure new people know that the SCA is a large umbrella organization, and that there are a variety of ways to participate AND THEY ARE EQUALLY VALID.

For those who are interested in parties, direct them towards others who like that. Some people (like me) really came for the history. I have always enjoyed the courts and ceremonies and courtesies. The SCA is a great place to learn new skills and make new friends (especially if you have to move around a lot), and that is a good thing to emphasize to new people as well. Some of the things we teach for free or low cost are hugely expensive if you try to take a workshop outside the SCA.

Also, check in on the newer people from time to time to see how things are going, and listen to their worries. Sometimes you can help them, sometimes you can’t, but at least they know their opinion matters.

Listening is the key here.

小鳥の歌　69

May30

A passionate heart
Cannot help but share its joy
Gladness overflows
Refreshing the spirit like
A fountain in summertime

Link: progression of the idea of superlatives: echoing to overflowing.

Kansas City, near which I live, is called “The City of Fountains”. They are to be found everywhere here, even out in the suburbs. Medieval Japanese poetry did not utilize fountains much–brooks and streams are more commonly found. However, I wanted to reflect what I see around me, so I chose to use fountains instead.

小鳥の歌　67

May29

fujin_raijin

A storm bursts the clouds
Asunder the darkness stirs
Awake the maelstrom
My heart is breaking my screams
Unheard within the tumult

Link: A storm is about to break progresses to A storm bursts.

I left out the commas to see if I could approximate more kakekotoba ( 掛詞 ) pivot words. Japanese can accomplish this better. The structure of English is too precise to allow more than one pivot without sounding odd. But I hope this comes close to the feel. The style I tried for here is what Fujiwara no Teika called “Demon-quelling” (onihishigitei or kiratsu no tei 鬼拉体).

Photo: Fujin (God of Wind) and Raijin (God of Thunder), 13th century, wood, Sanjūsangen-dō 三十三間堂 in the Higashiyama District, Kyoto. Scanned from temple brochure, altered in photoshop by me.