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April Bunka Activity - Ikebana As you know, ancient China influenced Japan strongly. Ikebana-The Way of the Flower began when Chinese monks traveled Japan and brought their way of arranging flowers with them. From the Japanese side, in the 6th century a government official named Ono no Imoko paid three official visits to the imperial court of China. In China he had studied arranging flowers as religious offerings. When he retired from government, he became a Buddhist priest in Kyoto. He taught flower arranging to other monks who were interested. This became Japan’s oldest school of ikebana – the Ikenobo school. It has a history written on scrolls that date back to 1462.
This is a standing arrangement.
As time went by, the way the flowers were arranged took on a special meaning. All arrangements should have a sense of beauty. The main goal was to arrange the flowers in such a way as to represent the sky, earth, and humans. By using three main flowers, it represented the balance of humans with nature. There are special ways of cutting, pruning and caring for the flowers. For a long time, only the Japanese royalty, the samurai families, and monks of the major temples could do ikebana but after a while regular people could do it too. It was very popular with both men and women, but now it is done mostly by women. It is thought to be an important part of a girl’s education as she grows up. This is a moribana arrangement, using the flat dish.
Sources: The History of Ikebana by Ruth Grosser and The Japan
Encyclopedia by Boye Lafayette De Mente.
Kids Web
Japan - Ikebana http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2098.html This explains the basics of ikebana. Page written by Kay Clarke. Maintained by Bridgette Fincher March 31, 2004 |
During the Meiji Period, 1867-1912, a man named Unshin Ohara arrived in Osaka
with the hopes of being a sculptor. His health was poor and because of his early
training in the Ikenobo school, he decided to become better at ikebana. Western
flowers were beginning to appear in Japan. He greatly admired them and wanted to
use them in flower arrangements. His old school only used Japanese flowers, so
this caused quite and uproar. Ohara-san decided to start his own school. He
decided to make his own type of flower arrangements in tray-like containers
called suiban, which he invented just for flower arranging.