Please help about history fo ikebana

[Fujiwara no Akitora]

I need to know about history and a reference of ikebana for some project. Thank you very much.

[Saionji Shonagon]

www.ikenobo.jp/english/ might be a good place to start.

[Lady Kimiko]

I own a few books on the subject. What are you specifically looking for?

[Fujiwara no Akitora]

I'm specifically interested in finding out what kind of flowers they would have used in Japan before 1600 and what kind of arrangements they would have used. Could you advise me where i can get this information?

[Lady Kimiko]

No doubt native plants & flowers were used...let me go peek at my books and Ill see if I can find such.

[Please Delete]

Hmmm. That is a good question.

Chinese and Japanese artists used to learn painting by copying a particular book of plants. Does anyone remember what it is called?

Btw, be careful because some flowers, like roses (bara) and Chrysanthemums (kiku) have changed a lot since 1600.

Some flowers we know of:
Chrysanthemum (kiku)
Peonies (sorry, I'm blanking on the Japanese)
Wisteria (fuji)
Cherry (sakura)
Plum (ume/mume)

-Ii

[Lady Kimiko]

Here is a quick overview per my main source (which Ill share at the end of this)...

Ikebana started in Japan around the 6th century, introduced into Japan by Chinese Buddhist priests. The Chinese priests first arrived with bronze vases. Early arrangements were known as shin-no-hana. These early arrangements were done around a central stem known as shin.

Around the 7th century a scholar known as Ono-no-Imoko made 3 trips to China. He founded the first school for flower arranging. His school came to be known as 'Ikenobo', which means 'Priest by the lake'.

From these early beginnings evolved a formal temple art known as Rikka or Rikkwa: meaning 'standing flowers'. Early arrangements are described as being constructed of: evergreens, foliage materials, mountain cheery, flowers, and often bare branches. Such arrangements were so complex that they took several days to complete. There is mention of flowers being placed inside of bamboo containers some arrangements were extremely large, as much as 15 ft high and 12 feet wide.

Here is a list of actual plants listed in the history section: mountain cheery, bamboo, everygreen/pine, cypress, cedar, camellia, azalea. Rocks and water were not commonly included. Pine was used to represent stone, many flowers used to represent water.

Let me know what you want to know more on.

Source: A history of flower arrangement, by Julia S Berrall

[Saionji Shonagon]

Jan 8, 2012 11:17:03 GMT -5 Please Delete said:

Some flowers we know of:
Chrysanthemum (kiku)
Peonies (sorry, I'm blanking on the Japanese)

Botan, for peony.

Here are a few more, off the top of my head that we know are period because they inspired kasane, the color combinations of court ladies' robes:

Yamabuki or globeflower
Shobu/lily
Tzutsuji/azalea
Tachibana/orange blossom
Nadeshiko/pink (wild carnation, I believe)
Ominaeshi/maiden flower

Asagao, or morning glory is another one that comes to mind - one of the chapters of The Tale of Genji references this.

www.2hweb.net/haikai/renku/500ESWd.html is a poetry link, but it specifically lists what plants/flowers are associated with given seasons.

I previously posted a link to the Ikenobo Society - as they are the oldest ikebana school in existence, you might try emailing them for information.

(My apologies if this is a bit scattershot and less than coherent. It's been a bit of a busy weekend....)

[Saionji Shonagon]

Aha! My Google-fu has not deserted me in my exhaustion.

The oldest surviving ikebana manuscript is the Kao Irai no Kadensho (花王以来の花伝書), dating from 1486.

There's at least one image from it that keeps popping up on my Google search:

www.edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp/english/special/091123/1123_1_3.html