SOME HINTS ON HOW TO SELECt: Considerations based on

  1. availability
  2. level of formality, balance
  3. room and tokonoma
  4. style of chaji
  5. occasion
  6. toriawase
  7. kaiseki
  8. season (ro: fuyu, haru= tree flowers; furo: natsu, aki= grass flowers)
  9. ignore all the above and just put in what you can findÅF sasa, susuki, hime uri

In contrast to all other man-made utensils, the flowers bring into the tearoom a feeling of:

problem

Things to avoid generally:

Namporoku

8. Concerning flowers that should not be used in arrangements for chanoyu, there are the doggerel verses:

hanaire ni irezaru hana wa chinchoge 沈丁花 miyama shikimi太山樒

keitou no hana 鶏頭

Among flowers banned from the flower vase are sweet daphne (D. odora), mountain anise (Illicium religiosum), and cockscomb ( ).

ominaeshi 女郎花 zakuro 柘榴 kobone 河骨 kinsenka 金盞花 senreika 仙藜花　 o mo kirau narikeri

Patrina (P. scabiosafolia), pomegranate ( ), candock (Nuphar japonicum), marigold (Calendula arvensis), and balsam ( ) are likewise rejected.

COMMONLY AVAILABLE / USED FLOWERS

ro:

furo:

mid-summer:

late summer:

autumn/aki:

Traditional / symbolic use

Purities of chabana Pure (washed) flowers and leaves; pure vase, cut bamboo ; pure water in it; pure heart to put them in; pure dew to referesh them

TSUYU 露 dew sprinkled on flowers to give a live and fresh feeling. May be applied with chasen splashed on, dipping flowers in water before placing them in vase or by spraying with kirifuki 霧吹. Wetting wall ok if its your house and real tsuchi-kabe; otherwise, avoid In summer it suggests coolness; in winter it suggests freshness

By kirifuki or chasen or dip; flowers, vase, basket; wall (depending on construction) lacquer board may be left sprayed if nice pattern (fine) kiji board should be soaked / wrapped in wet towel for several minutes before displaying

HISTORY OF CHABANA

Historically speaking chabana came in part from Zen altar settings featuring 3-5 image(s) on scrolls, flower vases on left and right outer flanks, candle sticks on the inner flanks, centered on an incense burner with its kogo incense container in front, like thisÅF {{

}}

By gradually decreasing the paraphanelia-windows for light, putting the kogo into sumitori, and the ko directly into sumi (furo = koro) fire and seperating scroll and flower, we have the scroll representing the Buddha as an intellectual concept and the single vase of flowers left in the middle also representing Buddha as a natural. This is one reason we avoid unpleasantly strong smells, poisonous flowers, or thorns and emphasize the evanescence of life by using flowers which only last a day.

Kokoro no fumi, "Otazune no Koto"ÅF by Murata Juko- "Arrange flowers as befits the room, with an air of lightness... The utensils used should be appropriate to the person's age- to old and young respectively."

Namporoku, Tachibana Jitsuzan "recreating" Rikyu: 7. Concerning the flowers for a small room, it is always best to arrange one or two stems of a single variety, with lightness of touch. Of course, it is alSO permissible to arrange them SO that they have a soft fullness, depending on the flower. In its fundamental intent, however, chanoyu rejects favoring solely the spectacle of flowers. When the room size increases to four-and -a half mats, two varieties may be used, depending on what they are.

9. It had been a long maintained custom to shun the display of flowers in the night gathering, but Joo and Rikyu, upon close consideration, decided it permissible, depending upon the flower. Colorful flowers are on the whole unusable, but white flowers are not unpleasant. A wide variety of flowers may be adopted...In using flowers for celebrative gatherings, one must give this matter special attention.

28. For the flower container in a small room, a length of bamboo, basket or gourd is best. A metal vase is generally most appropriate for the four-and-a-half mat room; depending upon the circumstances, one may also be used in a small room. Rikyu's flowers (from Tennojiya, Sokyu, Kamiya; (by way of Mori Tomio, Shosetsu Chabana Zufu)+Matsuya kaiki): Winter:

Spring:

Summer:

Fall:

Rikyu flower stories: utensils

flowers

chado: Chabana (last edited 2008-03-08 17:11:07 by localhost)