The Shōshinge (正信偈) or The Hymn of True Faith was written by the founder of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, Shinran. It consists of an outline of the Pure Land teaching according to Shinran's personal interpretation. The structure is as follows:
The Shoshinge is followed by six verses from Shinran's Sanjo Wasan. The first six verses of the Jōdo Wasan (浄土和讃) section of the Sanjo Wasan (based on Donran's San Amida Butsu Ge), are most frequently used but traditional temples work their way through the whole Sanjo Wasan on an annual basis. In the past Honganji temples chanted the Shoshinge and Wasan daily at 6am, but some Jodo Shinshu temples now reserve the Shoshinge for special holidays due to its length. The Shoshinge can take up to 30 minutes to chant in its entirety.
In Higashi Honganji there are 10 styles of chanting the Shoshinge and in Nishi Honganji 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.