Traditional Flower Arrangement
01 · Historical Records
Over its long development, traditional flower arrangement passed through a series of stages: an initial period in the Han dynasty, a period of growth in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, a flourishing period in the Sui and Tang, a period of great splendor in the Song, a period of maturity in the Yuan and Ming, and a period of decline in the late Qing. Beginning in the Sui and Tang dynasties, traditional Chinese flower arrangement was transmitted to Japan, where it profoundly influenced the development of Japanese flower art (kado). Traditional flower arrangement gradually waned in the late Qing and has revived again since the 1980s. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, flower arrangement was common in the households of both literati and merchants, and professional "flower masters" who made their living from it appeared in Suzhou, Yangzhou, Nanjing, Beijing, and other cities. Works such as Yuan Hongdao's Pingshi (History of the Vase) and Zhang Qiande's Pinghua Pu (Manual of Vase Flowers) from the Ming set out detailed rules for choosing vases and water, cutting branches, and maintenance, becoming the desk-side reference of later students of the art.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Traditional flower arrangement is an art of daily life that takes flower branches as its material. According to research, traditional flower arrangement art germinated between the Western Zhou and the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods and has a history of more than three thousand years. Traditional Chinese flower arrangement prizes natural simplicity and beauty; it excels at using line-based modeling and asymmetrical composition to create a realm of poetic feeling and pictorial conception, fully expressing the national character of Chinese culture and the aesthetic sense of traditional Chinese people. Traditional Chinese flower arrangement is dominated by an esteem for natural simplicity, aspiring to the ideal of "made by human hand, yet as if opened by nature," and it generally relies on asymmetrical composition and the directional momentum of branches. Vessels fall broadly into six types: vase, tray, jar, bowl, basket, and tube. Fixing the flower material may be done in various ways, including "sa" (branch-holding devices), cut branches, and metal holders. When arranging, one must also consider the light of the setting, the height of the table, and the viewing angle.
A History of Vases and A Manual of Vase Flowers
Yuan Hongdao's History of Vases and Zhang Qiande's Manual of Vase Flowers are the tradition's key texts on vases, flowers and arrangement.
Six classes of vessel
Six classes of vessel — bottle, tray, jar, bowl, basket and tube — each suiting a different scale and setting.
The split-wedge fixative
A split bamboo wedge grips the bottle's mouth to hold stems without any pin holder, while bending the stem sets its angle.
Folk, temple, court and literati types
The tradition divides into folk, temple, court and literati types, each with its own thinking, composition and materials.
The four leisure pursuits of the Song
Song scholars counted flower arranging with painting, tea and incense among their four leisure pursuits, taking flowers by season.
Wang Lianying, Qin Kuijie and the revival
Since the 1980s the Beijing Flower Arrangement Research Society led by Wang Lianying and Qin Kuijie has revived and taught the craft.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Traditional flower arrangement is divided into four main types: folk, temple-and-monastery, court, and literati arrangement. Its conception, composition, selection of material, trimming, fixing, adjustment, and display all embody rich cultural content and aesthetic ideas. The typology of traditional flower arrangement is closely tied to its uses: temple arrangement is placed before the Buddha and emphasizes solemn symmetry; court arrangement is rich, full, and splendid, favoring precious flowers such as peony and Chinese herbaceous peony; literati arrangement uses sparse branches and few flowers, often taking plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum as vehicles of feeling and aspiration; folk arrangement follows the festivals of the year and occasions of marriage and longevity, using auspicious materials such as pine, cypress, and evergreen.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present, the Beijing Flower Arrangement Art Research Society, led by Wang Lianying, Qin Kuijie, and others, is devoted to the advocacy, transmission, development, and promotion of this traditional craft.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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