Following Japan's 50-year occupation of Taiwan from 1895 to 1945, the fact that the art of flower arrangement was originally Chinese was not common knowledge. Just over ten years ago, however, a group of high-society women, scholars, and Japanese-style flower
arrangement instructors began poring over old texts to uncover the roots of this ancient Chinese art. The result was the founding of the Chinese Floral Arts Foundation (CFAF).
The CFAF's efforts have contributed greatly toward achieving a rebirth of the study of Chinese flower arrangement. It has held yearly exhibitions in Taiwan, and has toured various locations in the United States and Europe. This year CFAF held a massive exhibit, portraying the art as it was historically practiced by the common people (rather than by the literati or the imperial household), from March 29 to April 12. Held at the National Museum of History in Taipei, the exhibit was divided into two main sections: traditional uses of flower arrangement for festivals and religious occasions, and different varieties of flowers used in Taiwan throughout the year. The same exhibit will be shown again at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts on June 7-16.
Since ancient times, flower arrangement in China has been a popular form of artistic expression. Its evolution into an art form began during the Han dynasty, when it was used as religious decoration on holidays. Flower arrangement became especially popular during the Tang dynasty, when the scope of the art extended considerably. Corsages became common, as did bouquets for festive (but not necessarily religious) occasions. The spiked-bottom pans still common today, which allow precise positioning of stems, became widely used at this time. It was customary for members of the literati to be trained in four important arts: the tea ceremony, painting and calligraphy, incense burning, and flower arrangement. Relatively inexpensive, flower arrangement remains today a beautiful means of bringing art into everyday life.
Culture on Display
At the CFAF exhibit this year, the art was portrayed in many different ways. Arrangements in the section devoted to the art form as it was traditionally practiced in China ranged from colorful bouquets--once placed on ancestral tombs on Tomb Sweeping
Day--to dainty corsages celebrating a girl's coming of age. For nearly every important Chinese holiday, antique furniture and utensils provided the backdrop for delicately placed petal and stem. Culture as well as flowers was on display.
Participants, many of them flower arrangement instructors, split up into work teams in order to collect the necessary antiques so that the art appeared in its natural setting. Experts were consulted months in advance of the exhibit; and inspirational speakers, prominent artists in other fields, were invited to speak at CFAF meetings. Their opinions were sought because, in the words of one participant: "Art is art and beauty is beauty. We get new ideas by hearing the perspectives of artists in different fields, but the same philosophy is often universally applicable." Interestingly, the names of CFAF members do not appear on any of the pieces, indicative of a level of esprit de corps seldom found in large groups of artists.
The second section of the exhibit highlighted the flowers most favored during each season. Important springtime flowers include orchids and azaleas, or "red mountainside" in Taiwanese; in the summer, lotus and calla are common; chrysanthemums and osmanthus flowers bloom in autumn, and these are followed by plum blossoms during winter months.
The various arrangements and the lighting in this area were carefully designed to portray the prevailing mood of each season as well. In the autumn portion, for example, old-fashioned farming tools were displayed along with racks for drying vegetables, representing the importance of the harvest and preparation for a long winter. For the winter display, red lights simulated the glow of firelight, accompanied by the gentle radiance of plum blossoms.
Artistic Revival
Enriching the lives of Taiwan's citizens through art was the primary motivation behind the establishment of CFAF, says the organization's chairperson Cecilia Chen (³¯±äÅ). A Hong Kong native and the wife of recent independent presidential candidate Chen Li-an, she did not begin to appreciate Chinese culture until attending Wellesley College in the United
States. When she came to Taiwan, Chen found that art was largely absent in the island's industrializing society. Fueled by what she describes as "Chinese patriotism," she joined others in researching the historical roots of flower arrangement. One problem the group faced was the transformation of theoretical concepts into practical application. Making the
leap from a description in a textbook to a portrayal of an ancient flower arrangement was difficult. In early days, professors and practitioners of the Japanese version of the art played important roles.
For Chen and her colleagues, differentiating the art as it was formerly practiced in China from the styles common in Japan was important: "Chinese flower arrangement was more natural and less colorful," she explains. "Japanese alter the original shape of a flower or branch for heightened effect, and they prefer elongated or exaggerated shapes."
But for Hu Wen-tzung (J¤å©v), a long-time flower arrangement instructor who does floral decorations at the National Palace Museum, strict rules regarding shape and method have ceased to exist. During his youth, Hu was a student of Japanese-style instructors. Later, he became a participant in the CFAF's efforts to recreate Chinese flower arrangement. For Hu the art is a step-by-step process during which he speaks to the flowers and "massages" them for the desired effect. The result is understandably unique: both very much Hu's own, and truly Taiwanese.