Moribana is similar to the Rikka and Shoka styles of Ikebana in its emphasis on the natural growth and beauty of flowers but shares the informal characteristic of Nagiere in its simple “piled up flowers” philosophy.

Moribana emerged during the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and incorporated the western philosophy of flower arrangement as well as the vibrant materials used in them.

In contrast to the earlier philosophies of upright flowers Moribana laid emphasis on width and space in an arrangement. Therefore the vases used for this are flat and allow the arrangement to spread horizontally instead of rising vertically from a kenzan.

Shin, Soe and Tai also compose the main arrangement. Shin reaches to one and a half times the height and width of the vase, Soe makes up three quarters of Shin and Tai reaches up to a third of the Shin. Seen from above these form a right angled triangle and flowers fill up this triangle. But unlike Rikka and Shoka, Moribana attaches no special significance to the yakueda.

Moribana is done in a slanting style with variations known as the following:
· Chokutai, which is the upright form of Moribana where Shin stands between 0 to 30 degrees in a fairly upright position
· Shatai, which is the inclined form, where Shin stands at 30 to 90 degrees.
· Suitai, the cascading form of Moribana, where Shin stands at 90 to 180 degrees.

As this style of ikebana was free from the rigid rules, the flowers were not coaxed to stand erect. Instead they were allowed to stand freely without using a kenzan (pin holder), which necessitated a tall and narrow mouthed vase for the arrangement. The vase or the container itself was called Hanarie and the flowers preferred for this were simple and lightly hued, and usually of one variety only.

Shin, Soe and Tai also compose the main arrangement. Shin reaches to one and a half times the height and width of the vase, Soe makes up three quarters of Shin and Tai reaches up to a third of the Shin.

Nagiere is usually done in a slanting style with variations known as the following:
· Chokutai, which is the upright form of Nagiere where Shin stands between 0 to 30 degrees in a fairly upright position
· Shatai, which is the inclined form, where Shin stands at 30 to 90 degrees.
· Suitai, the hanging form of Nagiere, where Shin stands at 90 to 180 degrees.

Nagiere depicts the natural growth of flowers in the wild and therefore follow the In (shade) and Yo (sunny side) philosophy.

Shoka represents growth and life in nature, and therefore before creating any shoka arrangement the creator must know the order of nature where plants grow. The characteristic of “Shussho” or growing towards the sun is one of the most important principles of this arrangement, and therefore the basic pattern of Shoka arrangements is erect, the way plants grow upright in nature. The container in which is the arrangement is done is said to represent the earth from which plants spring and therefore its rim should never be in touch with the arrangement.

A little slant can be incorporated into the arrangement, again as part of the natural order of things. But the arrangement actually emphasizes how life, represented as a plant, has its origins in the earth and then grows towards the heaven in spiritual attainment and freedom.

In Shoka Shofutai the arrangement consists of three yakuedas known as Shin, Soe and Tai, representing man and his desire for earthliness and spiritual freedom. Shin is generally two or three times as tall as the vase and Soe reaches to two-thirds of the Shin. Tai goes up to a third of the Shin. In addition, it is important to remember the sunny side (Yo) and the shade (In) when creating such an arrangement, and Soe should always be placed on the sunny side. Tai moves to the shade.

Shoka Shimputai, on the other hand, is reflective of the Rikka Shimputai and is free from rigid rules applicable to the Shofutai arrangements. Here there are only two yakuedas instead of three and they are Shu and Yo. Additional material called Ashirai are added to create a more unbalanced beauty that stands in contrast to the orderly form of Shofutai. The colour, quantity, and texture used render a Shimputai arrangement more bright and informal than a Shofutai.

The word Rikka means “standing flowers” and therefore it typically consisted of stems arranged in a tall vase to convey symbolism, asymmetry and spatial depth to represent the concepts of heaven, earth and man through the depiction of a landscape.

A rikka arrangement consists of three primary parts: the chief, the secondary and the ornamental stems, but their placements will differ according to the school of Ikebana. The primary stem is coaxed forward to around 70-degrees and then spread out on both sides in a 45-degree area. The placement of the secondary stem on the left rear of the primary stem gives depth to the arrangement. To the right of these two stems the ornamental stem spans out in a 30-degree area at an angle of 60-degrees. If the Rikka arrangement is done in a slanting manner the primary stem will be one and a half times as tall as the vase and the other two stems will reach up to half the length of the main branch.

A rikka arrangement will have nine symbolic elements, called the “Dogu” or “Yakueda”, which may or may not appear in every rikka arrangement. The nine parts, along with their functions is as follows:
· Shin: the primary part whose position and form will be central in determining those of the other parts.
· Shoshin: the centerpiece that holds the balance of the arrangement
· Soe: the chief supporting part of the Shin
· Uke: the part at the foreground that signifies space and width
· Nagashi: the lowest part of the arrangement which never bends below the mouth of the vase, this gives a sense of movement to the design
· Mikoshi: never arranged higher than the Shin and lower than the Shoshin, this gives a sense of depth to the arrangement
· Hikae: Placed under the soe, and higher than the Nagashi, this spreads out on the opposite side of the design from the Uke.
· Do: the basis of the design, and on which al other parts are based, it is placed before the Shoshin, and is lower than half the length of the Shoshin
· Maeoki: Spreads out on the front of the design and stabilizes the whole composition.

Rikka arrangements were done in the following methods:
· Shin: where the main stem (shin) and other stems were arranged in a tall container
· Gyo: where a wide, shallow vase is used to hold a low arrangement that is more wide than tall
· So: where flowers are arranged in a hanging container resembling a boat.

Rikka was further divided into Rikka Shofutai and the Rikka Shimputai forms. While the former was more traditional, the latter took on a more modern look.

Rikka Shofutai remains the most formal design principle and consists of the nine elements discussed above, along with very rigid rules for their placements. Additional stems, known as Ashirai may also be used to complete the composition. The vase used can vary between 20-30cms in height and has to flare out at the top, to form the Mizugiwa. The stems have to come out clearly from this and from the center of the kenzan (pin holder).

The more modern form of Rikka Shimputai was popularized by the presen headmaster of the Ikebono school. This form does not adhere to any strict rules, and is therefore considered to be more in line with creativity and expression. Unlike Shofutai, in this form there are not nine main eements, but two: Shu and Yo. These can be used in multiple combinations with the ashirai. The brightness as well as the relaxed appearance of the Rikka Shimputai makes it a very popular design philosophy.

It is perhaps the essence of this quote that we all feel inside when we see flowers. Flowers represent the beauty of all nature, and more so the beauty of man’s relationship with nature. Japanese Ikebana captivates this beauty to create miniature representations of man’s existence between the forces of heaven and earth, and the intertwined entities of the moon, the sun and the earth.

The word “Ikebana” comes from a combination of two Japanese words: “ikeru” which implies “to arrange” and “hana” which means “flowers”. The combined effect creates not just form and balance but also holds a philosophical property.

Envoys to the Chinese mainland brought back to Japan knowledge of the Chinese practices of Buddhism and the culture of offering flowers to the Buddha in an organized manner. The Japanese aristocrats combined their refinement into the formal offertory flowers to create floral arrangements that represented religious symbolism along with aesthetic pleasure.

In the Muromachi era, spanning time from the late fourteenth to the late sixteenth centuries, Japanese Shoguns promoted every form of art. Resulting from these was the architectural style called Shoinzukuri, which had a room with an alcove, called tokonama, where flowers were displayed. This tokonama soon emerged as the focal point of the house and flower arrangements attained importance, giving rise to the earliest form of Ikebana, known as tatebana.

Tatebana was soon taken up by artists known as Doboshu and several masters brought out one arrangement philosophy after another. The most influential of them was Ikenobo. The identity of Ikenobo is disputed. Some are of the opinion that he was a ruling monarch who denounced worldliness and devoted his life to arranging flowers for Buddhist altars. Others consider him as a monk n the Rokkakudo in Kyoto. He established the first school of Ikebana, which was popularized in the samurai and aristocratic households by Ikenobo Senei and Ikenobo Senou. The Rikka style of Ikebana is thought to have originated in this school of philosophy.

It was further broken down to the Shofutai (traditional)

and Shimputai (a more expressive form).

In the Azuchi-Momoyama period spanning between the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Nageire school which popularized more casual arrangements as opposed to the formal offertory Ikenobo arrangements. Even though this school promoted casual arrangements it still established a subtle art in arranging flowers together.

The shoka form of arrangement also developed around this time among the merchant class that preferred even simpler designs with higher symbolism.

It was further broken down to the Shofutai (traditional)

and Shimputai (a more expressive form).

The moribana design was popularized by Ohara Unshin who broke away from the Ikenobo school in the nineteenth century, and used a good deal of western influences in design.

In the more modern times a freestyle arrangement called Jiyu-Bana came into practice.

After the decline of Ikebana in the Meiji era it was once again revived as an educational practice for women. However, women are forbidden by an unwritten law in Japan to make any major innovations in the art.

But most American designs turned out to be replicas of earlier European designs or a strange mix of several design styles. It was only after World War II that Japanese design philosophies began to be assimilated into European styles to create a wonderful integration of the Oriental and occidental design principles. A unique style that was born out of this is a hybrid line-mass style that directs the eye into and throughout the arrangement.

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Contemporary American arrangements are now done in three ways: the European mass style, the Japanese line design and the uniquely American style of line-mass. Mass arrangements contain a great deal of flowers and plant materials but are not as overflowing in nature as the European designs. The line designs follow the Japanese philosophy but do not follow their strict rules so can provide greater appreciation of the plant materials. Line-mass designs are clean and sculptural in property, with gaps between the lines and other plants materials, while the massed material gives weight and depth to the design.

Influences that have crystallized present day appreciation of floral designs continue to change and evolve. Freestyle designs are becoming more popular as designers and florists are looking for more expressions of creativity, and often involving high costs in doing so. The commercial value of such designs may not make them very popular with the traditionalists, just as older conservative designs have varying appeal. However, there is ample scope in all areas of floral arrangement designs to explore and experiment and to develop a satisfying skill and perfection across all areas.

From the renaissance to the Baroque era, the art of floral arrangements had not really developed as an independent art form. It was then the painters who defined designs of flower arrangements. The English painter, William Hogarth introduced the ‘S’ shape or later called ‘Hogarthian curve’ to floral design. Flowers and foliage were gently coaxed into rhythmical and symmetrical designs that followed the curves of the letter ‘S’. This and the C curvature gave the designs a more elegantly dynamic appearance.

The Baroque style spread through Europe, greatly influencing Belgium and Holland. Old painters created the Flemish style to depict floral designs in their works. The designs they represented had greater mass but more proportion. In France, under the patronage of Louis XIV, floral arrangements tended to be more feminine as well as symmetrical and informal in size and colour with the biggest flowers at the outermost ring. Later Antoinette Poisson, the mistress of Louis XV asked for asymmetric curves, crescent shapes and a more open design with delicate colours with both fresh and dried flowers. Even in the reign of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette took interest in delicate cool colours and less ornate containers for her floral arrangements.

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With the rise of Napoleon floral designs came to be more masculine than feminine. Huge arrangements depicting the symbols of Napoleon, such as the letter N, the bee, the Empire Star and lions or beehives began to be used in arranging flowers, dried or otherwise.

Towards the end of the Baroque period and in the Georgian period, trade with China opened up, and this brought in considerable change in the floral arrangement designs in Europe. Triadic designs based on a single colour or a single type of flower began to get popular. The tuzzy-muzzy, or the nosegay also gained importance as a centerpiece during this period.

The Greeks, unlike the Egyptians, did not hold their flowers in vases. Instead they used their flowers to adorn themselves and as symbols of allegiance and dedications. Religious tributes as well as awards to military and athletic heroes were made of flowers. Flowers were worn in the hair as embellishment, and lovers exchanged small wreaths. The Cornucopia (the horn of plenty) was also an important design to represent abundance of harvest. It is still used today, but on its side, not upright like olden days.

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The Romans added to the Greek usage of flowers, and even imported the Egyptian method of arranging flowers in vases, but made no significant contribution to the art of floral design. This was an era of opulence and spilled over to excesses in floral arrangements.

After the fall of the Romans, the Byzantines added some value to floral arrangements. A stylized tree, known as the “espalus” had symmetrical conical foliage with fruits and flowers attached to it. But it was the monasteries that took up floral arrangement more regularly and began to incorporate new and varied plant materials for their designs.

Later, in the 6th Century, the ruling prince of Japan sent envoys to bring back information about the Chinese culture and religion. The emissaries returned with the knowledge about the Chinese floral arrangements and use of dried flowers, among other things. The practice of using water for preserving fresh flowers was also welcomed in Japan. The next ruling prince, Ono-no-Imoko gave up his royal lifestyle to become a priest and devoted his life to arranging flowers for worship. He took up the name Ikenobo, and also established the first school of floral art in Japan.

The Ikenobo school flourished and the art of arranging flowers spread from temples to the homes of the nobility in Japan. Various students from this school later formed their own establishments and different philosophies were born, held at the base by the tenets expounded by Ikenobo. The popularized name Ikebana, meaning “giving life to flowers” was also born around this time.

The most important among these philosophies were religious symbolism, preservation of life and appreciation of beauty. Used both dried and fresh, the pine symbolized the longevity of life. Many such symbols were intertwined in the floral arrangements of the Japanese, and the rules for combining plants and flowers were rather rigid.

The Japanese did not use large masses of flower in their designs. Instead they preferred to use asymmetrical line designs using few flowers, all of which could be appreciated individually. Lines symbolized specific relationships, though the symbolism varied in every school. The most common form was the 3-line design representing heaven, man and earth. Heaven (Shin) is the line that towers over the rest. At the base is the earth line (Tai or Hikae). In between the two, as in between heaven and earth was the Man (Soe) line. Triangular outlines were built based on these three lines, and could be expanded to more odd numbers of lines. Odd numbers represented luck, and were considered more natural; hence even number lines were rarely used, if at all.

[Picture 2]

The original temple arrangements were large (6 to 15 feet tall) and usually represented a landscape. This was the Rikka style of floral arrangement. The Shin was the background view of trees, the Soe was the middle view of shrubs before trees, and the Tai was the nearest view of flowers. But this arrangement was too formal and elaborate and needed heavy brass containers. Therefore the style could later spread only to the homes of the nobility who could afford to have such elaborate designs in expensive bronze and brass containers.

[Picture 3]

The 15th century ruling Shogun of Japan greatly promoted the tea ceremony along with the arrangement of flowers. Homes now had a special alcove called the tokonama, which held flower arrangements. The floral arrangements used in this case were from the Shoka school of Japanese floral arrangements. Ikenobo Senjyo established the Shoka style of arrangements. He wrote “Soka Hyakki” (”Hundred principles of Flower Arrangement”) to serve as the basic guide for this school. This continued the design elements of heaven, man and earth in triangular arrangements, but the rules for lengths and directions were rather rigid, though the choices of plant materials used varied greatly.

[Picture 4]

During the Meiji period the Ikebono style of floral arrangement began to be considered too formal and conservative. A more modern look was sought as masters of various schools tried to do away with the limiting conservatism of floral arrangements. This formed the new style of arrangement called Nageire which literally meant “thrown in”. In this the flowers were strewn in a seemingly artless but extremely subtle and skillful manner in curves that were more suited to everyday life rather than the formal appearance of rigid lines. These arrangements are usually intended to be viewed above eye-level and are therefore mostly seen in hanging containers.

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Developed in 1890 from the Ikenobo school, the Moribana style of floral arrangements are more naturalistic and do not contain religious symbolism. These are low arrangements that have adopted the Rikka triad in depicting miniature landscapes and flower groups.

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After the World War II Japanese floral arrangements began to place greater emphasis on form and texture of plant materials rather than natural scenes, and formed the Jiyu-Bana school of free style floral arrangements

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Multiple cultural influences have determined how flowers are used and arranged. Every part of the world, and every civilization have its own history of floral arrangements. In this article we have discussed separately the evolution of design in floral arrangements according to civilization and time.

The first ones to arrange flowers systematically into designs were the Chinese. While the rest of the world simply gathered and wore flowers, the Chinese developed the practice of putting their flowers into vases with water, and arranging their dried flowers into bouquets and arrangements meant for worship. From Japan emissaries came to China and took back with them the knowledge of arranging flowers. The Japanese took up the art seriously and set forth a number of philosophies around the art. A number of schools sprang up with their own respective philosophy related to arranging dried as well as fresh flowers in a way that depicted life and religion and man’s position between heaven and earth. The arrangements were simple and followed strict rules in accordance with religious symbolism.

In the middle-east, Egypt was one of the first nations to use flowers in everyday life. There have been evidences of pollen and dried flower material in tombs that suggest that flowers formed an important part of the Egyptian mourning rituals. Likewise the Greeks used flowers as symbols of bravery, victory and to denote social and military classes. Flowers were also held in cornucopias to represent an abundance of harvest and the bounty of nature.

In Europe flowers were arranged in bulky arrangements, more as a symbol of opulence rather than art. However painters such as Monet, Cezanne, Renoir, Van Gogh and Degas depicted flowers in their paintings to represent still life, and flowers became a favourite theme for Impressionist painters throughout Europe.

In the French royalty too flower arrangements were popular. The emperors and their consorts patronized several different styles of arranging flowers, both fresh and dried, that have remained central to the European philosophy of floral designs.

Americans in the later part of colonization integrated various styles of floral arrangement to create an entirely new philosophy of floral arrangement. This combined the mass used in European arrangements with the line formation of the Orient to create a line-mass arrangement that was the best of both worlds. Dried flower arrangements began to get increasingly popular as they could last years without getting damaged

In contemporary times more forms of floral decoration have evolved based on ancient practices and more modern philosophies, taking the art of floral deigns to an elevated form.