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Needs clear separation into 花 and 花入
茶花
History (according to CQ22)
Rules
利休: Cut fresh green bamboo for a vase, pour clear water into it and, with pure heart, put in a fresh flower.
Naosuke: Flowers capture 一期一会: A flower only lasts for a brief moment.
Arrangement in the 床
| | center hook | hook on 床柱 |
| small room | 100 cm | 150 cm |
| big room | 120 cm | 180 cm |
Choice of 花入
利休: First contemplate the flower, then pick the vase.
| | 真 | 行 | 草 |
| 花入 | copies of Chinese or Korean vases (even if Japanese made), bronze, celadon, 竹 with 花押. | Japanese and other glazed (partially or fully) | unglazed (Bizen, Shigaraki, Tanba), Tokoname, (green) bamboo |
| 花板 | あarrow notch (やはず) | clam shell lacquered (はまぐり) | unlacquered (burnt to bring out the grain or plain), also with clam shell edge |
| 花 | むくげ, peony, Rose of Sharon | | grassy flowers |
Unglazed vases should be soaked in a bucket of water for 1 or 2 hours, it will change their colour; and accordingly, the wooden board it may be put on, should also be wet and then patted dry (Larry 23)
Arrangement of the flower
Stories
利休: In 1567 did a
茶事 where he had the guests return after 中立 to find an empty flower vase with some water in it.
利休 explained to his guests to imagine the flower; and CQ41 describes this as the ultimate
茶花.
Flowers
Generally, pick flowers that are a little closed, if you can find them (Larry 23)
利休 chose short-lived flowers, and forbade the use of long-lived, garish or strongly-smelling flowers such as sweet daphne (
Seidelblast), mountain anise (
Anis-Duftnessel or
Riesenysop), cockscomb; patrinia, pomegranate, candock and marigold (CQ41).
Naosuke: Don't use rare and unusual flowers. Go outside, look for a flower, cut it.
Morning glory a bit frowned upon in Urasenke because of the story of
利休 and 秀吉, but here it's a perfectly fine flower (Larry 23)
Narcissus, however, works well.
スミレ (Viola)
haru no no ni sumire tsumi ni to koshi ware zo
no o natsukashimi hito-yo ne ni keru
I came to the filed to pick violets / but I loved the field so much I've slept there all night; from Yamabe-no-Akihito, ~700 AD
See also