Nowadays, low cost blooms allow the tentacles of flower arrangement passions to make their ways into numerous households, offices, hospitals, and shopping windows. And it is not infrequently that pedestrians run across women with flower bundles hastening back home, not to mention signboards for flower arrangement classes, twinkling with colored lights.
The recent Taipei exhibition traces back ten years ago, when Mrs. Yu Kuo-hwa, Mrs. Sun Yun-suan, and other members of the Women's Garden and Art Club were invited by the Ikebana International Taipei Chapter to a Japanese flower exhibition. An expert from Japan, in traditional Japanese kimono, graciously announced to the guests at the exhibit: "Japanese flower arrangement has its origins in China's Ming Dynasty."
Thus, ten years ago, members of the Women's Garden and Art Club went on from the fine Japanese exhibit to Taipei's National Museum of History—for research into China's own flowery past.
The club was formed in 1972 by a group of Chinese ladies with a deep passion for their country's cultural heritage and an intense desire to revive its richest dormant aspects.
In the following years, the club also sponsored projects in Chinese gardening, knotting, frog making, paper cutting, calligraphy, and painting, to name a few.
In March 1983, some members of the club incidentally learned that Professor Huang Yung-chuan, a research fellow of the National Museum of History, had organized historical data on Chinese flower arrangement. The ensuing year, the members of the club busied themselves collecting, studying, and collating applicable materials from over 1,500 years, with the intention of presenting it to the public via this historic exhibition.
Historians reveal that in 3,000 B.C., the Mid-Eastern Sumerian people, who were engaged in agrarian community life, fabricated floral corollas and garlands. The ancient Egyptians saw divinity in lotus flowers—the Goddess Iris; and they knew well the trick of putting flowers in bottles of water to keep them from withering. A thousand years later, the flower-infatuated people of Crete decorated their grand palace at Cnossos with numerous floral varieties. Their floral preferences later developed into the stereotyped honeysuckle pattern favored by Greek craftsmen and even dominating Gandharan and Byzantian decorative effort. With the spread of Buddhism in the East, the decorative arts of the Six Dynasties (220-589 A.D.) were revolutionized in China, and the art of flower arranging was in process.
In the period, social disturbances and natural calamities plunged the Chinese people into abject poverty, and as a result, Taoism, Buddhism, and the teachings of Lao Tze and Chuang Tze were rejuvenated. In order to forget the burden of worldly cares, literary men, poets, and painters returned to nature as poet Tao Yuan-ming said: "To drink wine in front of flowers and to chant poems in solitude."
The first official record of purposeful floral decor is found in the volume Nan Shih: "Some offer lotus flowers for the worship of Buddha. The monks use bronze vases to hold water. With their stems in water, the flowers will not wither." The Book of Nanchi notes: "As monks were chanting sutras before the palace, Emperor Wu was moved to a dream of figs. He summoned his metallurgists to cast in bronze the flowers of the fig as decorations for the four corners of the Imperial bed." The Emperor desired flowers of bronze so he might view their rare and majestic beauty for an extended period, and shape them to his desire.
In the reign of Emperor Yuanti of the Liang Dynasty, flowers served as the base of a Chinese calendar. A total of 24 kinds of flowers were utilized to denote different seasonal events. For instance, plum blossoms, roses, and the flowers of the bush cherry foretold the waking of insects. The Spring Equinox was marked by Chinese flowering crabapple, pear blossoms, and wood orchids.
By the end of the Six Dynasties, it was said that flowers were "drifting in February road" and that it was "good to pick some as a treat for guests, the bronze vessels serving as foils for the red apricot." Rather, the blossoms were merely "placed" or "cultivated" in trays or vases. And though on most occasions, lotus flowers were used before the altar or for a banquet, apricot and plum blossoms played vital floral roles in everyday life.
Still, it is not wrong to conclude that religion had a lot to do with the birth of Chinese traditional flower arranging, an art form that could roughly be divided into two genres—one form involving flowers with long stems such as lotus in long-necked vases, the other, fully-bloomed, heavy-headed flowers such as peonies in basins.
The following Sui and Tang Dynasties saw the development of additional forms of floral containers—jars, bamboo tubes, and pots or vases with tiny tubes set in their centers. And private and public exhibitions were now being held, greatly promoting the art form.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties (589-906 A.D.), outings to "hunt for flowers in springtime" became great events, and the Tang poet Tu Mu admonished: "Be sure to wear chrysanthemums in your hair." So infatuated were the people or the time with flowers, that February 15 was designated the formal birthday or hundreds or varieties. It is written that ladies or the time in Changan would spare no expense to raise precious varieties in their courtyards, stimulated by a springtime flower contest. The winners were those with the largest number or odd and precious blooms.
A special profession—commercial flower cultivation—came into being. Its most famous practitioner was Sung Tang-fu, who was good at both reciting poetry and "growing thousands or kinds or peonies."
Before peddling their blooms on the streets, flower vendors would first prepare them by spraying water on the petals and then sealing them with mud to maintain their freshness; then they would assort them according to size. The purchaser would later wash off the mud. The famous poet Pai Chu-yi wrote that purchasing flowers had become such a fad that "every household grew accustomed to it, treating it as common practice, and everyone came thus to lose their senses."
By the end of the Tang Dynasty, the floral arts had become so popular that Tu Mu was to observe: "You can't tell how many people in the city now occupy themselves with flowers." People soon felt that springtime was not time enough to sate their lust for flowers, and artificial flowers were the result. Still, the most precious contribution or the time was to the literature on flower arrangement; the best representative is hua-chiu-hsi (Nine Courtesies to the Peony, the national flower or the Tang Dynasty), authored by Lo Chiu, a leading practitioner in the field. The so-called nine courtesies are: warding off winds with a sturdy tent, cutting the blooms with gold scissors, curving and binding the stems, dipping them in sweet spring water, holding them in jade vessels, placing them on sculpted tables, depicting them in paintings, and enjoying the blooms while sipping good wine and reciting new poems. Lo Chiu was a mirror, reflecting people's fastidious and devoted attention to flower arrangement (he also indicated that the peony is in good company with orchids, plum blossoms, and the lotus, but downgraded when consorting with cotton rose, hibiscus, raspberry, or wild grasses).
A breakthrough in the history or flower arranging came with the fancy or vesting flowers with personalities and ranks. The heightened interest was to result in research into methods or preserving and cultivating flowers. Kuo Tuo-tuo described one way in his treatise, On Tree Plantations: "After picking the peony and paeonia, bake their stems, seal with wax, and put in a vase. In winter weather, when vases fracture easily in the freezing cold, place the ashes of coal or sulphate in the bottom as a preventive."
Consider the breezy effect of the color choice as well as the physical arrangement.
The very few extant paintings or sketches of flower arrangements from the Sui and Tang Dynasties show two main flower arrangements of that period—peonies in basins and lotus in vases, the former prevailing in court and among the nobility, the latter reserved to temples. As companions to the Buddha, it is best to offer the lotus only. One simple design features three sprays branching into the air in the shape of a reverse triangle, with a flower in the center and two leaves on either side.
Flower arrangements at court or in family residences were much more complicated. In addition to the lotus, such flowers as peonies, orchids, plum blossoms, and water lilies added color. A new arrangement in the form of a round-the-clock explosion, peaking at the four corners, was a prelude to the majestic and grandiose styles of the Sung Dynasty. The proportion of the heights of flowers to vase was set at 8 to 5, an amazing coincidence with the size ratio for the so-called "golden section."
As Buddhism was spreading to Japan, the art or flower arrangement was introduced to that country by the Japanese Ambassador to China, Onono Imoko, the forefather of the Ikenobo style. Meanwhile, via a gradual development, the art of flower arrangement reached its maturity during the Five Dynasties (907-960 A.D.), when weak political administration, again racking the Chinese people, "swept fallen leaves like a gust of autumn wind." The gorgeous art impulses of the Tang Dynasty were replaced by the literati's venting of grief and affliction. In that short 53-year span, there were no standards for the flowers or the floral containers—leading to the birth of the jikua (free style flower arrangement).
For people like Han Hsi-tsai, flower arranging became a way in which to indulge themselves in luxury. Han thought that while relishing flowers, it would be even better to enjoy them with the added aroma of burning incense. He matched sweet-scented osmanthus with Borneo camphor, roseleaf raspberry with agalloch eaglewood, and jasmine vines with sandalwood. This is called hsiang-san—appreciation of fragrances.
An important breakthrough in this period was the design of the Chanchin vase by Kuo Chiang-chou. According to old records, the vase was "bronze cast with floral fringes and a flat bottom. With a height of 11/3 decimeters, the vase offered dozens of tiny tubes in its center. Flowers arranged in the tubes according to different heights, could survive more than ten days." Further innovation brought about the pepper-container-shape—the porcelain vase with six holes designed in the Sung Dynasty.
To sum up achievements in the floral arts of the period, Emperor Lee Hou-chu of the South Tang Dynasty staged a ching-tung-tien show every spring. It was reported that "bamboo tubes were attached to beams, pillars, windows, walls, and every possible corner to hold the thousands of miscellaneous flowers."
As the Sung Dynasty dawned, flower markets and street flower peddlers were more numerous than ever before. Ouyang Hsiu wrote: "Almost all of the people in all of the walks of life in Loyang City have engaged themselves in flower arranging." Even in the dead of winter, when the variety of flowers decreased sharply, people cudgeled their brains for more effective ways to cultivate flowers. A man with a green thumb, Ma Cheng, developed a unique technique by "pasting paper to the frame of a room, digging holes in the earthen floor and then covering them up with bamboo. He placed flowers in the holes, storing them along with cattle manure and sulphate, and then placed a boiling broth inside. By fanning the rising steam, he would make the flowers bloom overnight," states The Notes of Hsiang Chu. With flowers year round, such metropolises as Loyang, Kaifeng, Changan, and Hangchou became "flower cities." And it is not too far-fetched to imagine that many people would habitually include bundles of fresh flowers in their shopping baskets.
The intimate relationships between flowers and people were reflected in paintings and poems. In a painting entitled The Fiddle-Organ and Flowers, Emperor Huitsung of the Sung Dynasty endowed a vase of flowers with absolute majesty. Ouyang Hsiu said in a poem: "Deep red and pale white had better be mixed, and the front and rear parts be arranged in order. In all those four seasons I would relish with wine, don't let the flowers cease to grow for a single day."
Some could not be amused with a single pot of flowers and multiplied their floral possessions a hundredfold. Some even came to treat their flowers as pets. Tong Tien Yiu Lu describes a showboat on which "tables and benches stood in its center. On top of the tables were stationery, incense tripods, potted plants, drinking vessels, and flowers." On outings, flowers could not be left behind. By now, flower arranging was no longer the preserve of educated people or high-class locales. Such commercial enterprises as restaurants, stores, night clubs, and tea houses learned to please guests with arrangements of seasonal flowers. And on such traditional occasions as the Lantern, Dragon Boat, Ghost, and Mid-autumn festivals, special feasts were presented, complete with floral enchantments.
History records at the time that "incense burning, tea savoring, painting, and flower arranging" were regarded as "the four arts," each of which must be cultivated from childhood. In the end, flower arrangement embraced intensive aesthetic disciplines, as Fan Ta-chen revealed while elaborating on how to choose a good branch of plum blossoms: "Graceful bearing and noble style are most essential. The best features are old, crooked, zigzag, wrinkled branches and no foliage."
It is astonishing to note that as early as 1,000 years ago, scientific know-how had been developed for flower cultivation. "An ancient bronze vessel that has been buried in the earth for a long time, enables flowers to bloom fast and fade slowly. And the colors of the flowers will be dazzlingly bright. And as the flowers fade away, the vessels will grow more solid," said Tong Tien Ching Lu.
Many tricks to enhance the beauty of flowers were revealed. "Dip plum blossoms in salty water to get fatter petals." "The broth from boiling salted pork is good to help branches of plum blossoms bear leaves." "After October, use a bamboo knife to sever pistils of about-to-bloom plum blossoms; dip the blossoms in wax, and place in vessels." "To turn a pink flower to white, burn sulphate to smoke in a cup, then cover the flower with the inverted cup." All these tips are for plum blossoms.
Chien Kang-kung wrote during the Sung reign: "The apricots are like maidens; peach blossoms, whores; and plum blossoms, poverty-stricken girls at the East Gate."
Other interesting notes include: "Tie the cut end of a lotus flower with a gray hair, seal it with mud, set it in the bottom of a vase, then pour in water. The flower will live longer." "While displaying Chinese flowering crabapple, keep it in peppermint water to force it to bloom." Su Shih (an expert in this field, stated: "The peony grows luxuriously with ground stalactite. Calamus loves water. Jasmine is afraid of cold. Stuff lotus flowers in holes to ward off mice. Leaves of sunflower are good to dye paper. If a torch is made from a hollyhock stem, the fire will not go out in a rain." Some of these tips are not outdated even today.
People of the Sung Dynasty also focused on studies of the natures or characters of flowers. Su Tung-po commented: "The chrysanthemum has a straight and fiery disposition. It will not quickly boom and bust with hundreds of other flowers. Only when frost descends will it bloom. Born with such a noble and pure nature, the flower can communicate with celestial fairies." Chou Tung-yi trumpeted in Love of the Water Lily: "Chrysanthemum, hermit of flowers; peony, the noblest, and water lily, the gentlest of flowers." And Chien Kang-kung: "The apricots are like maidens; peach blossoms, whores; and plum blossoms, poverty-stricken girls at the East Gate."
Some even came to attribute feelings to flowers—pleasure, anger, sorrow, and happiness. Chou Mi, commenting on plum blossoms: "The flower is happy on a gloomy day, at dawn, in mild cold, a drizzle, light mist, under a good moon, a setting sun, light snow, the sunset's glow, by a clear creek, small bridge, bamboos, under pines and transparent windows, by moss or a bronze vase, in company with precious birds or a solitary crane, or while a flute is playing in the forest, a musical instrument on the knees, or chess on a stone chessboard. And it hates stormy winds, marathon rains, scorching sun, bitter cold, ugly women, vulgar men, old crows, bad poems, talking about current affairs, and such like. And flowers are humiliated when their masters are lazy and in misery."
By this time, the flower basin display was grandiose—the yuan ti style. The proportions of flower heights to basin are roughly two to one, as is the ratio of flowers to leaves. The height of the highest twig is equal to the radius plus the height of the basin. No fixed rule governs the length of each stem, but the flowers are to spread in a semicircular radiation. In general, peonies and winter daphne, camellias, narcissi, and plum blossoms were arranged in basins. It was a taboo for any two stems to have a similar foliage attire, color, size, or arrangement direction. When every stem was at peace in its proper position, all together, the arrangement would constitute "noble life."
The watershed of the history of ancient Chinese flower arranging lies, actually, in another stream—with the flower vase. The Sung Dynasty boasted of its own innovative school of flower arrangement—the li nien hua, or ideology flower.
The Sung Dynasty had witnessed the birth of the li shue, a Confucian school of idealist philosophy, which had great impact on all the arts. Since it is common for artwork to reflect the author's strong will to expound his own beliefs, teachings, or a universal philosophy, art content of the period is much more important than appearance. And herein is the so-called "classical" school.
Under the principles of li nien hua, the pine tree, cypress, bamboo, plum blossom, orchid, osmanthus, camellia, and narcissus were the flowers most frequently to be used. The spirit must be clear, the idea in mind "broad," and the contours and functions of the floral elements in good shape. The ratio between flower and vase was to equal the radius plus the height of the vase multiplied by 1.6. In general, odd numbers of stems were preferred.
At that time, a flower vessel might reach a height of two meters. To prevent it from toppling, small holes pierced the bottom edge to permit a cord to pass through, so the base could be fastened to flower racks or tables. The rim of the flask might be dented to help fix the flowers. Some florists were so meticulous about flower containers, that one extant vase of the period has 31 tiny tubes inside in which to place stems. Exquisite pedestals and trays added to a consummate artistry.
When the Mongolians swept down to conquer China for the Yuan Dynasty, the mass ferver over the art of floral arrangement subsided in an alien cultural tide. Only hermits, nobles, and literati kept on with the habit of arranging flowers as a leisure pleasure left over from the warm atmosphere of the Sung Dynasty. The great changes wrought to attitudes of creation, and the content and form of the new floral works, resulted now in the birth of the hsin hsiang hua school (flowers of the mind) and the chi yu hua school (flowers of the will).
The Yuan floral style was to stress "sentimentality" and "beauty" and each individual's bent of thought, and thus was much more subjective.
The objective of chi yu hua was to preserve the original states of flowers in order to present them as they were in nature. Its practitioners hated the thought of striving sedulously for perfection, or seeking any affected result. Some flowers were deprived of water purposely because their arranger's satisfaction came solely from the impulse of creation.
After the alien Yuan had ruled for a century, the Ming Dynasty emerged, and with it came a renaissance in Chinese arts. Flower arranging had become a specialized science, complete with perfect structure and systematic theories. It was heavily affected by the major trends of the Ming Dynasty:
Instead of the low basin flowers, Ming Dynasty arrangers preferred long-stemmed flowers and tall vases. Instead of grandiose, majestic, densely packed patterns, the Ming structures tended to be scattered, light, open, and supernatural. Then came the comparison of people and flowers, so the flowers and foliage elements chosen were "noble" and "graceful," like sprigs of pine and plum. Very few assortments were gaily colored. As flower arranging became a more and more specialized science, it became less and less a participation pastime of the mass. A prevalence of potted plants by the end of the Ming Dynasty signaled a concurrent decline in flower arrangement. Still, each year on February 15, a grand ceremony was staged to honor hundreds of flowers.
It was during this period that Yuan Hong-tao completed his masterpiece, Bottle Annals, the most complete work on Chinese traditional flower arrangement. The book was translated into Japanese in 1696, and even today, Japan still has a school called Yuan hong-tao Liu or Hong-tao Liu.
Divided into 12 sections, the classic elaborates on such topics as the pleasures, taboos, and methodology involved in ping hua, or bottle flowers, the principles governing flower selection, ranking of flowers, floral containers, water quality, the coordination of flowers and backdrops, preservation of flowers, taste as applied to the art, methods of enjoying flower arrangements, and the natures and dispositions of flowers.
During the Ming period, people learned to treat pine, bamboo, and plum blossoms as the "three friends of winter"—plum blossoms, camellias, and narcissi as "the three friends in the winter kingdom of flowers."
Another important floral classic of the period was Bottle Flower Lore by Chang Chien-teh (1577-1643). It proved as important as Bottle Annals. For instance, on taboos for flowers, the book warned of "water pumped from a well, stagnant water, water touched with greasy hands, contaminated by cats and mice, smoke, or confinement in an airtight room, and exposure of flowers to wind and dews."
The book announced: "Flowers and vases must be in good proportion. The flower must be one decimeter higher than the vase. It is a taboo for flowers to rise too high, because the vases will topple much too easily—or to stand too low, because the flowers will appear vulgar and dull."
Tall and elegant, short and simple—A pair of arrangements demonstrates contrast in structure and mood
On the container, the book continued: "As far as timing is concerned, use bronze in the spring and winter and porcelain in autumn and summer. And as far as location is concerned, the residence vase must be tall and the study vase small. For fresh and elegant style, use porcelain and bronze instead of gold and silver. And don't let vases wear ear rings or stand in pairs as at a shrine. The mouth must be small and the feet strong enough to maintain stability."
Among a gallery of other classics on flower arrangements, A Monthly Listing of Bottle Notes by Tu Pen-chun designates representative flowers for each month, dividing them into a queen, courtier, and messenger. The queen of flowers naturally played hostess in the family, and the courtier and the messenger the foils. For instance, in the month of May, pomegranate and oleander are flower queens; hollyhock is courtier; and gardenia, baby chrysanthemum, althaea, and dianthus are messengers. And in July, crepe myrtle and orchid are queens; begonia, courtier; and coreopsis, short cockscomb, and sunflower the messengers.
Of note also are two classics by Chen Yu-wen—Pet Names for Flowers and Flower Calendar. The pet name for the begonia is heartbreak flower; cherry is stone honey; the rose, lingerer; tuberose, white crane; poppy, rice bag; and crepe myrtle, hundred-day red.
The flower calendar takes note of development aspects of flowers in each month. For instance, in January, orchids are fragrant, winter daphne has a strong scent, the apricots start to flower, walkway grass starts to green up, and hundreds of flowers start to wake. And when February arrives, peach blossoms are tender and young, magnolias unfreeze, red buds grow luxuriant, apricots decorate their faces, pear blossoms dissolve, and plum blossoms turn white.
The art of savoring tea was now de rigueur while one was relishing the beauty of flowers. The Ming Dynasty attitude was similar to the li nien hua school of the Sung Dynasty, but more simplified, and was thus called the new li nien hua (new ideological flower). The trend was to seek classical, perfect patterns: "As symbols of natural beauty, the flowers also present the beauty of discipline and personality in human society and help mankind live in harmony." The authors speak via flowers of their wish for social order and of their philosophy of life. The period is divisible into three periods according to different floral arranging patterns—the first from 1368 to 1487; the second, 1488 to 1595; the third, 1596 to 1644.
In 1427, Bian Wen-chin painted a floral arrangement featuring an aged plum blossom branch in a reverse S-shape, soaring high on a center stem and flanked by a pine sprig to the right and cypress to the left. The proportion of flowers to vase is two to one. With the midpoint of the vessel's mouth as center and the height as radius, the gravity of the whole pot of flowers is in the sphere of the semi-circle thus drawn. And there are special connotations for the flowers used—the "aloofness" of plum blossoms, the "sturdiness" of pine, the "longevity" of cypress, "nobility" of camellias, "delicate elegance" of orchids, "purity" of narcissi, the "proliferation" of fish-pelargonium, the "auspiciousness" of glossy ganoderma, and the "good-luck-bringing" red persimmon and ru-yi, an S-shaped ornamental jade. This was termed "grand" li nien hua, next of kin to lika in Japan.
People of this period were fastidious about the flower vessels used. Green bronze, porcelain, enamel, jade, and agate were among the most popular.
In the second period, nearly a century, much of it during the reign of Emperor Hongchi, the Chinese people lived in peace and prosperity. And the wen ren, or literati, contracted a deep love for the art of flower arrangement, leading to the birth of the wen ren hua or literati school. The variety of "appropriate" flowers was now cut sharply. In general, one kind of plant—or two to three at most—became the object. Arrangements must now be refined and rhythmical rather than colorful.
Basically, an arrangement constituted two sprays of flowers—the host spray longer, a guest spray shorter—forming a scalene triangle in the vessel's mouth. Though the arrangement's structure is loose, it disseminates a fresh and leisurely air. The flower containers were now mostly porcelains. No luxuriant or lavishly carved vessels were allowed. Sometimes glossy ganoderma, ru yi, or coral were employed as accessories.
By the end of the Ming, the arts of tea savoring and flower arrangement had been combined, and participants were very particular about flowers, floral containers, water, and knick-knacks. Structurally, the arrangements stressed modulation in tone, like Chinese painting or calligraphy. The result was a classical, but fresh and noble appearance. Clearcut branching and strict and simple patterns gave it a name, ge hua—the stylish flower period.
The stable society of the time enabled a more affluent literati to purchase "noble" flower containers. They became very particular about tables, racks, and water. As for the flowers themselves, the greenest leaves were preferred. The period can be further divided into two categories according to different display locales:
First, residential floral arrangements: Large in size, the containers tended to be bronze or porcelain, each with two ears, and the tables made of thick, smooth, natural-grain wood. Flowers were limited to one or two types—aged, crooked, tortuous twigs along with thick sprays of blossoms. The total height was around 12/3 meters. If the container had a large belly, the flowers were to be 1.6 times the height of the bottle. If the vase was narrow, it was better to have shorter flowers, deemed to be good as long as "they are irregular, natural, and not in a bundle."
Second, flowers for the study: Small-scale, the vessels in the study were mostly tiny porcelains without ears. The flowers were light, graceful, fresh, and elfish. And the most popular structure was the S-shape.
But the Ming Dynasty was finally to end in a neoclassical floral school featuring flowers that were bright, but not gaily-colored, and graceful and pleasant, but not gigantic.
The Manchu court of the Ching Dynasty failed to create its own school of flower arrangements, but the general mood of the society was "not too far and far between." And the society of this era, instead of personifying flowers, came to deify them. Except for flowers already noted for other special significance, every flower was given the name of a legendary celebrity, selected according to his nature or deeds.
Liu Meng-mei became the god of the plum blossom, flower of January; Yang Yu-huan, the goddess of the apricot in February; Yang Yen-chao, the god of peach blossoms in March; Chang Li-hua, the goddess of the rose in April; Chung Kui, the god of the pomegranate in May; Hsi Shi, the goddess of the lotus in June; Shi Chun, the god of garden balsam in July; Lu Chu, the goddess of osmanthus in August; Tao Yuan-ming, the god of chrysanthemums in September; Hsieh Su-chiu, the goddess of hibiscus in October; Pai Le-tien, the god of camellias in November; and Lao Ling-po, the goddess of wintersweet in December.
During the Ching Dynasty, potted plants came into the ascendancy over flower arrangements, and the floral literature of the era is limited. Shen Shan-pai was the period's most important tipster figure on flower arrangements. He pointed out that "the mouth of the flask must be broad to allow free development. The flowers must rise up in full bloom—but not loosely or too compactly. And the blossoms must be kept away from the mouth of the flask." These principles happened to coincide with those of the Japanese lika school.
In the process of the arranger's creation, Shen advises: "While trimming woody plants, hold the spray of flowers crosswise in hand to observe its pose. Reverse it to get its natural attitude. Cut off unnecessary twigs. Those with clear, creased, aged, and crooked shapes are the best." He continues, "And never fix a straight spray in the center; otherwise, the branches will be in chaos, the stems too stiff, the flowers turning sidewise, and the leaves showing their backs to us."
And on the methods of twisting and bending, a technique whose importance he stresses: "Cut the stalk in half and set a brick or stone inside, and a straight spray turns crooked. To prevent the stalk from falling down, uphold with one or two nails. Then maple leaves, bamboo twigs, wild grass, thistles, and thorns can all be used." And while stressing the importance of foiling materials: "Use a spray of green bamboo to go with the fruit of Chinese wolfberry and several blades of narrow grass to go with thistles. An appropriate arrangement will create an ethereal joy."
On the coordination of flower, vase, and setting: "The size of the table decides if it should hold three or seven vases of flowers. Otherwise the highlights will be obscured, as of a chrysanthemum screen in the marketplace. The height of a flower table may range from I decimeter to shorter than I meter. The flowers must be irregular but well-organized to create an overbearing momentum. It is a taboo to pile up flowers like a mound of ashes. The spacing and digressions must be properly controlled as in a painting." The principles as stated by Wang Hui are "Luxuriance without heaviness, concentration without stifling. Hands and legs are stretched in leisure."
Shen Shan-pai also invented a rather scientific device—a fixer somewhat similar to today's chien shan—spiked flower base. He suggested: "Boil resin, elm bark, flour, and oil with rice straw ashes. After they turn into a glue, attach copper plate and nails on top." It is evident that basins had again become popular. While arranging the flower on the plate, he suggested: "Tie the flowers in a bundle with iron wire, and insert the nail. Let the flowers stand in an oblique line. The sprays must be clear and scattered. Add water. Cover the copper plate with sand to create a mirage of flowers growing from underneath."
A must for flower fanciers is Yu Meng Ying by Chang Chao. He states his views on noble and graceful flowers: "Plum blossoms make me high; spring crabapples dazzle me; orchids delight me; autumn crabapple flatters me; chrysanthemums make me wild; the abaca and bamboo trigger lingering charm; the water lily makes me forget fame and wealth; the peony makes me brave; the pine offers leisure, willows are inspiring, and tung tree flowers refresh me." He also argues that flowers and vase must be in contrasting colors.
Floral displays are messengers of mood, serving both the spirit and the occasion. They need not be elaborate to make their points.
The major trend in flower arranging in the Ching Dynasty was toward "natural beauty"—leading, of course, to the "naturalist school" of art. The purposes of flower arrangement are listed as "presenting joy on the lotus pond, catching the cool and refreshing air along the lake, recalling autumn mountain landscapes of maple leaves...or flatland reed catkins, imitating foliar scenes along a fence to set a leisurely mood." Shen Shan-pai felt it would all lead to a brand new world complete with "wind, sun, rain, and dew, telltale and entranced."
To make a vase of flowers more lifelike, Shen sometimes used a mantis, cicada, or butterflies. The method required "pinning the insect to kill it, then attaching it to the flowers with tiny wires. Now arrange its legs to either embrace the stalk or tread on a leaf." Appearance, light, and color now became much more important than the content.
Sometimes, bamboo, palm foliage, and odd-shaped rocks were arranged with pebbles in wall to wall summer-garden carpets of varying magnitudes. Other times, flower arrangements and potted plants were combined. The method deliberately replaced water with soil.—"Select different strains of flowers, arrange according to different heights and colors, trim off redundant branches, and give proper spacing to create a matchless potted plant." The best example was Shen Shan-pai's "living flower screen." The arranger first fabricates a screen of wood or bamboo, which will be a flower frame. Then he grows hyacinth beans in a sandy pot. He places the pot by the screen, and the vines from the beans start to crawl up, creating a mobile replica of a bamboo fence.
In the category of residential flower arrangements, a unique aspect was the employment of a multitude of pots of flowers—said Shen Shan-pai, "from five to 40 pots." Though the varieties were limited, the number of pots and accessories were now multiplied.
Ching Dynasty practitioners also used vegetables and fruits as materials for flower arrangements. For instance, tong chien (copper coins), fu chen (horsetail whisk), wang nien ching (Chinese evergreen) and li tze (plum) are, in concert, homophonic for chien chen wang li, have a promising future—an appropriate arrangement for someone hoping for a promotion. And po su (cypress), wang nien ching (Chinese evergreen), ho hua (lotus), and pai ho (lily) are, collectively, homophonic for po nien ho ho, hundreds of years in harmony—a special token for newlyweds. This viewpoint thus acquired the tag "homophonic flower school."
By the end of the Ching Dynasty, the ring had come full circle; Japanese styles of flower arrangement now found their way to Peking and Shanghai. From then on, Chinese traditions of flower arranging sped downhill, perhaps beginning to rise again only with the recent exhibition in Taipei.
For the National Museum of History exhibition, members of the Women's Garden and Art Club took great pains recreating 50 vases of classical flower arrangements from old paintings or as described in the limited number of historic documents still extant. The warm public response has encouraged Mrs. Yu Kuo-hwa, chairman of the Women's Garden and Art Club, and its membership in the belief that this first step has been a signal inspiration to qualified teachers in the field. The club hopes the teachers will now be generally inspired to create new styles of flower arrangement that will reflect development from their own traditions in art, ideology, and lifestyle, and further, to spur popular appreciation for Chinese styles of flower arrangement.
A special byproduct of the club members' efforts was getting to know so many local artists and craftsmen with special talents in such fields as pottery, woodcarving, artificial flower fabrication, glass blowing—and even such folkcrafts as fashioning floral sachets.
Recently, in order to recreate a style that is uniquely Chinese, local devotees of flower arrangement have organized the Republic of China Flower Arrangement Society, which has engaged in international exchange activities. They have also assisted in the opening of flower arrangement classes in schools and helped tourist hotels to set up permanent exhibitions. Many of the island's women's clubs now have weekly flower arrangement activities. And some of the Republic of China's most distinguished flower arrangement masters are now teaching in Japan. The club's goal now is to pool available wisdom, develop new styles, and propagate the Chinese traditional flower arranging arts.
Professor Huang Yung-chuan stresses that Chinese traditions in flower arranging have a background of 1,500 years and developed from a spectrum of different schools—li nien hua, to seek the ideal; hsin hsiang hua, to seek the ego; the naturalistic school, to seek nature; and even flower mould making, to seek perfection. "This heritage is a rich asset, ready to be tapped," he told us.