Ikebana is the ancient art of flower arranging, the foundation of Japanese culture, in the same way as the art of the tea ceremony. This treatise illustrates the teaching of ikebana, the technique of harmonious research between plant parts (various foliage, reeds, herbs, etc.), plants, flowers, branches and stumps through vase compositions.
The custom of laying flowers on the altar of temples began in 538 A.D. when Chinese monks introduced Buddhism to Japan. Flower arrangements were made for religious rites and ceremonies, in a consecrated space. Originally practiced by men - for centuries the samurai held it in high esteem - the art of flower arranging reached its peak in the sixteenth century.
Priests, scholars, poets and artists, aristocrats and warriors, wealthy city dwellers fleeing from everyday worries were fervent followers of this wonderful form of return to oneself, mixing aesthetics and spirituality. Among the different rules and schools that have appeared in the history of ikebana, the traditional formal rikka style of the original ikenobō school is exemplified here, characterized by the presence of branches and erect flowers, with a marked verticality and in which the beauty of a natural landscape is expressed in a single vase.
These floral arrangements of the great masters of the Rokkaku-dō movement and their followers [from the time of the Ashikaga shogunate (1336-1573)] were compiled and edited by Igai Sansaemon in 1673 in Kyoto; They are printed in a xylographic way and colored by hand using the watercolor technique called gansai.
French
136 pages / 100 illustrations
Hardcover with marking
2 offprint
