Ikebana
Ikebana is an old art where flowers and plants are used. It was born of the respect by the deeply inlaid nature within the Japanese culture.
As many other Japanese forms of art, like the handwriting, the ceremony of the tea and the poetry haiku, ikebana are a discipline based on the fundamental way to live.
In the west, ikebana sometimes has been unjustly classified like a simple way to place flowers, which causes that it ignores the gentleness, wealth and depth of this old discipline.
Through the floral adjustments that we created, ikebana reinforces our connection with the nature, is powerful means of car-expression and develops our ability to watch new horizons.
Ikebana better is translated like “living flowers” or “causing that the flowers have life”. The same word can separate in two parts, ike and hana: hana or bathes means “flower” or “it plants”; ike comes from three verbs: ikeru, ikiru and ikasu. Respectively they mean “to place or to fix plants”, “to live”, and “to make the life clearest”. When the Japanese talk about the art to use flowers, simply they say Ohana. In Japanese, to add the letter Or to a letter entails to a respect feeling and, in this case, it indicates a special attitude towards the flowers.
The History of Ikebana
With the introduction of the Buddhism in Japan through Korea and China in the century I SAW, also arrived the custom from “kuge”, to offer flowers to the altar.
A Buddhist priest called Ono-No-Imoko was disappointed by the way neglected in which the priests offered flowers to the altar of Buddha. He experimented with floral adjustments that experienced the universal whole number, an offering much more adapted. In their designs, the flowers and the branches extended upwards, never downwards and were placed in a group of three to represent the harmonious relation between the sky, the man and the Earth. The priests continued making floral adjustments by hundreds of years.
Through history, ikebana has fluctuated between the formal styles and the unreliable people.
Styles and Designs of Ikebana
The most important branches and flowers in a ikebana floral adjustment, are known like the main lines or some times like the main stems.
They are the first material of plant that goes in the adjustment and produces the structure of the essential figure of the design.
• Simple design Hana. This design is based on single two main lines: the line of the subject and the object. Also it is used single two materials of plant. The hana word means flower and are in fact simplest of all the floral adjustments ikebana, but also they are very elegant. In a typical hana “simple” design, the stems emerge from he himself point. Within this design we found different styles from simple hana: the basic flood and its variation, basic style inclined and its variation.
• Moribana. Moribana means “piled up flowers”. This expressive style of ikebana was introduced at the beginning of century XX by Unshin Ohara, the first director of the Ohara school. The designs become in a little deep container and the style of the adjustment is determined according to the material of plant available. Within this type of design of they find several styles: Vertical moribana style, inclined moribana style and reflected moribana style of the water.
• Nageire. It is a ikebana type of floral adjustment that becomes in a high vase, which can be of ceramics, crystal or another class of material. The style has its roots in chabana, flowers for the ceremony of the tea. Nageire means literally sent to the flowerpot. This type of design has three main lines, the subject of line, the secondary line and the object. This ikebana floral adjustment expresses the feelings of the artist and are designed to lift to the fighting spirits of the artist and the one that it observes. The styles within the design nageire are: vertical style, inclined style and cascade style.
Basic equipment for Ikebana
The basic equipment for ikebana is very simple. Some of these tools are concerned of Japan, but they are easy to replace. For example, the Japanese scissors or hasami specially have been designed to cut through stem in a thickness scale, but there is no reason for which you cannot improvise with normal scissors.
Probably, the most important utensil in a ikebana floral adjustment in a little deep container, is kenzan or the thorns to hold. You can buy them in nobody floristería, although the Japanese are better.
Kenzans must weigh to balance the weight of the different materials from plant much. The prongs are sharpened and are together to maintain the assured stems affluent in their site.
Also materials are needed to do that the used ikebana floral adjustment in a high vase with heavy branches, remains in its site. Cut woods are used just that bend the sufficient thing before they are broken to use them in the vases. If they keep in a handful tied, will maintain its flexibility by 10 days.
Deep flowerpots for designs “simple hana” and “moribana” are needed little. For nageire high vases are needed.
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