Throughout modern Taiwan it is common to find households, whether furnished in contemporary or older styles, that have given a corner over to the family's ancestral shrine, complete with statues of household gods, censers with burning incense, and a vase of chrysanthemums or other flowers clearly reminiscent of ancient vase offerings.
In the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.), flower arrangement was embraced by the imperial household as an essential form of decoration. The style was full-bodied (much like the preferred shape of women at the time), and achieved a characteristic multidimensional-look by using flowers in enormous arrangements. The most popular combinations included peony, camellia, narcissus, plum blossom, pine, and cypress.
Containers, often themselves stunningly beautiful works of art, were an equally important component of the flower arrangements. High-ranking officials and noble families took great pride in owning aesthetically superior containers, and were equally careful about the sorts of flowers they used to fill them. The art form reached such a popular pitch that eventually a special day was set aside each year in mid-February as the "Birthday of Flowers." Next to Moon Festival in mid-August, it became the most popular annual holiday.
Flower arranging reached the peak of its popularity in the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.), for by then it was no longer the privilege of the upper classes; the common people embraced the art form as well. Eventually, it became accepted as one of the four essential crafts (along with burning incense, making tea, and appreciating painting) that all cultured people were expected to learn and practice from childhood on. The people of the Sung held major flower exhibitions in large cities each spring, and historical records say that on one particularly spectacular exhibition in 1086 A.D., the city of Loyang, in current-day Honan Province, used more than 10 million flowers.
By the time of the Ming Dynasty (l368-1644 A.D.), flower arrangement became fully professional, complete with textbooks and trained teachers of the art form. Chinese students of flower arranging today are familiar with the key Ming texts on the subject, including such classics as the History of the Vase by Yuan Hung-tao, the Genealogy of Vase Flowers by Chang Chien-te, and the Monthly Choices of Flowers by Tu Pen-chun.
Interestingly enough, while the form was becoming systematized, it was also being changed-supplanted by the trend of growing potted plants. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, cultivating potted plants had surpassed cut flower arrangements, and the orientation continued in the following Ching Dynasty (l644-1911 A.D.). Part of the reason for this change seemed to be a feeling that growing potted plants was "more humane" than growing flowers destined to be cut.
At the time perceptions were changing about traditional flower arranging, there also came a host of political and military disasters during the late Ching, which in effect further relegated flower arranging to a minor concern. Eventually the art form declined to near extinction. But at the same time, Japanese flower enthusiasts adopted the form, and began to adapt and develop magnificent flower arrangement techniques themselves, although still rooted in Chinese styles. By the first quarter of the 20th Century, Japanese flower arranging, both on the personal level and in special societies, clearly overshadowed the earlier Chinese styles.
But the spirit of flower arrangement was not dead in China, only hibernating. In 1984 a major rejuvenation of the field took place through the efforts of the Women's Garden and Art Club (WGAC) of the Republic of China. The members decided to attempt a reinvigoration of the nearly lost art, and to give it new meaning in the context of 20th Century Chinese life styles. Their efforts initially took the form of an exhibition—much as was done in the past—called "The Art of Classical Chinese Flower Arrangement." It was held with overwhelmingly positive public response at the National Museum of History in Taipei from March 24to April 3, 1984.
The WGAC's exhibition was an extension of other cultural activities which had made the organization well known since its founding in 1972. The members had already demonstrated deep love and respect for their country's cultural heritage through earlier sponsorship of such projects as Chinese gardening, paper cutting, calligraphy, and painting.
The renewed interest in flower arrangement had its beginnings in 1983, when Club President Mrs. Yu Kuo-hwa, the wife of the Premier, called on Ho Hao-tien then Director of the National Museum of History to discuss the possibility of reviving the traditional art of Chinese flower arrangement. Director Ho agreed that the form should not be lost to contemporary times, and later spoke with Professor Huang Yung-chuan, a member of the research faculty at the museum and an expert in the history of Chinese traditional flower arrangement. Before long, plans for an exhibition were under way.
The exhibition was no small undertaking. It included more than fifty exhibits, all done in a way to reconstruct exactly selected arrangements preserved in ancient sketches, paintings, and book illustrations. Behind each item in the exhibition hung an actual painting or reproduction of a particular Chinese flower arrangement from traditional times (see FCR, May 1984).
Professor Huang says the traditional forms of flower arrangement fall into various categories: "A list of the most popular styles of flower arranging down through the centuries would be sure to include the 'intellectual style,' the 'neo-intellectual style,' the 'expressionist style,' the 'realistic style,' and the 'auspicious homophonous floral style.'"
"Intellectual" flower arrangements are products of the aesthetic values that developed under the ideals of rationalism common during the Sung Dynasty. The aesthetics emphasize reason, usually interpreted in vase arrangements displaying pine, cedar, bamboo, plum blossoms, orchids, osmanthus, camellia, and narcissus.
The "neo-intellectual" style was popular during the renaissance period of flower arranging in the Ming Dynasty. In these arrangements, the flowers are more lush and in greater abundance.
During the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 A.D.) and the early Ching, the "expressionist style" became increasingly popular. with arrangements emphasizing "feeling" de rigueur. Men of letters and artists attempted to translate their deepest personal emotions and thoughts through flowers. These attitudes were conveyed by plants and flowers selected for their lofty, noble character—according to traditional aesthetics-and were augmented by dried wood, ling chih fungus, and peacock tails.
People who preferred "realistic" flower arrangements took a different tack. They sought faithful reproduction of nature as it really appeared. Through the use of ingenious potted plant creations, aesthetes depicted scenes as diverse as bamboo hedgerows in country farms and grand panoramas of waterfalls cascading down majestic mountain ranges. Originating in the Tang, this form reached its climax in the Ching.
Another form of arrangement was based upon language: fruits, vegetables, and flowers whose very names replicated the sounds of auspicious words and expressions uttered on festive or joyful occasions were arranged in appealing ways, providing an additional dimension to their visual enjoyment. The construction of floral homophones became the mainstream form of flower arranging during the Ching Dynasty, with cypress, Chinese evergreen, lotus, and lily popular for both their phonetically identical sounds to auspicious Chinese terms and their own inherent beauty.
The 1984 exhibition posed some extremely difficult problems for the members of the WG AC. Some of the flowers in the classical paintings selected by the club for inclusion in the exhibition were either not available in Taiwan or out of season. And the special containers were not the sort easily found in street-side markets. But the club members rose to the challenge and located craftsmen who were able to duplicate exactly those flowers (by using handmade silk flowers) and the containers shown in the historical documents that could not be found locally.
Special service was given by the Chinese Handicraft Center at Nantou in central Taiwan and several porcelain workshops in Taipei. Museum authorities and private collectors also generously agreed to loan antique containers for the exhibition. Even with all this assistance, actually locating all the necessary furniture, accessories, and other decorations required extensive efforts by club members.
The results proved well worth the efforts. Visitors were often struck by seeing familiar ancient forms in a new, functional light. They were witnessing for the first time the ways in which the vessels were in fact used by people during traditional times. Professor Huang was particularly pleased with this aspect of the exhibition: "Those antiques were originally containers for flowers. When they were used in the proper way, they seemed to come to life again."
Because the exhibition was such a popular success, the Museum of History and the WGAC decided to make the event an annual affair. After a year's hiatus to make further plans, the second exhibition, entitled "Seasonal Flower Arrangements," was mounted in 1986.
Traditionally, the Chinese year is divided into 24 equal periods, and "ancient Chinese had special flower arrangements for each," Huang says. "For example, November 7 is the day that 'Winter Begins.' Because most plants stop growing and flowers stop blooming during winter, only plants such as the maple, camellia, and daisy can stay alive. Flower arrangements during this period are usually augmented by using a variety of fruits: the yellow orange, carambola, bergamot, and the dwarf orange."
Although modern Chinese pay less attention to the lunar calendar, they still maintain traditions by using flower arrangements for special holidays as well as changes in the four seasons. These include, for example, Tomb Sweeping Day, the Dragon Boat Festival, and the Winter Solstice.
Modern holidays, such as Mothers' Day, have also become important days for special flower arrangements. While carnations or orchids may be more popular on this day in the West, the day-lily is the preferred choice of Chinese.
Contemporary flower arrangements still utilize one or a combination of traditional forms. Beyond using seasonal materials, Chinese flower arrangers normally follow three principles, First, the sound of the flower's name in Chinese is important. For example, the peony, or "flower of wealth and honor," and the narcissus, or "water-borne immortal," are considered good choices because of their obviously auspicious connotations. As for the rhododendron, or shih nan, the pronunciation of the first character in its Chinese name is uncomfortably close to that of the word for "death," so this flower is shunned.
Second, attention must be paid to special attributes or characteristics of component flowers. Since the cypress and pine remain "ever green," these plants are popular selections. On the other hand, rattan or other climbing plants—given their penchant to twist, curl, and tangle—and wild flowers and weeds, noted for their short lives, are considered taboo.
Third, associated myths and legends also play a role in flower selection. The Chinese jui hsiang, is reputed to have obtained its name when a monk first smelled its fragrance during a dream; it enjoys a reputation of nobility. The Lady Yu flower, on the contrary, is believed to be the ill-fated wife of Duke Hsiang Yu in reincarnated form, and is therefore regarded an unlucky flower.
Chinese have traditionally been especially selective about the varieties of flowers considered appropriate for floral compositions. In his History of the Vase, Yuan Hung-tao concluded that "A flower arranger would no more indiscriminately choose a flower for his composition than he would invite an absolute stranger he met at the marketplace into his home."
This same aesthetic care and attention to detail has permeated all levels of society in current times; flower arranging has once again received wide attention. The WGAC has been instrumental in bringing this about. Its second exhibition was seen as "an exercise of pragmatizing flower arrangement." The goal was to bring the art form into the daily life of modern Chinese. With the growing wealth of society in general, additional disposable income has made flower purchases more common throughout the populace, also adding to the popularity of the art form. In fact, after the two exhibitions, traditional Chinese flower arrangement had gathered enough devotees to bring about the establishment of the Consortium Chinese Floral Arts Foundation (CCFAF)
Hsu Hsiu-ping, a CCFAF member, recalls why she joined the foundation: "Three years ago, when I heard that Professor Huang was a specialist in Chinese traditional flower arrangement, I came to ask for instruction. Most of my classmates had been studying and teaching Japanese-style flower arrangement for over ten years. But we felt confined by its restrained style, so we had a strong urge to search for a breakthrough. We wanted to find a different style."
Japan in fact has more than 3,000 schools of flower arranging, the product of more than 200 years of experience. The art has become so refined that both schools and individual artists pay more attention to details and trivial differences than to the development of the field as a whole. Local flower arranging offers a sharp contrast to this. The ROC does not have a large number of schools, and flower arranging is believed to be freer in style.
Foundation President Huang is proud of the students in his first class. "It's touching that they are willing to put aside Ikenobo, Misho, Saga or whatever school they belong to, and learn about Chinese flower arrangement from the elementary beginning," he says. Members of Huang's first class have also become teachers themselves, and already the foundation has grown to 1,360 members. Last year the foundation began helping the WGAC and the National Museum of History co-sponsor the annual flower arranging exhibition. The 1987 theme at the third exhibition introduced two mainstream methods of displaying flowers: "Flower Arrangements for Hall Decoration and Tea Drinking."
"The two are strictly different in style," Huang explains. "The former aims at showing the wealth and honor of a family, so it emphasizes creating a splendid and elegant atmosphere. Arrangements should be of various colors and large-sized. The latter adds to the enjoyment of tea drinking. To match the tranquil atmosphere of the tea house, these flower arrangements should be more subdued in color, small-sized, and delicate."
Huang obviously favors the latter. "Drinking tea and appreciating flower arrangements can make the most ordinary person feel poetic," he says. "And it's best not to have too many people around—it doesn't work the same. If one is all by himself, he can talk to the flowers. If there are two or three others, they can exchange their ideas about the arrangement, but three is the maximum for appreciators. Too many people would scare the flowers and spoil the interest. The best is to drink alone and appreciate them by yourself."
While most people might not have Huang's delicate aesthetic taste for flowers, they can certainly empathize with the sense of enjoyment he feels. Certainly in Taiwan, people have become more flower conscious, as the growing number of local florists attests. The pure enjoyment of floral beauty is a modern experience not much different from ancient times. The only difference has been in terms of sophistication, and the annual floral exhibitions have helped refurbish and refine local understanding and appreciation of this art form.
As proof, last year's exhibition attracted international attention, including the attention of Rand Castile, the director of San Francisco's Asian Art Museum. Castile was touring Taiwan at the time and was deeply impressed by his visit to the exhibition. He invited the exhibitioners-the WGAC, the National Museum of History, and the CCFAF—to send an exhibition to his museum. His request fell on fertile ground, and negotiations began immediately.
Meanwhile, the fourth exhibition, entitled "Six Main Containers for Chinese Flower Arrangement," opened in Taipei in March of this year. The exhibition demonstrated the traditional care given to selecting containers for Chinese flower arrangements.
Generally speaking, there are six main categories used for Chinese flower arrangement in the home: vase, plate, cistern, bowl, tube, and basket. The vase was the original container for Chinese flower arrangements; the other containers were gradually added later. But after the Yuan Dynasty, it again became the vessel overwhelmingly favored by flower arrangers.
The use of plates in flower arranging has roots almost as old. Worshipers would float a lotus in full-bloom on a plate and place it as an offering. Because of its inherent shallowness, the plate at first presented difficulties; flowers were not easy to arrange on its surface. But a solution emerged in the Five Dynasties Period (907-959 A. D.). A noted arranger of flowers welded tiny tubes to a bronze plate, making it easier to hold the stems in place for arrangements with more vertical thrust. Over the centuries, this initial technique has been adapted and relined in porcelain, wood, metals, and other sorts of containers.
The cistern, with its wide opening and deep body, is especially suitable for larger, heavier flowers, such as the peony and hydrangea. The bowl, on the other hand, is actually a variant on the plate, just somewhat deeper. The bowl was in special favor during the Sung Dynasty, and the National Palace Museum has some exquisite bowls for flower arranging in its collection. The shades of blue and green, and the graceful curves of the bowls themselves, illustrate the traditional linkage in beauty between flowers and containers.
Most tubes for floral arrangements are made of bamboo. They remain the most easily acquired container, for one only has to cut a section of the "empty-hearted bamboo" between the joints. The result provides a more natural look, as does using baskets. During the Tang Dynasty, people often used special baskets for carrying flowers to religious festivals, and the tradition spread to use on other occasions and in different environments.
According to Huang's research, flower vessels in earlier times were often made of bronze and clay. Because bronze was believed to absorb much of the "earth force" as it was made, it was considered particularly congenial to flowers. Porcelain and ceramics were viewed in the same favorable way.
But it was both the Chinese flower arrangements and their containers that had initially stimulated plans for the San Francisco exhibition. As a result, San Francisco's Asian Art Museum and the National Museum of History in Taipei decided to include selections from all four previous exhibitions, and to make it a traveling one. After a week in San Francisco, beginning on May 28, the resulting exhibition will be enjoyed by visitors to the Sackler Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. on June 11-12, and at the Honolulu Academy of Arts in Hawaii on July 18-20.
A 14-member group, including the new Director of the Museum, Chen Kuei-miao, Professor Huang, and CCFAF members decided to travel with the exhibition and help mount it, using flowers and containers available at the various museums, and also to visit several other U.S. cities to give talks and demonstrations on Chinese flower arrangement.
The floral exhibitions held in the ROC over the past five years have clearly given major impetus to the rejuvenation of a treasured classical art form. The sponsors are now eager to introduce Chinese styles of flower arranging internationally in hopes of adding yet another dimension to aesthetic appreciation everywhere.